Abstract
Little is known about parent preferences regarding delivery methods of early interventions. This research examined, through parent report, the current and preferred delivery methods of seven common educational early interventions accessed by New Zealand children with autism spectrum disorder. Responses from 63 eligible participants were collected via an online questionnaire. Results suggested that four of the seven early intervention services were predominantly delivered through some form of professional advice to parents. Participants who were receiving at least one privately funded service were more likely to have at least one service delivered directly to their child. Parents’ most preferred delivery method for all early intervention services, except parent education programs, involved a professional working directly with their child.
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Acknowledgments
Andrew Whitehouse is supported by a Senior Research Fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council (1077966). The authors would like to thank Pauline McCallum for her assistance in the analysis of funding methods, and Lisa Woods for her statistical advice.
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CW assisted with study design and methodology, conducted the majority of the data analysis, and wrote the draft of the paper. AJOW assisted with the methodology and data analysis and provided edits on the manuscript. HW assisted with the study design and methodology, conducted the analyses related to funding and ethnicity, and provided edits on the manuscript.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee: #257743.
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Informed consent was obtained for all individual participants included in the study.
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Wallace-Watkin, C., Whitehouse, A.J.O. & Waddington, H. Early Intervention Delivery Methods for New Zealand Children with Autism: Current Practices Versus Parental Preferences. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 3199–3211 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04777-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04777-w