The Perspectives and Attitudes of Parents and Specialists at the Autism Centre in Riyadh Regarding the Effectiveness of Applied Behaviour analysis for Children with Severe Autism.

Abstract

Extensive research has shown that Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) has a positive impact in children with autism. The main aim of this research was to understand the parents’ and RBT specialists’ perspectives and attitudes towards ABA in the Saudi context. The focus in this study was on three main aspects: one, the level of parents' knowledge of ABA and their cooperation with the RBT specialist, and its relationship to their attitude towards ABA; two, the RBT specialists' perspectives on ABA with children with autism; three, the effectiveness of ABA in terms of enhancing the social skills of children with severe autism. The case study was the Autism Centre and the target group was the parents of children with autism and RBT specialists in this centre in Riyadh. The study’s design used a single case study approach, and data were collected through an online questionnaire, which was distributed to parents for this study and was filled by twelve parents. The semi- structured interviews, on the other hand, were conducted with four participants (RBT specialists). The findings of the study showed that parents and RBT specialists adopted a positive attitude towards ABA. In addition, one of the most significant findings to emerge from this study is that ABA was shown to be an effective approach with children with autism.