TY - JOUR

T1 - UK parents’ beliefs about applied behaviour analysis as an approach to autism education

AU - Denne, Louise

AU - Hastings, Richard

AU - Hughes, John

N1 - 2017 Taylor & Francis. This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record.

PY - 2017/10

Y1 - 2017/10

N2 - Research into factors underlying the dissemination of evidence-based practice is limited within the field of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). This is pertinent, particularly in the UK where national policies and guidelines do not reflect the emerging ABA evidence base, or policies and practices elsewhere. Theories of evidence-based practice in education and policy suggest that decision makers’‘perceptions’ of evidence are significant factors in dissemination. For professionals, scientific evidence is often critical. For others, including parents, experiential and anecdotal evidence can be as important. Within autism education, parents are often, and not necessarily by choice, key decision makers. This study is the first to try to identify and quantify UK parents’ beliefs about ABA in the education and support of children with autism. We developed and tested, using an internet survey method, the Parental Beliefs about ABA and Autism scale (P-BAA). Current and/or past use by parents of any behaviorally based approach including ABA was a significant predictor of P-BAA scores as were parent education, household income and child diagnosis: experience of a behaviorally based approach, higher levels of education and income and children at the more ‘severe’ end of the autism spectrum were associated with more positive beliefs about ABA.

AB - Research into factors underlying the dissemination of evidence-based practice is limited within the field of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). This is pertinent, particularly in the UK where national policies and guidelines do not reflect the emerging ABA evidence base, or policies and practices elsewhere. Theories of evidence-based practice in education and policy suggest that decision makers’‘perceptions’ of evidence are significant factors in dissemination. For professionals, scientific evidence is often critical. For others, including parents, experiential and anecdotal evidence can be as important. Within autism education, parents are often, and not necessarily by choice, key decision makers. This study is the first to try to identify and quantify UK parents’ beliefs about ABA in the education and support of children with autism. We developed and tested, using an internet survey method, the Parental Beliefs about ABA and Autism scale (P-BAA). Current and/or past use by parents of any behaviorally based approach including ABA was a significant predictor of P-BAA scores as were parent education, household income and child diagnosis: experience of a behaviorally based approach, higher levels of education and income and children at the more ‘severe’ end of the autism spectrum were associated with more positive beliefs about ABA.

U2 - 10.1080/08856257.2017.1297568

DO - 10.1080/08856257.2017.1297568

M3 - Article

VL - 32

SP - 543

EP - 555

JO - European Journal of Special Needs Education

JF - European Journal of Special Needs Education

SN - 0885-6257

IS - 4

ER -