A Collaborative Approach to Speech and Language Therapy: Perspectives of Arabic and Non-Arabic Speaking Caregivers

Abstract

Parent Mediated Intervention (PMI) is a type of early intervention that provides evidence-based and systematic training to parents as part of their child’s speech and language therapy treatment. This intervention is oftentimes video-aided and communication-focused for young children with social (pragmatic) communication disorders or autism spectrum disorder. Research shows that this intervention can improve the child’s communication and overall family quality of life. PMI is one of the most cost-effective and ecologically validating approaches to promoting social communication in children with ASD and social communication difficulties. However, research on how parents perceive this experience is limited. There is even less research on the perspectives of multilingual and multicultural parents. This mixed methods study aims to explore parents’ perspectives of their participation in PMI. Specific research questions include (1) What are parents’ perceptions of parent mediated intervention? (2) Do Arabic and non-Arabic speakers hold differing perspectives on their experiences with parent-mediated intervention? Results from 3 parents of children with ASD indicate that parents generally had positive experiences with PMI with some variability with the degree of satisfaction. Bilingual parents, however, emphasised a desire for more individual time with the specialist, which may reflect cultural and linguistic considerations. These findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the small sample size, and warrants further research with a more diverse and larger sample.