THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY INTERVENTION FOCUSED ON PARENT TRAINING FOR PRESCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN WITH AUTISM: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW
Increased number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has also heightened interest in finding and providing appropriate interventions. Early intervention is implemented at the moment when deviations are noticed, without waiting for an official diagnosis. Parents are crucial participants in interventions carried out with children; therefore, this research considers interventions focused on training parents to work with children with ASD up to the age of six. For the purposes of this paper, we searched the following journals: Autism, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, and Research in Autism. The search was limited to editions from 2012 to 2022, and the following keywords were considered: parent training, early intervention, autism. References were searched manually. The initial search yielded a total of 992 articles. Twenty-four studies related to children up to six years old and involving parent training in early intervention were included in the analysis. Using a tool for assessing quantitative studies, the selected studies were evaluated, with each component assessed based on the information contained in the study as good, moderate, or weak. The overall rating for the paper can be strong, moderate, or weak. This paper highlights the importance of support to enhance parental competencies.