“I’m not in this alone” the perspective of parents mediating a physical activity intervention for their children with autism spectrum disorder

Web-based, parent-mediated interventions have shown to be beneficial for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a variety of domains. We aimed to examine how parents of children with ASD perceive mediating a physical activity intervention delivered via a private Facebook group. Thirteen fam...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Research in developmental disabilities 2018-12, Vol.83, p.160-167
Main Authors: Healy, Seán, Marchand, Geneviève, Williams, Edward
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder - physiopathology
Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology
Child
Child, Preschool
Early Intervention (Education) - organization & administration
Exercise
Exercise - physiology
Exercise - psychology
Facebook
Female
Humans
Male
Parents
Parents - psychology
Physical activity
Self-Help Groups - organization & administration
Telehealth
Telemedicine - methods
United States
Web Browser
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Summary:Web-based, parent-mediated interventions have shown to be beneficial for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a variety of domains. We aimed to examine how parents of children with ASD perceive mediating a physical activity intervention delivered via a private Facebook group. Thirteen families participated in a four-week trial of Project CHASE. Inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and interactions within the Facebook group were conducted to elicit the perspective of the parents. Thematic analysis resulted in three themes emerging: (1) ‘Remembering to Act’ encompassed the participants’ perspectives of Project CHASE as being an intervention that reminded them of the importance of physical activity, and served as a prompt for them to take action; (2) ‘A sharing community’ included the subthemes of ‘sharing success and struggles’ and ‘sharing ideas’; and, (3) ‘Taking control: possibilities and problems’ encapsulates the dichotomy between participants who spoke of embracing and rising to the challenge of taking control, with the parents who spoke of the need for more support, direction, and guidance. The current study suggests parent-mediated, web-based interventions may have the potential for improving the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for children with ASD.
ISSN:0891-4222
1873-3379
DOI:10.1016/j.ridd.2018.08.014