Research Information System
CROATIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION-HRVATSKI CASOPIS ZA ODGOJ I OBRAZOVANJE, vol.27, no.3, pp.989-1033, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus)
The need for family-centered and evidence-based interventions to support communication and social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing. This study examined the effect of the instruction parents received from the researcher on their ability to implement the mand model correctly and effectively. In addition, the implications of parents' mand-model teaching on the social skills of children with ASD were evaluated. Furthermore, the interventions' social validity was assessed through individual interviews with the parents and through social comparisons with typically developing peers. Four parent-child pairs participated in the study, and a multiple-probe design was used in accordance with single-subject research methods. The research results show that parents learned the mand-model instruction through the coaching, maintained these skills after the intervention and generalized them to new situations. Data from the children revealed that the mandmodel instruction provided by the parents positively affected childrens' social skills. The children continued to use the skills they acquired after the study ended and were able to generalize them to different situations.