The effects of training provided by expert to parent and parent to parent in teaching social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of the training provided by the expert to the parent, and by the parent to the parent in mothers' implementation of cool versus not cool procedure (CNC) with high reliability, generalization, and maintenance 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the application was completed. Another purpose of the study was to determine the effects of the CNC provided by mothers using on the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of social skills by their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) 2, 4, and 8 weeks after the intervention. Social validity interviews have been also conducted with the mothers to identify their opinions regarding the study. Three mothers aged between 35-40 years and their children aged between 12-14 years participated in the first phase of the research and three mothers aged between 30-45 years and their children aged between 6-10 years participated in the second phase. This study employed a multiple probe design with probes to determine the effects of the training provided by the expert and parents and the social skills training provided by mothers to their children. The findings indicated that the trainings introduced by the expert and parents were effective in mothers' implementation of the CNC with high reliability, generalization across different skills and maintenance 2, 4, and 8 weeks after the intervention. The findings also showed that trainings provided by the mothers were effective on acquisition of social skills by their children, generalization across different people, and maintenance 2, 4, and 8 weeks after the intervention. Social validity findings showed that mothers were satisfied with the intervention process, the procedure, and using the procedure. Key Words: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Parent education, Parent-to-parent education, Social skills