Parental Demand, Learning, and Satisfaction With Virtual Parent Coaching of Music Interventions.

Researchers tested an online program where parents learned to use music activities with their autistic children. Seven out of 11 families completed the 8-week program. Parents were very satisfied and felt they learned useful skills. They noticed improvements in their child's communication and felt they understood their child better. The online format was convenient and flexible. Some families dropped out due to time pressures.

This feasibility study evaluated an 8-week virtual parent coaching program teaching music interventions to caregivers of autistic children. Eleven participants enrolled with 7 completing the program (64% retention). Recruitment was most effective through social media versus email. Parents reported high satisfaction, appropriate learning outcomes, and observed improvements in their child's communication and their own understanding of their child.

An interventionist with limited autism-specific training achieved program fidelity quickly. Main dropout reasons were time constraints and competing responsibilities. Parents valued the accessibility and flexibility of virtual delivery but suggested providing recorded music examples and tailored written materials.

Virtual parent coaching for music interventions shows promise for accessibility but requires careful screening for parental availability and motivation. Social media recruitment strategies may be more effective. Programs should consider providing recorded examples and individualized materials to enhance engagement and learning outcomes.

Very small sample size (11 participants, 7 completers). No control group or objective outcome measures reported. High dropout rate (36%). Study focused on feasibility rather than effectiveness. Single interventionist limits generalizability of training findings.

Virtual music therapy services became common during the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained a viable option for communities with access barriers. Parent coaching is a specific intervention where primary caregivers learn evidence-based strategies to support their children's development. Virtual music parent coaching has initial evidence of feasibility for families of autistic children. In this study, we used quantitative and qualitative measures to evaluate an 8-week parent coaching program.

Feasibility aspects included parental demand, retention, learning, and satisfaction, interventionist's fidelity to the coaching program, and primary caregiver perspectives of outcomes, challenges, and benefits. Results indicated that caregivers learned about the research opportunity mainly through social media, with much lower response to email invitations. Eleven participants enrolled in the study, but 7 completed the program, for a 64% retention rate. Main reasons to drop out were time constraints and other responsibilities.

Parents reported a high level of satisfaction and appropriate learning, as well as meaningful changes in their child's communication, understanding their child better, and valuing the accessibility and flexibility of the virtual modality. An interventionist with limited specialized training in autism but appropriate clinical experience achieved fidelity in the parent coaching model quickly. Caregivers' recommendations for improvement included providing recorded examples of the music and tailoring the written materials to each family. Suggestions for future research and practice include prioritizing social media as recruiting medium, evaluating parental disposition and time availability before initiating the program, considering siblings' needs, investigating cost effectiveness, and emphasizing the interventionist's collaborative approach with the parent.