Abstract:
Given that parents are heavily involved in their child’s intervention and is suggested to be an important predictor in intervention success, there has been a lack of research on parenting within the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) population. The research so far has only looked at the processes in obtaining a medical diagnosis, and how parental responsiveness or shared-activities foster language and positive behaviour in children with ASD. This study utilises the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort in exploring parenting in children with ASD concerns. This is defined as mothers who responded ASD to the question “Have any of the following been raised as a possible area of concern for (NAME)” during the 54-months data collection wave. Given that the average age of diagnosis in NZ is 6 years old (Eggleston et al., 2019) and early intervention is sought after for children with ASD (Ministry of Health & Education, 2016) it was important to explore these processes as soon as the parents notice developmental differences regardless of a diagnosis. The present study has two main objectives. First, we explored early parental experiences (i.e. challenges and highlights) at 24-months of mothers who later raised ASD concerns when their child was 54-months. Second, we investigated the extent parenting (shared activities, style and practice) predicts and/or moderates the relationship between language development and behaviour development in children with ASD concerns at 54-months of age. For both studies, we also investigated whether these experiences and parenting processes differ between children with and without ASD concerns. Findings from the research could lead to the potential development of a more contextualised support and intervention system that focuses on ‘early warning signs’ and parenting techniques to increase language and promote positive behaviour in children with ASD.