---

---

“Drawing on a wealth of experience and a command of the scientific literature, Rogers, Vismara, and Dawson have crafted a unique and valuable guide. The book is filled with wisdom, practical advice, immediately usable tools, examples, and summaries of the science (to which the authors themselves have contributed greatly). It will be immediately useful to practitioners who currently provide parent coaching, as well as coaches in training. While it focuses on autism and other developmental disorders, I expect that this book will become a go-to resource for anyone who works with families of young children in home settings.”

—Samuel L. Odom, PhD, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


“The unique voice of the authors comes across—confident in the ability to help, but also realistic; flexible and creative, but also clear and organized. This book exudes enormous respect for the irreplaceable role of parents in the lives of their children, and empathy for the difficulties that parents of children with ASD can experience. It describes the significant contribution of the coach as a well-traveled guide who can provide the parent a secure base for joint, collaborative exploration. The authors emphasize the importance of the parent coach’s creativity, flexibility, commitment, and humility, and they embody these characteristics themselves.”

—David Oppenheim, PhD, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel


“This book provides systematic strategies for coaching parents to support learning in young children with autism. It emphasizes how to teach parents basic behavioral principles, and includes specific examples, helpful checklists and tables, and detailed ways to address the challenges of this work. This how-to manual on collaborative coaching is a rich, supportive introduction to this important approach to working with young children with autism.”

—Catherine Lord, PhD, ABPP, George Tarjan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Education, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles


“An easy-to-read, user-friendly guide for early intervention practitioners. The book demonstrates how to move from a practitioner–child focus to a focus on supporting caregivers to promote children's learning within and across their daily activities. The authors bring together research about adult learning and family-centered coaching with their experiences as developers of the highly regarded Early Start Denver Model. The book provides a parent coaching toolkit for ASD that is equally relevant for preservice students and for practitioners who have been working with young children with ASD and their families for many years.”

—Dathan Rush, EdD, CCC-SLP, Director, The Family, Infant, and Preschool Program (FIPP), North Carolina

---

Table of Contents

1. Helping Parents Help Their Young Children with Autism: An Introduction

2. Key Practices in Coaching Parents in Parent-Implemented Interventions

3. Becoming a Coach: Knowledge, Characteristics, and Supports

4. The Coach’s Tools

5. Assessment, Goal Setting, and Treatment Planning

6. Parent Coaching Sessions

7. Guides for Introducing Intervention Topics and Strategies to Caregivers

8. Variations in Coaching Practices

9. Looking to the Future: Challenges and Opportunities

Appendix A. Handouts and Checklists Used Routinely in Parent Coaching Sessions

Appendix B. P-ESDM Infant–Toddler Curriculum Checklist

Appendix C. Parent-Friendly Data-Tracking Tools

References

Index

---

About the Authors

Sally J. Rogers, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the MIND Institute, UC Davis Health, University of California, Davis. A developmental psychologist, she has been involved at the international level in major clinical and research activities on autism for many decades. She has served as president of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) and was a member of the DSM-5 Work Group on autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Dr. Rogers has spent her entire career studying cognitive and social-communicative development and intervention in young children with disabilities and has published over 300 scientific papers, books, and chapters. As a licensed psychologist, she has provided clinical care to hundreds of infants and young children and their families in Michigan, Missouri, Colorado, and California. Dr. Rogers is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and INSAR, and has received numerous awards for her contributions to the field of developmental disabilities. She is ranked in the top 1% of Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers.

• All titles by Sally J. Rogers

Laurie A. Vismara, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA, has spent her research career working closely with families with autism and contributing to the science and program development of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). She is coauthor of An Early Start for Your Child with Autism (for parents) and Coaching Parents of Young Children with Autism (for professionals). Dr. Vismara uses telehealth platforms and travels throughout the United States and internationally to help families, publicly funded programs, and universities develop ESDM in their communities.

• All titles by Laurie A. Vismara

Geraldine Dawson, PhD, is the William Cleland Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University, and is founding Director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development. She also directs the Duke NIH Autism Center of Excellence. A psychologist and researcher, Dr. Dawson has published more than 400 articles and chapters and 13 books on early autism detection and intervention and brain development. Her studies have been recognized as among the top 20 annual advances in autism research by the National Institutes of Health 13 times. Dr. Dawson has served as president of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) and was the first Chief Science Officer for Autism Speaks, the largest autism science and advocacy organization. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and INSAR, and has received numerous awards for her contributions to research. She is ranked in the top 1% of Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers.

• Author's website
• All titles by Geraldine Dawson

---

Audience

Early intervention specialists, early childhood educators, clinical and school psychologists, child psychiatrists, social workers, ABA specialists, speech–language pathologists, occupational therapists, neuropsychologists, and pediatricians.