Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 264

Yazici, D. N. & Akman, B. (2020). The expectations of parents having children with autism from early intervention programs.
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 12(1), 264-276. doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
Research Article-Received:07.08.2018 Accepted: 17.05.2020

The Expectations
Dila Nur Yazici 1
ORCID: 0000-0003-3340-4901 of Parents Having Children
Berrin Akman 2
ORCID: 0000-0001-5668-4382
with Autism From
Early Intervention Programs*

Abstract
There are still efforts to develop family-based or institution-based early intervention prog-
rams for autism spectrum disorder, which can be treated with intensive and continuous
education. The early approaches regarding the education of children with autism involved
programs in which trainers and children worked together intensively. However, programs
including the active participation of parents have started to be developed recently. Yet,
there are no studies in the literature that involve or dwell on the expectations of parents in
these programs. Hence, this study aims to reveal the expectations of parents having child-
ren with autism from early intervention programs. To this end, semi-structured interviews
were made with 15 parents. The responses were analyzed via content analysis. The study
found that parents have different expectations regarding play, communication, interaction,
behavior, and daily life skills depending on children’s development process. The data are
discussed in light of the relevant literature.

Keywords: Autism, early intervention, family-based intervention programs, expectations

Introduction repeating words irrelevant to the current

situation, repeating words or phrases
constantly, and not having conversations
Autism refers to a developmental disorder
with peers or adults). They also display
of childhood that typically appears in the
stereotypical behaviors (e.g., looking at
first three years of life, results in a difficulty
hands, objects or a stimulus for at least 5
in communicating and interacting with pe-
seconds without turning their eyes away;
ople, and is characterized by repetitive
tasting, sucking, or trying to eat inedible
behaviors and social, emotional, and cog-
objects; rolling or spinning objects not de-
nitive dysfunction (Hall, 2013; Kirk, Gal-
signed for that purpose). When the stu-
lagher and Anastasiow, 2002 cited in Su-
dies on the prevalence of autism are
cuoğlu, 2011). As this definition suggests,
examined, it is seen that the prevalence
children with autism have problems in so-
(Lotter, 1966), which was 4.5 / 10000 in
cial interaction (e.g., avoiding eye contact;
1966, went towards 1/59. This reveals the
averting eyes when someone looks at; re-
importance of early intervention programs
jecting others' physical contact; being dis-
for these children, given that the only tre-
tant, indifferent, withdrawn, and introver-
atment of autism is intensive and continu-
ted in a group; and ignoring people when
ous education.
they meet or are introduced to) and ver-
bal/non-verbal communication (e.g.,

1
Ph.D., Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, Samsun, TURKEY.
e-mail: dilanur.yazici@omu.edu.tr
*Corresponding author.
2
Ph.D., Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, Ankara, TURKEY.
e-mail: bakman@hacettepe.edu.tr

* This study was produced from a part of the first author's doctoral thesis under the supervision of the second author.

International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 265
Early intervention is a term that refers
to a broad array of activities designed to
enhance a young child's development (Ra-
mey&Ramey, 1998). Simeonsson (1991)
emphaszies that early intervention is a
three-stage prevention structure. Interven-
tion in primary prevention aims to prevent
the emergence of the expected problem
with a general or risky group, to remove
existing early signs to a high-risk group in
secondary prevention and to prevent more
serious problems, and in tertiary preven-
tion the intervention aims to solve the af-
fected population and serious current
problems (Akt: Dunst, Trivette and Thomp-
son, 1994).
When early intervention programs for
children with autism are examined, altho-
ugh there are studies on primary and se-
condary prevention (Estes et al., 2013;
Green et al., 2013; Gulsrud, Helleman,
Shire & Kasari, 2016; Kasari et al., 2014;
Rogers et al. et al., 2012) programs are ge-
nerally seen as aimed at tertiary preven-
tion. When the studies on tertiary preven-
tion are examined, it is seen that studies
aiming to teach skills to children with au-
tism are predominant. As a result of this
research, behavioral problems and ASD
scores of children with autism decreased,
increase in play skills, increase in interac-
tion with parents, other adults and peers,
increase in language development, incre-
ase in communication skills, increase in
common attention, focus, ordering, adap-
tation and attention skills and increase in
social interactions. (Aydın, 2002; Carter et
al., 2011; Drew et al., 2002; Güleç Aslan,
2008; Gürel Selimoğlu, 2015; Howlin,
1981; Ilg et al., 2018; Karaaslan, Diken &
Mahoney, 2013; Keen., Couzens,
Muspratt & Rodger, 2010; McConkey,
Macleod & Cassidy, 2011; Rogers et al.;
2012; Schertz & Odom, 2007; Taymaz-
Sari, Harvest & November, 2017; Toper
Korkmaz, 2015). In parallel with these de-
velopments in children with autism, the re-
sults of the study revealed that there was
an increase in parental skills and a decre-
ase in parental stress (Aldred et al., 2004;
Ilg et al., 2018; Karaaslan, Diken & Maho-
ney, 2013; McConkey, Macleod & Cas-
sidy, 2011; Toper Korkmaz, 2015). This
demonstrates the importance of early in-
tervention programs for children with au-
tism. This study aims to investigate the
expectations of parents from early
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
intervention programs. Thus, the ques-
tions below are tried to be answered:
1. What are the expectations of parents
having children with autism from inter-
vention programs regarding the deve-
lopment of play skills of their children
with autism?
2. What are the expectations of parents
having children with autism from inter-
vention programs regarding the deve-
lopment of communication skills of their
children with autism?
3. What are the expectations of parents
having children with autism from inter-
vention programs regarding the deve-
lopment of social interaction skills of
their children with autism?
4. What are the expectations of parents
having children with autism from inter-
vention programs regarding the deve-
lopment of behavior skills of their child-
ren with autism?
5. What are the expectations of parents
having children with autism from inter-
vention programs regarding the deve-
lopment of daily life skills of their child-
ren with autism?
6. What are the other expectations of
parents having children with autism
from intervention programs?
Method
Research model
In this study, which aims to determine the
expectations of parents with autism from
early intervention programs, a basic quali-
tative research method is used. Qualitative
research is defined as a method that inclu-
des data analyzes that establish both in-
ductive and deductive patterns and the-
mes, starting with the use of interpretive /
theoretical frameworks that include as-
sumptions and the meanings attributed to
individuals or groups to a social or human
problem and include the study of research
problems Cres (Creswell, 2013). Although
researchers do not reach a consensus on
qualitative research types, there are gene-
rally six types of qualitative research. In
this study, basic qualitative research which
is one of the qualitative research types is
used. Using basic qualitative research, re-
searchers are interested in how people in-
terpret their lives, how they build their
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 266
world with this information they interpret,
and how they make sense of their expe-
rience. Basic qualitative research is one of
the most commonly used techniques in
education and data is collected through in-
terviews, observations or document analy-
sis (Merriam, 2013).
Participants
The study group consists of 15 parents ha-
ving children with autism in early child-
hood. The snowball sampling method,
which is a purposive sampling method,
was employed to determine the study
group. Purposive sampling methods emer-
ged within the qualitative research tradi-
tion. This method allows researchers to
study the cases that are expected to offer
rich information in-depth (Yıldırım and
Şimşek, 2011). This is why the present
study used purposive sampling. In the
snowball sampling method, each partici-
pant is asked to recommend another pros-
pective participant who bears certain cha-
racteristics and is willing to participate in
the study, to make the study group bigger
(Jonhnson and Christensen, 2010; Patton,
1987). Of the participants in this study, 11
are females, and four are males. Six of the
participants are aged between 27 and 32;
five are aged between 33 and 39; and four
are aged between 40 and 45. Three parti-
cipants are teachers; two are workers; one
is a child development specialist; and nine
are housewives. Three participants are
elementary school graduates; one is a pri-
mary school graduate; six are high school
graduates; four have a bachelor degree;
and one have a master’s degree. One of
the participants has a monthly income of
208.33 $; three have 390.625 $; four have
520.83 $; one has 781.250 $; 12 have
1041.66 $; three have 1302.083 $; and two
have 1822.916 $. 14 of the children with
autism are males, and one is a female. 10
of the children were diagnosed with mild
autism, four diagnosed with moderate and
one was diagnosed with severe autism. Of
children, seven are in the age group of five,
and eight are in the age group of six. Eight
of them have one sibling; two have two sib-
lings, one has three siblings; and four have
no siblings. One of the children has a sib-
ling with special needs (autism, indeed).
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
Data Collection Tools
“Demographic Information Form” and “Pa-
rents Interview Form” were employed for
data collection. The Demographic Informa-
tion Form contains ten questions about pa-
rents, family, and the child with autism.
The Parents Interview Form, on the other
hand, consists of five questions regarding
play, communication, social interaction,
behavior, and daily life skills, which are the
common points children with autism have
difficulty in, and another question for pa-
rents to add any additional issues. Inter-
view questions were formed in parallel with
the contents of early intervention programs
with relevant research in the literature (Ay-
dın, 2002; Drew et al., 2002; Fulton et al.,
2014; Keen, Couzens, Muspratt & Rodger,
2010; McConkey, Macleod & Cassidy,
2011; Taymaz Sarı, Mower & November,
2017). Interview questions were prepared
by three special education and two presc-
hool education specialists. The questions
were sent to two faculty members specia-
lized in special education in early child-
hood. After the corrections were made, a
pilot study was conducted with one of the
parents. At the end of the pilot study, the
questions were determined to be suitable
for the study. Hence, the main study was
carried out.
Collection of Data
The interview method was employed to
collect data. The interview method, which
is of the most frequently employed met-
hods in qualitative research, refers to a
mutual and interactive communication pro-
cess based on questions and responses
(Stewart and Cash, 1985, p. 7). The inter-
view method was selected in the present
study because it allows elaborating on par-
ticipants’ emotions, motivations, and beli-
efs regarding the research subject. Patton
(1987) distinguishes three types of inter-
views that are informal, conversational in-
terview; interview guide approach; and
standardized open-ended interview. The
present study used the interview guide
approach. In this approach, researchers
are free both to ask the questions previo-
usly prepared to be loyal to the pre-defined
issues or areas and to ask additional ques-
tions regarding the questions they prepa-
red previously to get more detailed infor-
mation (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2011). The
interviews were carried out either in the
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 267
participants’ houses or somewhere quiet
outside their houses by making prior appo-
intments for the dates from the 1st of Sep-
tember to the 1st October in 2017. Before
the interviews, the purpose of the study
was explained to the participants; they
were assured that all the details would be
kept confidential; and the participant app-
rovals were received for voice recording.
Pen and paper were also kept available in
case voice recording would not be permit-
ted. The interviews took 22 to 97 minutes.
Data Analysis
Content analysis was employed to analyze
the data. Content analysis involves any ef-
fort to reduce and explain qualitative data
from a voluminous qualitative material in
order to reveal basic consistencies and
meanings (Patton, 2015). In the present
study, the data were analyzed by following
the steps below:
1. After the completion of the data col-
lection, the audio files of each interview
were named P.1, P.2, etc. A folder was
opened on computer. The audio files were
uploaded to a separate Microsoft Office
Word file for each parent. Then the audio
files were transferred to interview forms
without any changes. After the transcrip-
tion of all the interviews, the data of three
parents (20% of the interviews) who were
randomly selected were confirmed by
another researcher who did not transcribe.
2. After the completion of the transc-
ription, the researchers coded the data in-
dependently and decided on the themes.
Then the researchers came together and
analyzed the themes of one another. They
discussed the differences between their
opinions to arrive at a consensus. After ar-
riving at a consensus, the codes and the-
mes were organized to define and interpret
the findings. Finally, two of the parents
who participated in the study (13%) read
the findings to state whether the findings
reflected their opinions or not. The partici-
pants stated that the findings completely
reflected their opinions.
Validity and Reliability of the Study
In order to ensure the internal validity of
the study, long-term interaction, expert
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
review and participant confirmation were
used. During the long-term interaction, the
participants went to their homes once be-
fore having the actual interview with the
participants and asked questions in a chat
environment without using a recorder. Af-
ter these questions, necessary notes were
recorded in the journal and additional
questions were taken. In addition, neces-
sary notes were taken about the dynamics
of the home and the second interview was
held at the most appropriate time for the
family. In the expert review, the interview
questions were sent to the field experts
and necessary additions were made. For
the confirmation of the participants, two of
the parents who participated in the study
were read the findings and asked whether
the findings reflect their thoughts. The par-
ticipants stated that the findings fully ref-
lect their thoughts. In order to ensure the
external validity of the study, detailed
description and purposeful sampling were
used. For the reliability method, consen-
sus among the coders was used.
Researcher Diary
During the first interviews, the researcher
diary was kept. During the first interviews,
the participants were asked questions in
the chat environment without any audio re-
cording. During the conversation, parents'
play, communication and interaction beha-
viors with their children were observed and
notes were taken for the second interview.
In accordance with these notes, additional
questions were prepared for the inter-
views. Below are examples from the rese-
arch journal.
“P.7 mentioned that he did not come to his pe-
ers because his child was constantly returning
to the playground. He wants his child to play
with his peers and communicate.”
“P.13 mentioned that his child had almost no
eye contact with him. She said that she wanted
her child to make eye contact with her, and that
she felt as if the child could not bear to look at
her.”
“During the interview with P.1, the child began
to bite himself.”
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 268

Results child share his/her toys, to teach the child

The Expectations of Parents Having Child-
ren with Autism from Intervention Prog-
rams Regarding the Play Skills of Their
Children with Autism
The first sub-purpose of this study, which
aims to determine the expectations of pa-
rents having children with autism regar-
ding the content of intervention programs,
is to find an answer to the question “What
are the expectations of parents having
children with autism from intervention
programs regarding the development of
play skills of their children with autism?”.
To this end, the parents were addressed
the question “What kind of information re-
garding plays should be included in an
early intervention program you would par-
ticipate in?”. The parents’ responses are
presented in Table 1.
Table 1 shows that the responses
were given in three categories: the needs
about what parents can do, the needs
about play types, and the needs about pla-
ying with peers. The needs about what pa-
rents can do include the things that can be
done to attract the attention of the child to
the game, to focus the child on the play, to
make the child enjoy the play, to make the
how to behave appropriately for the play,
to teach playmaking to the child, to be in-
volved in the play area of the child, to keep
joint attention during the play, and to learn
how to play with the child whereas the ne-
eds about play types include information
about mind developing plays, plays that
are beneficial for the child, persuading the
child to start playing with toys, and the
plays that improve fine motor skills. On the
other hand, the needs about playing with
peers include participating in play groups,
approaching other children, and having
play groups for children with autism. P.1
and P.8 expressed their opinions as fol-
lows:
“Children with autism know nothing about play.
They do not join other children, but they stay by
children’s side. But I wish s/he were in a play
group. Also, there is a need for play groups for
this kind of children. This is because the child
does not know how to play. I wish I knew how I
can make my child be a part of a play group.”
(P.1)
“I want to know what I should focus on to draw
his/her attention to plays, to make him/her fo-
cused, and to make him/her enjoy this pro-
cess.” (P.8)

Table 1.
The parents’ expectations regarding play from early intervention programs
Responses f
The Needs About What Parents Can Do
Things parents can do to attract the attention of the child to the game 3
Things parents can do to focus their child on the play 3
Things parents can do to make their child enjoy the play 1
Things parents can do to make their child share his/her toys 1
Things parents can do to teach their child how to behave appropriately for the play 1
Things parents can do to teach playmaking to their child 1
Things parents can do to be involved in the play area of their child 1
Things parents can do to keep joint attention during the play 1
To learn how to play with the child 1
Total 13
The Needs About Play Types
Informing about mind developing plays 2
Informing about the plays that are beneficial for the child 1
Persuading the child to start playing with toys 1
Plays that improve fine motor skills 1
Total 5
The Needs About Playing with Peers
Participating in play groups 6
Approaching other children 3
Having play groups for children with autism 1
Total 10

International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 269

The Expectations of Parents Having Child- techniques regarding language develop-

ren with Autism from Intervention Prog-
rams Regarding the Communication Skills
of Their Children with Autism
The second sub-purpose of this study is to
find an answer to the question “What are
the expectations of parents having child-
ren with autism from intervention programs
regarding the development of communica-
tion skills of their children with autism?”. To
this end, the parents were addressed the
question “What kind of information regar-
ding the development of communication
skills should be included in an early inter-
vention program you would participate
in?”. The parents’ responses are given in
Table 2.
Table 2 shows that the responses
were given in two categories: the needs
about the child and the needs about family.
The needs about the child include informa-
tion about how to prolong the duration of
eye contact, information about the tips to
keep the communication, information
about how s/he can approach strangers in
a warm way, information about how s/he
can communicate with peers, information
about how s/he can get in line, information
about how s/he can express his/her needs,
and information about how s/he can com-
municate with his/her sibling with autism
whereas the needs about family include in-
formation about how to start interaction
with the child, information about the
ment, information about how family should
behave, information about having a con-
versation, and information about how to
make sense of the conversation. P.3 and
P.14 expressed their opinions as follows:
“Honestly, right now, I am desperately in need
of all kinds of information about how my child
can start interaction, talk with his peers, get in
line, and express his needs.” (P.3)
“It would be nice to know how to engage in con-
versation and make eye contact with my child.”
(P.14)
The Expectations of Parents Having Child-
ren with Autism from Intervention Prog-
rams Regarding the Social Interaction
Skills of Their Children with Autism
The third sub-purpose of this study is to
find an answer to the question “What are
the expectations of parents having child-
ren with autism from intervention programs
regarding the development of social inte-
raction skills of their children with autism?”.
To this end, the parents were addressed
the question “What kind of information re-
garding the development of social interac-
tion skills should be included in an early in-
tervention program you would participate
in?”. The parents’ responses are given in
Table 3.

Table 2.
The parents’ expectations regarding communication skills from early intervention programs
Responses f
The Needs About the Child
Information about how to prolong the duration of eye contact 5
Information about the tips to keep the communication 4
Information about how s/he can approach strangers in a warm way 3
Information about how s/he can communicate with peers 3
Information about how s/he can get in line 2
Information about how s/he can express his/her needs 2
Information about how s/he can communicate with his/her sibling with autism 2
Total 21
The Needs About Family
Information about how to start interaction with the child 5
Information about the techniques regarding language development 3
Information about how family should behave 2
Information about having a conversation 2
Information about how to make sense of the conversation 2
Total 14

International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 270

Table 3.
The parents’ expectations regarding social interaction skills from early intervention programs
Responses f
Social Relations
Information about his/her behaving appropriately for social order in an environment 5
Information about how s/he can be an active individual within society 4
Information about how s/he can be agreeable 2
Information about how to reduce tantrums in response to noise when outside 2
Information about how s/he can make interaction with people outside his/her family 2
Information about how s/he can respond when asked a question 2
Information about how s/he can make an eye contact 2
Total 19
Peer Relations
Information about how s/he can interact with peers 8
Information about how s/he can start playing with peers 3
Information about how s/he can have himself/herself be accepted among peers 2
Total 13

Table 3 shows that the responses
were given in two categories: social relati-
ons and peer relations. The category of so-
cial relations includes the responses infor-
mation about his/her behaving appropria-
tely for social order in an environment, in-
formation about how s/he can be an active
individual within society, information about
how s/he can be agreeable, information
about how to reduce tantrums in response
to noise when outside, information about
how s/he can make interaction with people
outside his/her family, information about
how s/he can respond when asked a ques-
tion, and information about how s/he can
make an eye contact whereas the cate-
gory of peer relations includes the respon-
ses information about how s/he can inte-
ract with peers, information about how
s/he can start playing with peers, and in-
formation about how s/he can have him-
self/herself be accepted among peers. P.7
and P.11 expressed their opinions as fol-
lows:
“He is already a calm child at home; however,
he has tantrums in response to noise and so-
und when outside. I would like to attend a prog-
ram where I will be informed about what kind of
an attitude I should adopt when this happens.”
(P.7)
“… I would like to attend to a program that inc-
ludes tips about how his peers can accept him
as the way he is.” (P.11)
The Expectations of Parents Having Child-
ren with Autism from Intervention Prog-
rams Regarding the Behavior Skills of
Their Children with Autism
The fourth sub-purpose of this study is to
find an answer to the question “What are
the expectations of parents having child-
ren with autism from intervention programs
regarding the development of behavior
skills of their children with autism?”. To this
end, the parents were addressed the
question “What kind of information regar-
ding behavior skills should be included in
an early intervention program you would
participate in?”. The parents’ responses
are given in Table 4.
Table 4 shows that the responses
were given in four categories: tantrums,
damaging behaviors, stereotypical behavi-
ors, and getting on well. The category of
tantrum includes the responses informa-
tion about how to behave when the child
has tantrums, information about how to re-
duce the tantrums, and information about
how to reduce crying whereas the cate-
gory of damaging behaviors includes the
responses information about how to elimi-
nate self-damaging behaviors, information
about how to eliminate damaging behavi-
ors towards peers, and information about
how to reduce aggressive behaviors. On
the other hand, the category of stereotypi-
cal behaviors includes the responses infor-
mation about how to correct obsessive be-
haviors, information about how to termi-
nate their talking to themselves, informa-
tion about how to end loud screams, and
having controlled behaviors while the cate-
gory of getting on well includes the respon-
ses information about how s/he can get on
well with his/her siblings and information
about how s/he can share with peers. P.9
and P.15 expressed their opinions as fol-
lows:
“I would like to be informed about how he can
share with peers, and particularly how to

International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 271
behave when he has tantrums, like, what kind
of a path I should follow.” (P.9)
“…finally, he damages himself much. He cons-
tantly hits his face, pulls his hair, and bites his
hands. His damaging himself makes me
overwhelmed. I can terminate such behaviors,
but I need much support for that.” (P.15)
The Expectations of Parents Having Child-
ren with Autism from Intervention Prog-
rams Regarding the Daily Life Skills of
Their Children with Autism
The fifth sub-purpose of this study is to find
an answer to the question “What are the
expectations of parents having children
with autism from intervention programs re-
garding the development of daily life skills
of their children with autism?”. To this end,
the parents were addressed the question
“What kind of information regarding daily
life skills should be included in an early in-
tervention program you would participate
in?”. The parents’ responses are given in
Table 5.
Table 5 shows that the responses
were given in the categories of self-care
skills, communication/interaction, and hel-
ping housework. Five parents stated that
they did not have any needs at this point.
The category of self-care includes the res-
ponses information about how to improve
Table 4.
The parents’ expectations regarding behavior skills from early intervention programs
Responses
Tantrums
Information about how to behave when the child has tantrums
Information about how to reduce the tantrums
Information about how to reduce crying
Total
Damaging behaviors
Information about how to eliminate self-damaging behaviors
Information about how to eliminate damaging behaviors towards peers
Reducing aggressive behaviors
Total
Stereotypical behaviors
Information about how to correct obsessive behaviors
Information about how to terminate their talking to themselves
Information about how to end loud screams
Having controlled behaviors
Total
Getting on well
Information about how s/he can get on well with his/her siblings
Information about how s/he can share with peers
Total
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
self-care skills, information about potty
skills, information about his/her eating on
his/her own, information for him/her not to
be a fussy eater, information about how
s/he can dress without help, and informa-
tion about how to teach daily life skills step
by step whereas the category of communi-
cation/interaction includes the responses
information about how to interact with pe-
ers at school, information about playing,
information about how s/he can start con-
versation with peers, and information
about how s/he can maintain conversation
with peers. On the other hand, the cate-
gory of helping housework includes the
responses information about how to s/he
can tidy his/her belongings and informa-
tion about what can be done to persuade
him/her to help minor housework. P.2 and
P.12 expressed their opinions as follows:
“I have a difficult time in teaching my child to dress on
his own, tidy his belongings, help minor housework,
and in potty training. It would be a relief to receive
help from a program about these issues.” (P.2)
“I can attend all the seminars to teach my child daily
life skills step by step and to equip him with these
skills.” (P.12)
f
5
5
1
11
2
2
1
5
2
1
1
1
5
2
1
3
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 272

Table 5.
The parents’ expectations regarding daily life skills from early intervention programs
Responses f
Self-care skills
Information about how to improve self-care skills 6
Information about how to improve potty skills 4
Information about his/her eating on his/her own 2
Information for him/her not to be fussy eater 1
Information about how s/he can dress without help 1
Information about how to teach daily life skills step by step 1
Total 15
Communication/interaction
Information about how s/he can interact with peers at school 1
Information about playing 1
Information about how s/he can start conversation with peers 1
Information about how s/he can maintain conversation with peers 1
Total 4
Helping housework
Information about how s/he can tidy his/her belongings 1
Information about what can be done to persuade him/her to help minor housework 1
Total 2
None 5

The Other Expectations of Parents Having
Children with Autism from Intervention
Programs
The sixth sub-purpose of this study is to
find an answer to the question “What are
the other expectations of parents having
children with autism from intervention
programs?”. To this end, the parents were
addressed the question “What kind of ot-
her information should be included in an
early intervention program you would par-
ticipate in?”. The parents’ responses are
given in Table 6.
Table 6 shows that the responses
were given in two categories: other expec-
tations about the child and other expecta-
tions about the program. The category of
other expectations about the child includes
the responses information about how to
overcome eating problems, another prog-
ram about language development,
information about teaching the level of the
child, information about how to behave
appropriately for the level of the child, in-
formation about how to deal with the nega-
tive behaviors of the child, information
about how the child can spend effective
time at home, information about how the
child can communicate, and information
about how to explore the child’s abilities
whereas the category of other expectati-
ons about the program includes the res-
ponses a program offering tips about how
other families can accept the child, infor-
ming families about the instruction met-
hods of the trainers, a program that inclu-
des families actively in the training, and a
program that offers all the information
about autism to the families. P.5 and P.13
expressed their opinions as follows:

Table 6.
The parents’ other expectations from early intervention programs
Responses f
Other Expectations About the Child
Information about how to overcome eating problems 4
Another program about language development 4
Information about teaching the level of the child 3
Information about how to behave appropriately for the level of the child 2
Information about how to deal with the negative behaviors of the child 2
Information about how the child can spend effective time at home 2
Information about how the child can communicate 2
Information about how to explore the child’s abilities 2
Total 21
Other Expectations About the Program
A program offering tips about how other families can accept the child 4
Informing families about the instruction methods of the trainers 3
A program that includes families actively in the training 2
A program that offers all the information about autism to the families 2
Total 11

International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 273
“I have so many things in my mind! For instance, how
I can deal with eating problems of my child, what I can
do to make other families accept my child, or what
kind of a path I should follow to make my child start
communicating. I believe that I am in need of an
extensive program support for all the questions in my
mind and more.” (P.5).
“I think, I would want information most about how to
behave in accordance with the level of my child. For
this, I believe I need information about the instruction
methods employed by the trainers.” (P.13)
Discussion
Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder
with symptoms appearing in early develop-
mental period. It is characterized by rest-
rictions in social interaction and social
communication across multiple contexts,
restricted interests and activities, or rest-
ricted and repetitive patterns of behavior
and cannot be explained by intellectual di-
sability or developmental delays (DSM-V,
2013). What causes it is still unknown. Its
only treatment is early and continuous
education. It is important that children are
supported in all aspects in the home envi-
ronment where they are educated infor-
mally and spend most of their time. Previ-
ous studies report that family-based early
intervention programs conducted with pa-
rents having children with autism are use-
ful for reducing the stress of these parents
and improving their positive parental skills
(Hodgetts, Savage and McConell, 2013;
McConkey et al., 2010; Samadi and
McConkey, 2009; Samadi, 2010; Sofro-
noff, Jahnel and McConell, 2013; Whitting-
ham, Sofronoff, Sheffield and Sanders,
2009) as well as supporting the child’s de-
velopment (McConkey et al., 2010; Sa-
madi, 2010; Sofronoff, Jahnel and McCo-
nell, 2013; Whittingham, Sofronoff, Sheffi-
eld and Sanders, 2009). Therefore, deve-
loping programs taking into account the
needs and observations of parents, who
know the child best, is considered very im-
portant by the researchers. To this end, the
main purpose of the present study was to
explore the expectations of parents having
children with autism from early intervention
programs. According to the research fin-
dings, with regard to the children’s play
skills, parents expect to be informed, thro-
ugh early intervention programs, about the
things they can do to attract the attention
of the child to the game, to focus the child
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
on the play, to make the child enjoy the
play, to make the child share his/her toys,
to teach the child how to behave appropri-
ately for the play, to teach playmaking to
the child, to be involved in the play area of
the child, to keep joint attention during the
play, and to learn how to play with the
child. They also want to be informed about
mind developing plays, the plays that are
beneficial for the child, how to persuade
the child to start playing with toys, and
plays that improve fine motor skills. In re-
lation to playing with peers, they expect to
be informed about participating in play gro-
ups, approaching other children, and ha-
ving play groups for children with autism.
While normally developing peers observe
and imitate to learn the plays with rules, as
it is the case with many other skills, child-
ren with autistic symptoms have difficulty
in learning in this way (Wolfberg, 1999, p.
17). Play skill deficits that are manifest in
children with autistic features generally
stem from deficits in social skills and crea-
tivity. Rare interaction with peers leads
children with autism to have restricted so-
cial skills and play behaviors on their own
or with their peers (Kırcaali-İftar, 2007, p.
20; Wolfberg, p. 41). Hence, it is quite na-
tural that parents expect to receive play
support from an early intervention prog-
ram. If play development is supported in a
child with autism, his/her communication,
interaction, and behavioral skills will also
improve.
In respect to children’s communica-
tion skills, the parents expect to be infor-
med about how to prolong the duration of
eye contact, the tips to keep the communi-
cation, how the child can approach stran-
gers in a warm way, communicate with pe-
ers, get in line, express his/her needs, and
communicate with his/her sibling with au-
tism. They also expect to be informed
about how to start interaction with the
child, the techniques regarding language
development, how family should behave,
having a conversation, and how to make
sense of the conversation. Since Kanner’s
(1943) first definition, the dimension of
communication has existed in all the defi-
nitions of autism. This suggests that com-
munication is a serious problem for child-
ren with autism. Thus, we believe that pa-
rents’ expecting tips for both children and
themselves about this basic deficit which
they personally experience at home is
quite natural.
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 274
As to the children’s social interaction
skills, the parents expect to be informed
about their child’s behaving appropriately
for social order in an environment, how
s/he can be an active individual within so-
ciety, how s/he can be agreeable, how to
reduce tantrums in response to noise
when outside, how s/he can make interac-
tion with people outside his/her family, res-
pond when asked a question, make an eye
contact, interact with peers, start playing
with peers, and have himself/herself be ac-
cepted among peers. Interaction, which is
defined as influencing one another mutu-
ally (TDK, 2017), is one of the main prob-
lems people with autism encounter. Inte-
raction skills of children with autism are re-
ported to improve through early interven-
tion programs (Gonzales-Lopez and
Kamps, 1997; Rogers, Herbison, Lewis,
Pantone and Resi, 1986; Coe, Matson,
Craigie and Gossen, 1991; Belchic and
Harris, 1994).
With regard to the children’s behavior
skills, the parents expect to be informed
about how to behave when the child has
tantrums and how to reduce the tantrums
and crying. They also want to be informed
about how to eliminate self-damaging be-
haviors and damaging behaviors towards
peers and how to reduce aggressive beha-
viors. Finally, they expect to be informed
about how to correct obsessive behaviors,
how to terminate their child’s talking to
himself/herself, how to end his/her loud
screams, having controlled behaviors, and
how to make him/her get on well with
his/her siblings and share with peers.
These expectations are not surprising as
children with autism have difficulty in com-
munication and social interaction and disp-
lay stereotypical behaviors and tantrums.
In respect to the children’s daily life
skills, the parents expect to be informed
about how to improve self-care skills and
potty skills, about their child’s eating on
his/her own, for him/her not to be a fussy
eater, about how s/he can dress without
help, about how to teach daily life skills
step by step, about how s/he can interact
with peers at school, about playing, about
how s/he can start and maintain conversa-
tion with peers, about helping housework,
about how s/he can tidy his/her belon-
gings, and about what can be done to per-
suade him/her to help minor housework.
Considering that the parents participating
International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), 12(1) 2020, 264-276.
doi: 10.9756/INT-JECSE/V12I1.201009
in the study have children with autism of
varying severity, it is not surprising that pa-
rents reduce daily life skills from a broad
spectrum to a special range.
In addition to all what is mentioned
above, the parents also expect to be infor-
med, through early intervention programs,
about how to overcome eating problems,
another program about language develop-
ment, teaching the level of the child, how
to behave appropriately for the level of the
child, how to deal with the negative beha-
viors of the child, how the child can spend
effective time at home and communicate,
and how to explore the child’s abilities.
They also want to be informed about a
program offering tips about how other fa-
milies can accept the child, the instruction
methods of the trainers, a program that
includes families actively in the training,
and a program that offers all the informa-
tion about autism to the families. Each
child with autism is different from one anot-
her and they have completely different ne-
eds and requirements. In this regard, it is
natural that the parents participating in the
study have some other requirements besi-
des the points specified above.
To sum up, the parents participating
in the study were found to have expectati-
ons to be informed about the following is-
sues:
-Playing: making children join in play
groups, drawing their attention to the
play, and maintain their attention on the
play.
-Communication: enabling children to
make an eye contact and start conver-
sation with others and starting a com-
munication with children.
-Social interaction: teaching children
how to behave appropriately for the so-
cial order, how to be an active indivi-
dual, and how to interact with peers.
-Behaviors: dealing with tantrums and
reducing them.
-Daily life skills: improving self-care
skills and giving potty training.
Based on the findings presented
above, the following recommendations
can be put forward:
-A similar study may be conducted by
evaluating parents’ expectations based
on the severity of autism their children
have.
 Expectations from Early Intervention Programs, 275
-A similar study may be conducted by
making a comparison between cultu-
res.
-The study may be extended by use of
the observation method.
-Needs analysis may be made for pa-
rents prior to developing programs.
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