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Coaching Parents of Young Children with Autism
Also Available
FOR PROFESSIONALS
Early Start Denver Model for Young Children with Autism:

Promoting Language, Learning, and Engagement
Sally J. Rogers and Geraldine Dawson
Early Start Denver Model Curriculum Checklist

for Young Children with Autism
Sally J. Rogers and Geraldine Dawson
Human Behavior, Learning, and the Developing Brain:

Atypical Development
Edited by Donna Coch, Geraldine Dawson, and Kurt W. Fischer
Human Behavior, Learning, and the Developing Brain:

Typical Development
Edited by Donna Coch, Kurt W. Fischer, and Geraldine Dawson
Imitation and the Social Mind: Autism and Typical Development

Edited by Sally J. Rogers and Justin H. G. Williams
FOR GENERAL READERS
A Parent’s Guide to High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder:

How to Meet the Challenges and Help Your Child Thrive, Second Edition
Sally Ozonoff, Geraldine Dawson, and James C. McPartland
An Early Start for Your Child with Autism: Using Everyday Activities
to Help Kids Connect, Communicate, and Learn
Sally J. Rogers, Geraldine Dawson, and Laurie A. Vismara
What Science Tells Us about Autism Spectrum Disorder:

Making the Right Choices for Your Child
Raphael A. Bernier, Geraldine Dawson, and Joel T. Nigg
Coaching Parents
of Young Children
with Autism
Promoting Connection,
Communication, and Learning
Sally J. Rogers
Laurie A. Vismara
Geraldine Dawson
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Contents
Chapter 1 Helping Parents Help Their Young Children with Autism: 1

An Introduction
Why Has This Model Emerged?, 3
Defining Coaching within Parent-Implemented
Early Intervention Approaches, 4
Where Do These Ideas Come From?, 9
Who Are We Writing For?, 9
What Lies Ahead?, 10
Chapter 2 Key Practices in Coaching Parents 12

in Parent-Implemented Interventions
Key Practice: Parents Working with Their Children at Home, 12
Key Practice: Attending to the Positive Parent–Child Relationship
in Young Children with ASD, 14
Key Practice: Building Language Interventions Based
on Developmental Communication Science, 16
Key Practice: Interdisciplinary Teams, 18
Key Practice: Parent Coaching and Family-Centered Care, 19
Conclusion, 21
Chapter 3 Becoming a Coach: Knowledge, Characteristics, 23

and Supports
What Coaches Need to Know, 24
Coaching Characteristics: The Relationship between Coach
and Parent, 30
Supports for Coaches, 34
Understanding What Motivates Parents, 37
Conclusion, 40
ix
About the Authors
Sally J. Rogers, PhD, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and

Behavioral Sciences at the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis.
She has served as president of the International Society for Autism Research and
is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psycho-
logical Science, and the International Society for Autism Research. With Geral-
dine Dawson, Dr. Rogers developed the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), the
first empirically validated comprehensive intervention for toddlers with autism,
now used by parents and professionals around the world. She is coauthor of books
including An Early Start for Your Child with Autism (for parents) and Early Start
Denver Model for Young Children with Autism (for professionals). Dr. Rogers has
published over 200 papers, chapters, and books, and ranks in the top 1% of Clari-
vate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers.
Laurie A. Vismara, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA, has spent her research career work-
ing closely with families with autism and contributing to the science and pro-
gram development of ESDM. She is coauthor of An Early Start for Your Child with
Autism (for parents). 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.
Geraldine Dawson, PhD, is the William Cleland Distinguished Professor of Psy-

chiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University. She directs the Duke Insti-
tute for Brain Sciences and the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development.
With Sally J. Rogers, Dr. Dawson developed ESDM, the first empirically validated
comprehensive intervention for toddlers with autism. Dr. Dawson is coauthor of
the parent resources What Science Tells Us about Autism Spectrum Disorder, An
Early Start for Your Child with Autism, and A Parent’s Guide to High-Functioning
v
vi About the Authors
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Second Edition. Her books for professionals include Early
Start Denver Model for Young Children with Autism. She is an elected member of
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; received the Distinguished Career
Award from the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (Division
53 of the American Psychological Association) and the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Association for Psychological Science; and ranks in the top 1% of
Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers.
Acknowledgments
The concepts and materials provided here for readers result from our many years
of discussion, collaboration, research activities, and clinical work. All three of us
have a long history of parent coaching, from the beginnings of our professional
careers. Efforts to coach parents in Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) concepts
began as early as 2001–2002, as Geri and Sally were building the main procedures
and tools that became ESDM in the initial randomized controlled trial led by
Geri at the University of Washington. The model grew conceptually as Laurie and
Sally began to work together, and each new parent coaching study tested addi-
tional concepts, techniques, and tools. The power of the model to affect children’s
behavior was demonstrated most effectively in the Rogers et al. paper published in
2019 (Rogers, Estes, Vismara, et al., 2019), which demonstrated for the first time
a direct positive relationship between parent fidelity of implementation and child
growth. We need to acknowledge the parents and families who spent so much
time teaching us and working with us in these projects and sharing their data so
that we could learn and understand the effects of our efforts.
Many, many colleagues have contributed to the work represented here. We
want to recognize especially Annette Estes, Jessica Greenson, Meagan Talbott,
Gregory Young, Jamie Winter, Cynthia Zierhut, and Carolyn McCormick, who
have shared their expertise, their time, and their talents over the years as these
studies were designed and carried out. We thank the many members of Sally’s lab
at the MIND Institute, and Geri’s lab at the University of Washington, whose sup-
port and ongoing efforts made the work possible. And finally, we need to acknowl-
edge our funding sources, both the National Institutes of Health and Autism
Speaks, for making the work possible.
vii
x Contents
Chapter 4 The Coach’s Tools 41
Clipboard and Pencil, 41

Session Plan, 41
Clock, 43
Tablet of Paper, 43
Parent Manual, 44
Copies of Topic Summary (Refrigerator) Lists, 45
Three Data Checklists, 45
Wide-Angle Perspective, 47
Emotional Thermometer, 47
Reflective Mirror (Supervision), 48
Other Tools, 48
Problem Solving, 54
Conclusion, 57
Chapter 5 Assessment, Goal Setting, and Treatment Planning 59
From Diagnosis to Treatment Planning, 59

Conclusion, 72
Chapter 6 Parent Coaching Sessions 73
The First Coaching Session, 73

Subsequent Coaching Sessions, 75
Coaching Session Routines, 77
Unfinished Business, 95
Conclusion, 100
Chapter 7 Guides for Introducing Intervention Topics and Strategies 102

to Caregivers
Topic I: Gaining Child Attention as a Precursor
to Child Learning, 102
Topic II: Why It Is So Important That Parent–Child Interactions
Are Fun for All, 107
Topic III: Why Back-and-Forth Interactions (Turn Taking) Are So
Important for Learning, 112
Form 7.1: Joint Activity Template, 116
Topic IV: Why Nonverbal Communication (Body Language) Is
a Critical Tool for Young Children, 125
Form 7.2: Activities That Encourage
Nonverbal Communication, 128
Topic V: Imitation Is a Critical Learning Tool—for Everyone!, 138
Topic VI: Understanding the ABCs of Children’s Behavior, 147
Form 7.3: ABC Action Plan Template, 150
Contents xi
Topic VII: Why It Is So Important That Children Learn to Share

Interests and Attention with Others (Joint Attention), 164
Topic VIII: Developing Flexible, Creative Object Play
for Learning, 173
Topic IX: Why Pretend Play Is So Important for Young
Children’s Learning, 187
Topic X: Helping Young Children Develop Speech, 200
Form 7.4: Action Plan Template for Parent Follow-Through, 215
Closing, 218
Chapter 8 Variations in Coaching Practices 220
Variations in Family Stories, 221

Coaching Adaptations, 233
Coaching Parents in Groups, 235
Form 8.1: First Group Session Plan, 237
Some Final Notes, 240
Chapter 9 Looking to the Future: Challenges and Opportunities 242
Children with ASD Who Have Co-Occurring Conditions:

Treating the Whole Child, 242
Children and Families in Low-Resource Communities, 248
Parent-Implemented Interventions for Infants at Risk for ASD, 250
Looking Ahead, 251
Conclusion, 254
Appendix A Handouts and Checklists Used Routinely in Parent 255

Coaching Sessions
Appendix A.1: Coach’s Clipboard List, 257
Appendix A.2: Coach’s Session Planning Sheet, 258
Appendix A.3: Parent Daily Practice Chart, 259
Appendix A.4: Activity Categories, 261
Appendix A.5: Refrigerator List, 262
Appendix A.6: Parent–ESDM Fidelity Coding Sheet, 263
Appendix A.7: Parent Skills Checklist, 264
Appendix A.8: Parent Self-Monitoring Checklist, 267
Appendix A.9: Coach’s Fidelity of Implementation
Brief Checklist, 269
Appendix A.10: ESDM Coaching Fidelity Rating Tool, 271
Appendix A.11: Stages of Change and Possible
Coaching Techniques, 279
xii Contents
Appendix B P-ESDM Infant–Toddler Curriculum Checklist 287

sally J. rogers, geraldine dawson, laurie Vismara, meagan talbott,
Cynthia Zierhut, Jamie winter, Carolyn mcCormick, marie rocha,
and emily holly
Appendix C Parent-Friendly Data-Tracking Tools 301
Appendix C.1: Simple Tally System, 303

Appendix C.2: Days of the Week Tracking Chart, 304
Appendix C.3: Activities Data Tracker, 305
Appendix C.4: Goals and Activities Bar Chart, 306
References 307
Index 316
Chapter 1
Helping Parents Help Their Young

Children with Autism
An Introduction
Receiving a diagnosis of autism is one of the most devastating events that can hap-
pen to parents of young children. The profound sense of loss and grief for an imag-
ined future, the fear and anguish about their child’s life, the guilt and blame about
possible contributors the parents* might have avoided—it is a defining moment in
family life that changes them forever. And somewhere in the near future, during
this critical time, most such families in the United States will develop a relation-
ship with a person who signifies help—an early interventionist—whose role it is
to work closely with them to help their children engage and learn.
This relationship typically follows one of two models. In the first model, one
or more well-trained adults deliver a clinician-generated treatment plan directly to
the child and provide advice and guidance to the family to incorporate at home.
The family relies on the interventionists as experts in the child’s treatment needs.
When the family asks questions, the interventionist gives answers. As new learn-
ing needs develop, the interventionist defines or revises the intervention plan and
carries it out. In the best situations, the interventionist uses skills, knowledge, and
experience to support and guide the family, particularly the primary caregiver, in
areas where the caregiver needs help. In publicly funded services, early interven-
tion tends to be low-intensity intervention, ranging from two to three hourly visits
per week to 1 hour or less per month, although a few communities provide much
greater intensity.
*Throughout this book we use the terms parent and parents generically to refer to any person or any part-
nership or group of people raising a child. We also use case examples throughout, with all names and other
identifiers disguised.
1
2 Coaching Parents of Young Children with Autism
Potential problems with this model reveal themselves quickly. One is that,
for low-intensity delivery, there is no evidence from high-quality* studies that this
model results in either the parent’s overall adoption of the guidance provided, or
benefit to the child. Second, the family’s dependence on the interventionist for
determining what the child needs and how to meet those needs is not well sup-
ported with infrequent contacts. Third, this model is built on the assumptions
that parents are not competent enough to discern their children’s needs or to sup-
port their children’s progress without the interventionist’s help. Fourth, multiple
providers are often involved, each providing advice and guidance to the family
from a limited perspective, leaving them to integrate and act on differing and
sometimes conflicting advice. Fifth, interventionists come and go throughout the
child’s early years, providing discontinuous relationships with the family, who as
the constant figures in the child’s life from birth hold the only comprehensive
view of the child’s developmental course, skills, and need, and of the family’s sta-
tus, structure, strengths, and needs. Yet, with all these drawbacks, our experience
tells us that this is the most prevalent model of care for young children with autism
spectrum disorders (ASD), in our nation and in others.
A second model exists, one described in multiple high-quality research stud-
ies and websites, embraced by many states’ early intervention philosophies, and
widely discussed. In this family-centered model, the interventionist focuses on the
child as embedded in a family with strengths and needs, with its members mobi-
lized to help their child. The interventionists’ focus is supporting the key adults
in the child’s life to support the child’s learning needs within their daily routines
with the child. The interventionist steps away from the role of the authority figure
with all the answers and toward the role of partner who understands that early
intervention contacts are opportunities to pass on skills and knowledge to caregiv-
ers so that they can support their child’s growth during their ongoing interactions.
The shift from expert to partner, and from direct intervention to guidance
and support for the family, requires a relationship with the parents different from
that of teacher and learner, with its inherent hierarchy. A relationship that bet-
ter captures the transfer of knowledge and skills from one competent person to
another is the coaching relationship. In our early childhood work, coaching refers
to “an adult-learning strategy that is used to build the capacity of a parent or col-
league to improve existing, abilities, develop new skills, or gain a deeper under-
standing of practices for use in current and future situations” (Rush & Shelden,
2008, p. 1). Thus, a coach is a person whom another requests to pass on his or
her skills and knowledge. When parents make this request, the coach begins the
relationship by asking about the family’s goals, assessing initial skills and needs,
*Throughout this text, the term high-quality refers to well-designed studies using either single-subject or
group designs in which the research design clearly controls for all sources of potential effect on change other
than the treatment being studied (e.g., randomized group studies that are appropriately powered and analyzed
as time-by-group interactions, and single-subject designs using multiple-subject multiple-baseline designs).
An Introduction 3
and then working with the family to form action plans based on family goals,
values, and priorities. The plans are put into practice through regular contacts in
which the family member demonstrates and continues his or her learning as the
coach supports parent and child learning, while seeking and sharing reflections
and plans for the next steps (see Figure 1.1).
Why Has This Model Emerged?
Young children spend most of their waking hours (75 or so per week) with care-
givers in everyday activities and everyday contexts. Those interactions offer the
learning opportunities that build cognitive, motor, social, and communicative rep-
ertoires for all young children. Harnessing those daily, hourly interactive experi-
ences to meet the learning needs of young children with ASD can provide more
opportunities for practice and learning than can any external provider. Working
this way maximizes the interventionist’s impact on child learning. Most interven-
tionists with whom we have interacted want to transfer their skills and knowledge
to parents and to support them in their use of the learning opportunities inherent
in everyday activities but have found it difficult to do.
In our own Early Start Denver Model (ESDM)–based work with families and
with early childhood practitioners, we have encountered many early intervention-
ists who wish to adopt this second model of family-centered parent-implemented
intervention, but who struggle to find ways to shift out of traditional provider-
directed intervention. The interventionist who wants to change approaches
often feels uncertain about what behaviors actually constitute coaching and how
Figure 1.1. Key components of the practice-based coaching (PBC) framework. From Snyder,
Hemmeter, and Fox (2015). Copyright © 2015 Sage Publishing. Reprinted by permission.
a collaborative practice should look and feel (Fixsen, Naoom, Blasé, Friedman,
& Wallace, 2005). Shifting from authority to partner and coach necessitates a
new way of thinking about knowledge transfer and skill building. This book was
written to help professional and paraprofessional interventionists who treat early
autism and other developmental disorders in public and private settings make the
transition from a one-on-one delivery model to a caregiver-based delivery model
through their coaching and partnering relationship with families.
Defining Coaching within Parent-Implemented

Early Intervention Approaches
Purpose
For us, the goal of coaching parents to implement intervention with their children
at home is to increase the learning opportunities available to children in their
everyday, moment-by-moment life with their caregivers. This involves infusing
needed learning opportunities into all the environments and interactions that a
young child daily experiences. In this context, a learning opportunity is an event
in which the child acquires a new skill or strengthens an existing skill. In order
to be a learning opportunity, the experience requires the child’s active attention,
effortful goal-directed action, and success.
There are learning opportunities already present in each child’s daily envi-
ronments, and the products of this learning are evident in the skills the child
has developed. However, parents often embed learning opportunities in an unin-
tentional way into ongoing activities and are frequently unaware of the specific
learning needs of their young children as influenced by the disability of the child
with ASD. In order to increase a child’s learning opportunities, a caregiver needs
to know (1) the child’s current learning needs, (2) how to create learning opportu-
nities that will support the child’s learning, and (3) how to infuse these through-
out the routines and environments of daily life. These are our goals in parent
coaching—to help parents understand their child’s immediate learning needs in
all areas that are not progressing well, and to help parents learn how to embed
learning opportunities into their interactions with their child in daily activities.
Distinctive Features
The content of parent coaching includes (1) the current learning needs and goals
for the child intervention and (2) methods for creating needed learning opportu-
nities within the daily routines and interactions that occur between the child and
other family members. The coaching relationship supports parents to build this
skill and knowledge base by developing a partnership whereby both parties pool
An Introduction 5
their existing skills and knowledge. The result of this process is increasing child
learning opportunities to enhance child’s development.
The coach shares knowledge and skills about early autism, child learning,
child development, specific intervention techniques, and principles and behavior
management strategies. Caregivers share knowledge of the child’s unique abili-
ties, vulnerabilities, preferences, interests, and typical skills and behavior in many
environments and with many different people. Caregivers bring knowledge of
their extended support network, the community, their lifestyle, resources, culture,
values, philosophies about parenting and ideal parent–child relationships. They
bring their ideas and priorities with regard to the goals they have established for
themselves as parents and for their child. And, they bring to the table what they
have learned through thousands of hours of interaction with their child. The par-
ent–coach partnership thus involves a balanced relationship among experts, each
seeking to learn from the other and each seeking to share what they have of value
with the other to achieve a common goal: supporting the child’s optimal develop-
ment.
Unique Aspects of the Coaching Relationship

The differences between the coaching relationship and relationships that occur
between a parent and a professional in therapy, counseling, parent education,
and parent training should now be clearer. Coaching differs from these on several
dimensions: implicit hierarchy of expert and learner and one-way flow of informa-
tion, from expert to learner.
There are many different types of approaches for working with parents: Coun-
seling, educating, training, and treatment are various styles of addressing parent-
ing skills. While coaching shares certain characteristics with other approaches to
help adults, like counseling or teaching, it differs from both in content and pro-
cess. Main differences are the sense of a partnership and the resulting downplay of
hierarchical structure. In coaching, both parent and coach are learners and both
are experts. Coaching builds from the existing values, knowledge, and interaction
skills of the parent vis-à-vis the child, adding to the parent’s existing repertoire
of interactive skills and child knowledge in ways that the parent actively seeks to
learn. The interactive process involving parent, coach, and child involves a co-
construction of child learning activities in the ongoing moments of parent–child
interaction during their typical routines.
With partners, interaction and communication flow in both directions.
Idea sharing, comments, and questions surface on both sides. In a partnership,
moments of didactic instruction are very rare and occur when requested. Feedback
is goal-focused, rather than evaluative. The coach facilitates the parent’s capacity
to gather information, identify strategies, develop new skills, problem-solve, and
6 CoAChing PArents of Young Children with Autism
ultimately promote self-discovery. Goal accomplishment is the result of the efforts

and abilities of the three people in the room.
All families and all children bring strengths and challenges to the early inter-
vention relationship, and each family works with their children in the ways that
best fit them; individual differences among families are as dramatic as those among
children. For some children and families, a very young child’s needs can be well
met with a parent-implemented approach. For other children and families, parent
coaching provides one arm of multifaceted early intervention services. However,
given that young children spend the majority of their waking hours with caregiv-
ers, we cannot optimize outcomes for young children with developmental difficul-
ties such as ASD without ensuring that their learning needs are being addressed
within everyday life with their caregivers.
Coaching is a way of being with people to help them enact change to attain
their own goals, as well as to resolve barriers to growth. It involves understanding
the principles and characteristics of adult learning and how to support adults on a
course of change from the outset of intervention. Coaching requires a solid under-
standing of how adults learn and change, and of the tools to manage the barriers
that arise. As the parents master the skills and knowledge they are seeking, the
tools and solutions they learn provide a powerful sense of competency and empow-
erment for managing future needs and goals as well. A competent coach thus
knows how to balance sharing knowledge and skills with promoting parents’ self-
discovery and developing a sense of self-efficacy.
We have evolved this role because of the beneficial results of this type of rela-
tionship expressed by the people we have worked with and evidenced in the data
that we and many other researchers have col-
lected on the child with ASD’s growth, fidelity
of implementation among parents, and parents’
evaluation of the coaching experience. Setting
aside the role of expert and assuming the role of
a coaching partner present a wealth of oppor-
tunities to engage in an open, honest dialogue
with parents; to listen to their beliefs, priori-
ties, worries, and challenges; to share in the everyday pleasure and pain of raising
young children with disabilities; and to offer support and empathy as a partner in
the process. Table 1.1 summarizes some of the differences in roles and behavior
between a coach and a child interventionist.
Challenges to Coaching
This view of coaching often runs counter to how professionals who work in early
intervention were trained to deliver treatment. We were taught that our direct
treatment was vital to improving child outcomes. We still see such thinking in
An Introduction 7
Table 1.1.Role Differences: Coach versus Interventionist

Therapist Coach
Identify the child’s needs as you Identify the family’s goals for their child and their
have defined them based on assessment of their child’s strengths and needs, as well
your assessment. as strengths and recommended areas of intervention
focus from the individualized family service plan (IFSP)
assessment process.
Develop a treatment plan Work with the family to build a plan for parents/
to ameliorate the child’s caregivers to support the child’s strengths and address
difficulties that you will follow the child’s needs based on the family’s daily routines,
in your treatment sessions. family priorities and preferences, and materials at home.
Tell the parent how much Discuss with the parents how frequently they would like
treatment the child needs to meet, what times and days will work for them, and
and when the sessions are possible locations for sessions (home, other community
scheduled. settings, classroom or clinic, other caregiving
environments).
Job requirement is to provide Job requirement is to bring interdisciplinary knowledge
disciplinary expertise in of early development and the child’s disability, provide
assessment and intervention. disciplinary expertise when needed, form a partnership
with parents, and support them in their goals of
supporting their child’s development at home.
Deliver hands-on treatment Support parent–child interactions in everyday activities
directly to the child. as the therapeutic vehicle for child development.
Choose materials and activities Plan with parents what daily routines and household
that will challenge the child to materials will best support child learning and their goals
develop new skills. for the coaching session.
Make a few suggestions that you Support parents to incorporate child learning goals
would like the parent to work into learning activities in their everyday routines, to
on over the week. monitor child response and changing learning needs,
to problem-solve when interactions go awry, and to
organize their environment as needed to support their
efforts at home.
Conceptualize treatment as Conceptualize intervention as child-engaged learning
that which occurs during direct opportunities that address specific child needs and
professional interactions with occur with all partners in all environments.
the child.
Write a chart note and evaluate Evaluate child progress via behavioral data gathered
the success of the treatment during coaching sessions (and from parents’ weekly
based on clinical observations observations/data), written in a chart note, and shared
and session notes. with parents.
Decide length of treatment and Discuss length of treatment in terms of parent goals for
need for consultation/referral treatment. Discuss periodically with family in light of
based on agency rules and continuing and changing needs, options available, and
procedures, funding availability, desire for additional professional input.
child response and attendance.
action when observing therapists who ignore the parent sitting in the treatment
room, or who leave the parent in the waiting room as they take the child into
their therapy room to work alone as a solution to the difficulties that might ensue
when the child wants to interact with his or her parents during the therapy ses-
sion. This approach is clearly seen in the autism field where recommendations of
20–40 hours per week of one-on-one treatment for very young children are still
made by many knowledgeable health professionals—as if no learning can occur
outside of the therapy setting; as if learning occurring inside the therapy setting
will magically transfer to everyday life and everyday relationships; as if it is benefi-
cial for very young children to be in such intensive interactions for long periods;
as if naps, mealtimes, diaper changes, and baths are not key learning activities for
young children; as if there was any empirical evidence for the beneficial effects of
such intensive treatment on outcomes of young children with autism; as if the evi-
dence of the benefits of high-quality parent-implemented interventions at home
did not exist.
Having experienced the medical system of assessment and diagnosis, parents
are also primed to seek an expert model of intensive interaction when they begin
early intervention. Parents’ previous interactions with professionals and the advice
they may have found in various media tools will likely have directed them to find
professionals with the greatest expertise and do as they direct. Their hope for
professionals who can “fix” their children’s delays and symptoms and prevent long-
term disability is part of their coping strategy for managing the massive crisis in
their lives that the ASD diagnosis has created.
Yet, while these experiences of interventionists and parents initially move
both to seek a more hierarchical expert-based direct intervention model, it is
interesting to look at the backgrounds of the authors of some of the most well-
supported (in terms of evidence) parent-implemented models for ASD, all of whom
were initially trained in direct treatment of children. We interventionists realize
that children’s best outcomes cannot be supported unless everyday life provides
children with needed learning and practice opportunities. Everyday life is where
children spend most of their time, even for children who are spending 40 hours of
their week in treatment. If everyday life does not provide the learning and practice
opportunities that children need, then children will learn other skills and behav-
ior that are adaptive in these out-of-therapy environs—skills and behavior that
may be just those that therapists are trying to replace. Furthermore, if parents do
not know how to support their children’s new learning, they will not necessarily
appreciate their child’s learning ability. And most unfortunately, if parents only
become aware of their child’s new skills in the presence of a therapist, then they
may assume that they themselves lack the skills to teach their child, with result-
ing feelings of inadequacy, and that their child no longer cares about cooperating
with them, which may fuel feelings of anger and the attribution of manipulation
or malicious intent to the child.
An Introduction 9
Where Do These Ideas Come From?
The ideas, practices, and philosophy found in this book come from more than
20 years of learning from our colleagues and from our own research on early
intervention and parent- implemented interventions for young children with
ASD, as well as our direct experience as clinicians coaching families of children
with developmental difficulties, especially autism and those at risk of autism. We
have been heavily influenced by the work of Dunst and Trivette (2009a, 2009b);
Dunst, Trivette, and Hamby (2007); Hanft, Rush, and Shelden (2004); Rush and
Shelden (2011); and Snyder, Hemmeter, and Fox (2015), all hailing from the field
of early intervention for children with developmental disabilities; by work in the
field of infant mental health (Zeanah, Stafford, Nage, & Rice, 2005). Much of
our clinical work has involved our intervention model, ESDM, and its related
parent-implemented version (P-ESDM). We have published many research papers
concerning the efficacy of these approaches (Dawson, Rogers, et al., 2010; Jones,
Dawson, Kelly, Estes, & Webb, 2017; Rogers, Estes, et al., 2012; Rogers, Estes,
Vismara, et al., 2019; Rogers, Vismara, et al., 2014; Sullivan, Stone, & Dawson,
2014; Vismara, Colombi, & Rogers, 2009; Vismara, Young, & Rogers, 2012; Webb,
Jones, Kelly, & Dawson, 2014).
Who Are We Writing For?
We are writing for readers whose intervention approach shares the characteris-
tics of a naturalistic developmental–behavioral early intervention model (NDBI;
Schreibman et al., 2015) for young children with ASD or other developmental dis-
orders. NDBI approaches share these characteristics: (1) a natural type of back-and-
forth communication between child and adult; (2) following child preferences and/
or choices for activities and materials; (3) child initiations of activities; (4) adult
responses that are sensitive and responsive to the child’s verbal and nonverbal com-
munications; (5) goals for learning that reflect the child’s developmental readiness
and represent developmentally and culturally appropriate activities for the child;
(6) teaching approaches derived from learning science as used in applied behavior
analysis (ABA), including analysis of antecedents, behaviors, consequences, func-
tions of behavior, prompting shaping, modeling, and graduated least-to-most guid-
ance; (7) teaching trials, frequently initiated by child actions, are embedded in the
flow of adult–child activities; and (8) rewards for the child’s learning response are
typically the child’s ability to achieve his or her own goals—the child is able to do
what the child intended to when he or she chose this activity. In short, the prin-
ciples in this text can be used with any early intervention approach that embeds
learning in the child’s preferred activities—it is about the process of working with
parents as they interact with their children in everyday routines.
What Lies Ahead?
In the chapters that follow, we offer a more detailed definition of coaching and
how it differs from direct intervention with the child. In Chapter 2, we outline the
theoretical and empirical bases and key practices for our parent coaching model
for early ASD. Our model draws on the adult learning and coaching literature; on
cognitive–behavioral therapy as well as ABA; on the science of developmental
psychology and infant mental health as it has described the processes of relation-
ship development, communication development, play, and cognitive development;
and on infant learning research. In Chapter 3, we describe what a coach needs
to know, coaching characteristics, the coaching process, and recommended sup-
ports. Chapter 4 outlines the key elements of the coach’s tool kit. Starting with
Chapter 5 and continuing through Chapter 6, we take you through the coach-
ing process beginning at the first point of contact with the family; the steps for
identifying parent, child, and family learning needs across environments; and the
collaborative intervention planning process. We share user-friendly data tools
that we have developed, both for our own use and for parents’ use, to assist us all
to determine and address the child’s needs, to evaluate the child’s learning and
response to the intervention, and to troubleshoot difficulties that arise and prog-
ress that is slower than expected. Chapter 5 walks the reader through an assess-
ment and goal-setting approach. In Chapter 6, we cover the initial parent coach-
ing session and subsequent sessions, describing ways to work alongside families to
introduce and practice various intervention practices by using the coaching skills
of observing, giving feedback, problem solving, and, most importantly, listening
and reflection. Chapter 7 provides the coach with technical guidance for sharing
key intervention concepts with families and coaching families to implement key
strategies. In Chapter 8, we discuss situations in which the core practices we have
described need to be varied or adapted in order to meet specific family needs or
characteristics. Chapter 9 offers several directions for future research on aspects of
parent coaching and considerations that need to be made when working with par-
ents whose children have additional psychiatric or medical problems, those whose
infants are showing concerning symptoms, and those who live in low-resource
communities in the United States and elsewhere. Coaching stories accompany key
topics to illustrate the qualities of relationships and interactions with families and
to share important moments in our own learning as well.
Throughout the book, we cite the empirical evidence that has influenced our
learning and that documents the evolution of parent-implemented early interven-
tion practices. We hope that this book will provide some support to practitioners
who are seeking additional ways of helping young children with ASD progress,
those who desire to partner more successfully with families and to evolve a more
family-centered, parent-implemented approach to delivery of early intervention for
young children with or at risk for ASD. Most of all, we hope that this text will
An Introduction 11
enhance practitioners’ motivation and skills to support parents to embed interven-

tion into everyday life to help their children advance. We have written this book
because we know that such an approach to early intervention helps children learn.
Experienced therapists and experienced parents understand the power of par-
allel expectations and parallel management strategies across environments and
interactions to support optimal child progress. And the parent coaching litera-
ture demonstrates the power of the coaching relationship to support parent learn-
ing and confidence in providing for the unique needs of their young children
with ASD. The parent coaching approach and techniques that we provide here,
while developed from our work in P-ESDM, have extensive parallels with other
NDBIs (Schreibman et al., 2015) referenced early in the chapter: those developed
by Brooke Ingersoll, Amy Wetherby, Connie Kasari, Michael Siller, Laura Sch-
reibman, Robert and Lynn Koegel, and other NDBI leaders publishing current
research on parent-implemented treatments. However, we also integrate concepts
and practices from the field of infant mental health and two key practices that set
ESDM apart from these other approaches: the seamless integration of ABA and
developmental approaches, and intervention techniques that allow one to focus
on multiple learning objectives inside adult–child learning-based interactions. We
hope that this text will provide additional tools for interventionists working with
parents to embed early intervention in everyday routines, will provide greater con-
fidence and a sense of efficacy to the interventionists who use it and the parents
they work with, and will provide the children in their care with additional oppor-
tunities for learning—finding excitement in all the new learning opportunities
in everyday life and the pleasure of interacting and learning from their family
members.
Chapter 2
Key Practices in Coaching

Parents in Parent-Implemented
Interventions
The current emphasis on parent-implemented interventions for early ASD is fueled

by (1) new findings from the studies of infant–toddler development of ASD symp-
toms, (2) new tools for early diagnosis of autism, (3) and recent research funded by
the National Institutes of Health and advocacy groups, especially Autism Speaks,
on effective interventions for very young children with ASD.
Key Practice:
Parents Working with Their Children at Home
Before the early 1970s, children with autism were very often treated in treatment
centers, institutions, and psychiatric settings by therapists. The work of two men,
Eric Schopler and Ivar Lovaas, had tremendous influence on the development of
parent-implemented intervention for ASD.
Eric Schopler (1971), a student of Bruno Bettelheim’s, reacted strongly to Bet-
telheim’s destructive and inaccurate suggestions that autism was caused by reject-
ing parents. Convinced that autism was a biological condition, Schopler showed
in his doctoral thesis (personal communication to G. Dawson, 1983) that children
with ASD have unusual ways of processing information. Soon thereafter, he made
a radical proposal: Parents can and should provide therapy directly to their chil-
dren, at home. He led a pioneering effort to mobilize home- and community-based
services for children with ASD and spearheaded an intervention called Treat-
ment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication-Handicapped Chil-
dren (TEACCH; Mesibov, 2005), still in use today. He provided four completely
12
Key Practices in Parent-Implemented Interventions 13
new ideas about how children and adults with ASD should be treated, ideas that
have had lasting influence (Schopler, Reichler, & Lansing, 1980). The first idea
involves a generalist approach: that autism therapists need to bring generalized
knowledge of autism treatment to families and children, knowledge developed
within an interdisciplinary team in which professionals from a wide range of dis-
ciplines learn from each other and pool their knowledge, with each taking on the
role of primary therapist for children with ASD and their families. The second
idea promotes working with parents and children in a home setting as a crucial
part of intervention. Schopler’s third novel idea is the need for parents to have a
strong voice in their child’s treatment and to work as partners with professionals
in all aspects of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of children with autism.
Fourth, ASD interventions need to respect people with ASD, supporting their
preferences, strengths, and needs rather than working to eliminate or hide their
symptoms and individual differences. TEACCH achieves these goals by building
on individual preferences and strengths as well as needs, delivering interventions
whose methods and content best support an individual’s personal learning styles
and needs, and simultaneously supporting the independence, comfort, and com-
munity participation of those with ASD (Mesibov, Shea, & Schopler, 2005).
The influence of the TEACCH generalist model is clear in interventions such
as ESDM, in which one member of an interdisciplinary team takes on the role of
team leader, partnering with parents in the design, implementation, and oversight
of their child’s intervention. Other professionals on the team serve as consultants
to the team leader and parent, rather than as direct interventionists with the child.
This model has three major effects on service delivery. First, responsibilities for
team leadership and decision making are shared by parents and the team leader.
Second, the generalist team leader helps integrate information from all available
sources for parents to apply to the child’s intervention; in so doing, the generalist
The Generalist Model Developed by TEACCH

1. Various disciplinary therapists have unique knowledge of autism.
2. Generalists learn and use the core principles/practices from each discipline.
3. The interdisciplinary team knows the child and supports each generalist’s work.
4. A primary generalist helps parents work with their child at home.
5. Parents have a strong voice on the team and work as partners with
professionals.
6. Intervention needs to respect the unique strengths and needs of each child
with ASD.
is in a position much like that of parents, who need to make decisions about their
child based on information from many resources. Third, the generalist team leader
uses the interdisciplinary intervention knowledge acquired to coach the parents
and to help develop a practical and effective approach to their work at home.
Lovaas, approached autism as a problem of learning. Lovaas, like Schopler,
began his work with older children, 6- to 10-year-olds, since autism was not yet
recognized or diagnosed in early childhood. Building on the work of his colleagues,
the early leaders in ABA—Sidney Bijou, Donald Baer, Montrose Wolf, and Todd
Risley, among others—Lovaas commenced his independent work by creating a
teaching environment based on the principles of operant learning in a hospital
setting and taught his staff to work intensively with children with autism using
the principles of ABA throughout the children’s waking hours. While these chil-
dren made considerable progress, return to their previous settings after the study
ended resulted in a loss of new skills and the resumption of their previous patterns
of behaving. Learning from this experience, Lovaas and colleagues (1973) shifted
their focus to beginning interventions as early as possible and carrying them out
using trained interventionists at home, with the family and in the community.
Parents were taught the same intervention strategies that the intervention team
used. The curriculum itself was comprehensive (Lovaas, 1981, 2003), providing
systematic teaching programs to address children’s behavioral deficits and excesses
across developmental and behavioral domains and embedding needed supports in
community activities to assure child participation and learning (Lovaas, Koegel,
Simmons, & Long, 1993).
Several aspects of Lovaas’s practices are apparent in many parent coaching
approaches in ASD, including ESDM, today: (1) Young children with ASD need
to engage with others in typical activities throughout their waking hours; (2) the
home, family, and community provide optimum contexts for supporting the learn-
ing of young children with ASD; (3) children with ASD (and all of the rest of
us) learn when the learning content is broken down into small steps and taught
systematically; (4) intervention should begin as soon as possible; and (5) children
with ASD are adaptable and need to learn within the everyday environments
of family, typically developing peers, and community members. (Although these
were the principles that Lovaas and his close colleagues espoused and demon-
strated, it is often the case that they are not the aspects of his practice that we
associate with some community discrete trial training [DTT] services.)
Key Practice: Attending to the Positive Parent–Child

Relationship in Young Children with ASD
There was a long period of time in which professionals assumed that the attach-
ment relationship in ASD was either disturbed or nonexistent. These assumptions
were eventually proven wrong. Beginning with the landmark contributions of

Marian Sigman and her students and colleagues (Sigman & Ungerer, 1984; Capps,
Sigman, & Mundy, 1994; Sigman & Mundy, 1989; Rogers, Ozonoff, & Maslin-
Cole, 1991; Oppenheim, Koren-Karie, Dolev, & Yirmiya, 2009), autism researchers
demonstrated that young children with ASD can, in fact, form secure attachments
with their caregivers. Evidence from these group studies showed that children with
ASD experience their parents as secure bases, that they know and prefer familiar
to unfamiliar people, and that they are negatively affected by separation from their
parents and by interactions with strangers. These findings provided solid evidence
for focusing on adults’ sensitive and responsive interactions (parent behaviors that
mediate secure attachments in toddlers) with young children with ASD and focus-
ing on supporting parental roles and competencies as key emotional figures and
teachers in their young autistic children’s lives.
In addition to the attachment studies in ASD, studies focused on parent–child
patterns of interaction in ASD have demonstrated many similarities between par-
ent–child interactions in ASD, those in other neurodevelopmental disorders, and
those in typical development (Kasari, Sigman, Mundy, & Yirmiya, 1988; Meirs
schaut, Warreyn, & Roeyers, 2011). They have also defined differences in key com-
munication behaviors, such as the ability to share attention with others or joint
attention (Mundy, Sigman, Ungerer, & Sherman, 1986; Sigman, Mundy, Sherman,
& Ungerer, 1986; McEvoy, Rogers, & Pennington, 1993). Kasari reported that par-
ents and children with ASD interact very similarly to children with other devel-
opmental delays, with the main differences arising from the need for increased
parent support for the child’s attention to the parent (Kasari et al., 1988). Dawson
and colleagues demonstrated that children with ASD readily increased their eye
contact and joint attention behavior when the caregivers closely followed and
responded contingently to the behavior of the child (Dawson & Adams, 1984b;
Lewy & Dawson, 1992). We also learned that young children with ASD desire
social interaction and respond more positively when social interactions are predict-
able and understandable. We saw that parents typically scaffolded their children’s
learning in ways that supported positive parent–child interactions, while also sup-
porting the child’s social attention and engagement in activities and interactions.
Sadly, and against all evidence, there is still a tendency to question the skills
of parents with children on the spectrum, fueled by layperson notions of autism as
well as the topic of the broader autism phenotype. The latter leads some to question
whether the ASD-related genetic backgrounds of parents may result in parenting
differences. Very important studies recently examined this question by looking at
parent–child interactions among a large group of infants who had an older sibling
with ASD (Talbott, Nelson, & Tager-Flusberg, 2016; Wan, Green, & Scott, 2019).
Contrary to the hypothesis that parents of children with ASD may interact dif-
ferently with their children due to the presence of autism risk genes, no signifi-
cant differences were found between the group of parents who had a child with
ASD (and thus were assumed to have more autism risk genes) and those who had
children exhibiting typical development. Thus, 30-plus years of studying parent–
child interactions in ASD have not reported significant parenting differences that
might be responsible for any ASD symptom development in their children.
Perhaps someday science and advocacy will be able to put this destructive idea
to rest once and for all. The critical findings suggest the opposite: Children with
ASD and parents generally develop close ties; children with ASD know and prefer
their family members and caregivers and feel safe with them, although they may
use different behaviors than other children to express these feelings (Rogers et al.,
1991); and parents of children with ASD interact with them in ways that demon-
strate their understanding and support for their children’s unique needs.
Key Practice: Building Language Interventions Based

on Developmental Communication Science
Our understanding of the processes that young children use to develop spoken
language has altered radically over the past few decades. Before the 1970s, the
predominant theories of language development represented nativist and environ-
mentalist viewpoints. The most well-known representative of the nativist position
was Noam Chomsky; his hypothesized Language Acquisition Device (Chomsky,
1965, 1980) was a uniquely human brain mechanism that parsed language into
its elemental parts and helped children acquire speech and language. The envi-
ronmentalist view was best represented by B. F. Skinner’s operant learning model,
which posited that speech and language evolved from the same learning processes
seen in all other aspects of learned behavior (Skinner, 1957). The operant learn-
ing approach to language is still embraced by many and is highlighted in the Ver-
bal Behavior method of intervention (Sundberg & Partington, 1998).
In the 1970s, a new model of language development was articulated and
began to be studied in infant developmental labs across the country. Known as
the pragmatics approach and articulated by Jerome Bruner (1983), Elizabeth Bates
(1976), Inge Bretherton and Bates (1979), and other key scientists, the pragmatic
approach suggests that children decode and learn language by discerning the
speaker’s intent (the goal of the communication). Is the speaker making a request,
offering or asking for help, directing a partner to act, seeking a social response,
directing a partner’s attention? Such intents are expressed by body language—
gesture, posture, vocal tone, and facial expressions—as well as word meanings.
Young children demonstrate their understanding of these intents toward the end
of the first year of life, through their preverbal responses to partners and their
own gestural production of these intents. A series of elegant experiments occur-
ring across several decades have firmly supported the pragmatics foundation of
Key Practices in Parent-implemented interventions 17
infant speech and nonverbal communication. The experiments have changed the
view of speech and language from behaviors learned via imitation and associative
learning for the purpose of representing objects and actions in the world, to efforts
to join a social partner in shared activities for the pleasure of social connectedness
and social influence through shared meanings.
Early on, Ratner and Bruner (1978) highlighted the key roles of infant–adult
play routines in infants’ learning to anticipate and predict others’ behaviors and
intentions. They pointed out that first words were very often the cue words in
social games like peekaboo, “uh-oh,” “so big,” rather than need-fulfilling words
like milk, food, or help. Their insights about the impact of emotionally salient and
highly pleasurable routines with favored social partners on early word learning
have stood the test of time and formed the basis for the ESDM intervention.
The second contribution of pragmatics researchers was to examine what par-
ents did that fostered word learning in their infants. In direct challenge to the
operant learning theory of language learning, a large variety of studies have dem-
onstrated that infants and toddlers benefited the most in the early stages of word
learning from partners who used language to describe the focus of an infant’s
attention or goals, rather than using it to direct the infant’s attention and to teach
word labels.
Many studies have found that young children with autism learn spoken lan-
guage using the same processes as do typically developing children (Lord & Scho-
pler, 1989; Sigman & Ruskin, 1999; Tager-Flusberg et al., 1990). A milestone study
by Michael Siller and Marian Sigman (2002) demonstrated the effect on language
development of parents who use language to follow their autistic children’s leads
rather than to direct them, and this style positively affected their children’s lan-
guage learning not only in early childhood, but also all the way through adoles-
cence.
Longitudinal findings by Mundy and colleagues and others demonstrated that
a child’s early joint attention gestures were strong predictors of later language acqui-
sition (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). Such findings indicate that language
interventions for preverbal toddlers should
focus first on developing use and understand-
ing of communicative gestures, especially
the joint attention gestures involving initiat-
ing and following a partner’s gaze, pointing,
showing, and sharing/giving. These and many
other research findings stress the importance
of parents and other adults interacting with
young autistic children by responding to and
following such children’s focus of attention and goals, talking with them about
their activities, and joining them as play partners.
Key Practice: Interdisciplinary Teams
On October 8, 1986, a federal law (Public Law 99-457) was passed that amended
the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-1142)—
now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)—to
require public educational services be provided to children with disabilities from
age 3 to 22. Public Law 99-457 also required that assessment, intervention, and
family support for all infants and toddlers with or at risk of developmental delays
be provided at little or no cost to families. This law cast a wide umbrella for infants
and toddlers with difficulties in all spheres of development, including the social
and behavioral domain. It called for interdisciplinary services from a wide range of
disciplines, both educational and health-related, as well as case management ser-
vices, home visits, parent training, counseling, and the full range of allied health
benefits and educational benefits. It also mandated that a family service plan be
developed and carried out.
The content required of the family service plan was specific, family- and
strengths-focused, completely individualized, and outcome-oriented. It required
objective demonstration of the child’s progress and benefit. It required specifica-
tion of the nature, frequency, and method of each type of intervention provided.
Finally, it required that parents receive the help and information needed to partic-
ipate in the educational decision-making processes, including the development of
the child’s individualized educational program, as well as the right to obtain infor-
mation about what programs, services, and resources were available to children
with disabilities and the degree to which the programs, services, and resources
were appropriate for their child.
This family-centered orientation was a drastic change from the medical model
of therapy delivery for infants and toddlers that prevailed at the time. Parents were
required to be at the table, fully informed on all available services and members
of the decision-making group establishing a service plan for their child—and for
themselves. This focus on supporting the family set in place the idea of parents
and professionals as partners in all aspects of infant–toddler identification assess-
ment and intervention. It also reflected the importance of professionals learning
about the challenges to families created by a young child’s delays or disabilities, and
of supporting families and parenting in order to support children’s development.
The focus on services at home and in typical community settings further empha-
sized the socioecological Bronfenbrenner model of child development (1986) and
its grounding in the family, home, neighborhood, and community for supports.
Working at home with parents to help them incorporate children’s intervention
needs into everyday life developed during these years as a primary delivery model
for children from birth to age 3 (Brown & Moersch, 1978).
It is interesting that in 2021 these principles are often set aside for young
children with ASD in favor of an intensive one-on-one therapy model, likely due
to the downward extension of what some consider a “best practices” model of

service delivery for older children with ASD. One wonders what has been gained
and what has been lost by replacing the family-centered model of infant–toddler
intervention described in Public Law 94-457 with a direct intensive service model.
Key Practice: Parent Coaching

and Family-Centered Care
Coaching approaches can be found within sports, business, education, humanistic

psychology, behavioral and cognitive psychology (Allcorn, 2006). Grant (2006)
suggests several common themes that unify the widely different contexts and prac-
tices in which coaching occurs:
1. Relationships are egalitarian and collaborative, rather than authoritarian.

2. The process begins with defining goals, constructing plans, and working
systematically toward goal attainment.
3. Goals involve personal growth or self-directed learning rather than treat-
ment, recovery, or diminished symptoms.
4. Goal setting is a collaborative process.
5. Coaches are not necessarily content experts, but they are process experts.
These themes and values resonate with the kinds of relationships that we
authors have maintained in parent coaching relationships with families and with
the values that we hold as clinicians. The development of our parent coaching
approach has been powerfully influenced by many voices. Two, in particular,
require mention. Carl Dunst has provided an unwavering voice and key research in
support of family-centered care (Dunst & Trivette, 2009a, 2009b; Dunst, Trivette,
& Hamby, 2007). His research findings and values have influenced an entire gen-
eration of early intervention practices. Ann Turnbull, a professor of special educa-
tion and the parent of a child with disabilities, has powerfully voiced the necessity
of parental advocacy and parent–professional partnerships in order to create a
world of inclusive education, work, and supports for persons with developmental
disabilities (Turnbull & Turnbull, 2015). Dunst’s and Turnbull’s visions, advocacy,
and science have had major impacts on special education and early interventions’
transition to a more family-centered focus on parent coaching and parent–profes-
sional partnerships.
In 2004, a landmark publication by Hanft, Rush, and Shelden (2004) brought
the practice of coaching into early childhood intervention front and center. It
clearly articulated a radically different way of working with parents from that to
be found in parent training models, like TEACCH and DTT, or the “show-and-
tell” or “magic hands” models that came from the health sciences and emphasized
hands-on therapy practices. Deeply informed by research in infant–toddler devel-

opment, infant mental health, the science of adult learning, and communication
science, these authors stressed the parent–child dyad as the necessary focus of
attention for early intervention, and children’s interactions with caregivers within
activities of daily life as the necessary source of learning opportunities supported
by early intervention. Their work continues at this time with their collaboration
in the Family, Infant and Preschool Program (FIPP) and a second coaching hand-
book (Rush & Shelden, 2011). Starting from the Hanft et al. (2004) text, the Rush
and Shelden (2011) text, and the FIPP website materials (www.fipp.org), and also
deeply influenced by the knowledge and practice base of infant mental health
(Fraiberg, Adelson, & Shapiro, 1975; Stern, 1985; Zeanah, Berlin, & Boris, 2011),
we constructed and tested a parent-implemented ESDM model (P-ESDM) based
on parent coaching practices. The framework, materials, and measurement tools
that we developed and tested in our multiple P-ESDM studies and our clinical
P-ESDM practices are all available in this text.
Parent coaching (as contrasted to parent training or parent education) nests
within the larger framework of family-centered care. While the term family-
centered care is used throughout service delivery systems, not all systems of care
that describe themselves as family-centered actually provide care that is centered
on family needs, family strengths, family beliefs, family values, and family routines
and practices. Two main factors in family-centered care have to do with shared
decision-making and parent–professional communication styles. The concept of
family-centered care gained much of its momentum from the advocacy of parents
of children with developmental and chronic health needs in the 1980s:
In a system-centered model, care processes are structured to facilitate the function

of health care professionals to serve patients; patients must adapt to the constraints
of the system. When a patient-centered model is used, the opposite is true: The
system accommodates the individual. In pediatrics, patient-centered care is typically
referred to as family-centered care to acknowledge that children’s well-being is inex-
tricably linked to that of their families. A family-centered approach requires recogni-
tion that families have the most expertise about their child and, therefore, that they
have the right and the responsibility to collaborate in medical decision making in
behalf of their child. (McGuinn & Worley, 2008, p. 215)
Dunst and Trivette (2009a) proposed a framework for help-giving relationships

that empowers families by promoting family competency as it pertains to identi-
fying and managing their child’s needs. Their model of empowerment requires
specific conditions for both families and professionals: that families acquire (1) an
increased understanding of their child’s needs, (2) the ability to deploy competen-
cies to meet those needs, and (3) self-efficacy (a belief that they are capable) to
do so. Among the desired qualities of help-givers (professionals) in this model are:
(1) that professionals have a proactive stance marked by a belief that help-seekers
are already competent or have the capacity to become competent; (2) that profes-
sionals create opportunities for competence to be displayed by providing enabling
experiences to help-seekers; and (3) that they allow help-seekers to use their
competencies to access resources and attribute success to their own actions, not
the professional’s. In essence, Dunst and Trivette (2009a) suggested that viewing
the relationship with help-seekers from a strengths-based perspective rather than
one of deficits is a more effective way to achieve desired outcomes for children
with special needs and their families. Dunst and his colleagues have been lead-
ers in advocating, defining, demonstrating, and examining family-centered care
for decades. Their work to transform early intervention practices from “a deficit-
based, child-focused early intervention to a strengths-based, family-focused early
childhood and family support program” (Dunst & Trivette, 2009a, p. 120) began
in 1975 and continues to the present, influenced strongly by advanced in-family
systems theories, by the development of ecologically based frameworks for looking
at child development (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1986), and by a productive program of
research (Dunst & Trivette, 2009b) into every aspect of the model that has gener-
ated considerable support. Table 2.1 condenses descriptors of family-centered care
from McGuinn and Worley (2008) and coaching practices from Hanft, Rush, and
Shelden (2004).
Conclusion
The importance of family interactions and routines as the context for children’s
early learning was a compelling concept behind the 1975 creation of the Educa-
tion for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142). The concepts and
law were extended to infants and toddlers with risks and disabilities (Part C of
IDEA) to enhance infant–toddler development and to provide support for families
to meet the special needs of their young child, as well as to reduce the downstream
governmental costs of treatment and education by intervening as soon as inter-
vention needs were recognized and by emphasizing least-restrictive environments.
Both the law and findings from decades of research on infant–toddler develop-
ment of both typically and atypically developing young children over the past 4
decades emphasize the necessity of (1) supporting positive parent–child relation-
ships fundamental to optimal early development, and (2) supporting caregivers in
each child’s natural environments and activities, to understand and support the
young child’s development—in order to optimize child and family outcomes.
Table 2.1.Similarities and Differences in Family-Centered Care and Parent

Coaching Concepts
Family-centered models of care Coaching in early childhood intervention
Parents are experts on their children. Coach and parents pool their expertise.
Parents need to be part of the decision- Parents and coach make decisions together.
making process.
Identifying family strengths and needs. Emphasis on assessment of family strengths

and needs for support; parents’ goals, values,
practices.
Relationship between medical personnel Collaborative, partnership relations.

and parents should be collaborative.
Importance of culturally sensitive care. Importance of cultural sensitivity and learning

from family.
Importance of community ties and Community-based activities and supports.

community-based supports.
Treat families with respect and support. Mutually respectful partnership.
Optimal child functioning reflects Intervention focused on child participation in

supportive family and community. the family and community.
Needs of all family members must be Supporting family means supporting all its
considered. members.
Services need to be easy for parents to Skills being coached need to be easy to learn
use. and easy to implement in everyday contexts.
Providing honest, unbiased information to Having honest reciprocal exchanges and

families. sharing reflections and evaluations.
Honoring diversity in all its aspects Having honest reciprocal exchanges and
within families. sharing reflections and evaluations.
Respecting different methods of coping Acknowledging and building on parents’ ways

and use of supports. of coping and their use of their own supports.
Importance of parent–parent support and Attention to social network that supports

social support systems for the child and parents and family, focus on community
family well-being. relations more than professional relations.
Services organized and designed based on Coaching services designed based on family
child–family needs, not agency needs. needs and preferences.
Interdisciplinary care and comprehensive Coach functions in an interdisciplinary way—

services. addresses all child’s treatment goals.
Note. Data from McGuinn and Worley (2008) and Hanft, Rush, and Shelden (2004).
Chapter 3
Becoming a Coach
Knowledge, Characteristics,
and Supports
Parent coaching adds additional skill sets to our early interventionist repertoires:
new ways of thinking, new skills and knowledge, and new resources to tap. The
more complex interactions and events that occur in coaching create needs for new
supports and resources for coaches. This new tool kit supports parent-implemented
child intervention in all kinds of natural environments. It provides the interven-
tionist with new ways to build working relationships with parents, based on part-
nership, collaboration, and adult learning principles.
Very few parent-mediated interventions discuss straightforwardly the fact that
the primary goal of coaching parents is to change adult behavior. Child change is
the secondary goal, and it is the hoped for effect of parent behavior changes. The
learning process that parents begin as they enter parent coaching requires ongoing
effort in learning, practicing, and generalizing new skills, as does any other adult
goal of changing out old habits for new ones. This is not how our field has typically
discussed parent-mediated interventions. However, we have found it very helpful
to recognize and embrace the behavior change of parents as the primary target
of intervention in the P-ESDM model and the mediator of change in children
(just as behavior change was our goal as we learned these skills and taught them
to our students.) This conceptualization of parent coaching led us to a number
of adult learning concepts, empirically based tools, and teaching and assessment
procedures from other well-established interventions that we found helpful as we
coached and supported parents through a process of change.
In this chapter, we describe the coaching approach we have developed to
help parents turn their new learning into long-term cognitive, emotional, and
action-oriented habits. This chapter addresses what coaches need to know, some
23
characteristics of an effective coach, and coaching strategies for addressing

lapses in parent motivation and follow-through. In addition, we provide the self-
monitoring tools for parents to guide their own learning and their own behavior
changes. After all, adult learning is about internal motivation, personal goal set-
ting, and ongoing self-evaluation; adults need to own their own learning in order
for it to occur.
What Coaches Need to Know

Know the Evidence
The expectation that interventionists use evidence-based practices is written into
laws, insurance reimbursement practices, and professional codes of ethics. Parent-
implemented intervention is an evidence-based practice, as is the use of a coach-
ing relationship to help adults change behavior. Knowing the concepts and the
evidence base behind their parent-implemented coaching model deepens coaches’
understanding and commitment to their work while helping them answer parents’
questions and problem-solve more successfully. How can interventionists learn the
deeper aspects of their chosen model?
Early intervention agencies with which we have worked use several strate-
gies for building coaches’ knowledge base. They support motivating speakers
who deliver the evidence in person using well-filmed and well-edited videos, and
sometimes individual stories; visually clear data create energy and enthusiasm for
learning and change. They provide staff retreats, and in-service sessions offer new
learning in environments that allocate the time, group support, and social rewards
needed for acquiring new skills and knowledge. They share attractive self-learning
materials in the form of links to reliable websites and YouTube postings; the videos
of other skilled coaches dealing with challenges and a wide range of families and
children; visually compelling handouts and electronic materials; annotated bibli-
ographies of key concept papers, review articles, book chapters; and studies that
include articles and personal checklists for organizing and task-analyzing learn-
ing. They encourage and support regular peer supervision groups focused on the
sharing of videos and self-measurement using fidelity of implementation measures;
these provide necessary opportunities for the refinement, maintenance, and gen-
eralization of learning among supportive peers who share the same learning goals.
Staff learning requires time, and agencies that set aside work time to be used for
new learning deliver a powerful message about how much they value the quality of
work their employees will provide. This, in turn, enhances interventionists’ self-
esteem and confidence in their professional skills.
Finally, knowing the evidence provides coaches with the base they need
to answer parents’ questions about the evidence and concepts behind various
approaches. Coaches who can answer such questions knowledgeably and share
Knowledge, Characteristics, and Supports 25
materials at parents’ request quickly demonstrate their preparedness and expertise,

which increases parents’ buy-in and motivation for the work at hand.
Master the Practice

Many evidence-based, low-intensity parent-implemented practices belong to the
category of NDBIs (Schreibman et al., 2015). Numerous different brand-name
interventions and professional disciplines use some type of naturalistic approach
as a basis for treating young children, because these methods support child motiva-
tion and participation. NDBI approaches are built on principles that reflect what is
known about how young children learn most readily: within familiar settings and
routines, with people they know and feel comfortable with, with materials that
they choose and prefer, in activities that fit a child’s current abilities and interests.
What do we mean by naturalistic approaches? In general, adults using natural-
istic approaches follow children’s interests, preferences, and skill readiness. They
interact with the child as a play partner, rather than as an authority figure. They
use reward strategies that are part and parcel of the activity, material, and inter-
action, rather than external reinforcers like food and drink (unless the activity
is a meal!), tokens, points, stars, or a preferred object (phone or computer) that
is not part of the activity. They capitalize on the child’s interest and pleasure to
capture and hold his or her attention, and they use children’s own desires to repeat
pleasurable activities to assure opportunities to practice the new skill. The most
skilled naturalistic therapists also present learning challenges that are just beyond
the child’s current skill set in order to stimulate mastery motivation in the child,
with all the pleasure that accompanies it. Understanding that children cannot
perform at their most skilled level every single time, they also assure the child has
ample opportunity to enjoy the activity and receive those internal rewards using
his or her current skill set. Naturalistic approaches can be found in developmen-
tally based interventions, sensory-based interventions, and interventions derived
from ABA. Pivotal response training (PRT; see Schreibman & Koegel, 1996, for
an early review) and incidental teaching (McGee, Krantz, Mason, & McClan-
nahan, 1983) were the first two ABA-based interventions for autism to publish
treatment studies for children with ASD that used naturalistic ABA approaches.
Interventionists from speech and language pathology, occupational therapy, and
early childhood special education typically use naturalistic approaches for young
children in their disciplinary work.
The unique feature of NDBIs is the careful integration of developmental sci-
ence and learning science (ABA) within a naturalistic teaching approach. In
addition, NDBIs emphasize predetermined teaching goals, ongoing data collec-
tion, task analysis, and developmental sequencing of treatment objectives to deter-
mine the daily skills to be practiced and taught, and data-based decision making,
and thus fit well into the legal requirements of individualized family service plans
(IFSPs) and individualized education plans (IEPs) for preschoolers. For interven-
tions grounded in ABA, NDBI adds developmental knowledge to decisions about
goal development, communication-stimulating interaction with an adult who is a
reciprocal communicative partner in all activities, and the motivational benefits
of child choice and child preferences. One unique aspect of ESDM within the
NDBIs is the practice of teaching to multiple objectives with several repetitions
inside a single ongoing activity, which adds many more learning opportunities in a
time period than can be attained when only one objective is focused on at a time.
In order to coach a parent to implement an intervention approach at home,
a coach has to have extended mastery of the skills and concepts to be learned. It
is far more difficult to coach someone else in a skill than to carry it out oneself,
because coaching another person requires that the coach translate into words all
that he or she knows, including knowledge held so deeply that the coach performs
those actions without thinking about them. Bringing such “automatic” actions
into one’s mind and one’s vocabulary; learning to articulate the why’s and where-
fores behind such actions; being able to break down complex actions and ideas
into very simple, quickly learned scripts (see Chapters 6 and 7 of this book for
detailed how-to examples); and being able to deliver that learning at just the point
and level that a parent needs to learn in order to use the skill in the moment and
also generalize it—this requires additional learning and practice, both didactic
and experiential, including self-assessment, feedback, and supervision.
Given all that goes into providing intervention for young children with ASD,
how does a coach decide what parents need to learn in order to implement a prac-
tice at home? Most name-brand NDBI practices use an explicit assessment tool or
approach that helps to define what the adult needs to do within a teaching inter-
action, and these are known as fidelity of implementation (FOI) or fidelity measures.
The FOI measure explicitly describes each skill that a well-trained practitioner
uses and provides a means of measuring the accuracy of each skill, thus giving
the coach a convenient way to assess what parents are learning within coaching
and where additional coaching is needed. In addition to the brand-specific fidelity
tools, there is also a recently published NDBI FOI tool that coaches can use if their
method of practice does not have an FOI associated with it (Vibert et al., 2020).
We recommend that coaches assure their own fidelity of practice before coaching
others, and this can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including formal train-
ing (with associated fees and associated professional continued education units
[CEUs]), self-study or group study using Web-based and written materials and peer
supervision, and inservice training efforts utilizing a consultant, among others.
For parent coaching, we have created a public website, Help Is in Your Hands
(www.helpisinyourhands.org), with many free materials for coaches and parents.
Other branded interventions also have affiliated websites and offer a variety of
training options.
For busy early interventionists, taking the time to learn and perfect their skills
may seem incredibly difficult, but most of us are accustomed to the expectation of
continued learning in our professions, given our agency or licensing requirements
for continued professional education. Ongoing inservice training at an agency
level, the requirements of an agency’s annual review, and annual professional goal
setting all provide structure and incentives from employers and professional asso-
ciations for improving clinical practice. Joining a formal training program brings
the benefit of externally structured learning and motivational enhancements. If
you decide to take a self-instructional approach, consider the following, and please
remember that social support from peer learners will help you with consistency,
motivation, and practice as well as objective feedback about your learning, all of
which will help you learn more rapidly and more successfully. Try teaming up with
a colleague or two to complete this process together by following these steps:
1. Set a year-long goal of attaining fidelity in the practice of your choice.

2. Develop a set of short-term objectives or benchmarks (over, say, a period of
12 weeks) that require no more than an hour or two of your time per week,
and schedule your time slots for the year!
3. Break down each set of short-term objectives into six steps with mastery
criteria for each, and create a data sheet for yourself.
4. Choose an FOI tool to define your long-term goals.
5. Videotape (with permission, of course) your work with several children to
provide yourself with a baseline and progress data.
6. Code your partner’s work as well as your own, so you both have some objec-
tive scores.
7. Set up regular times to meet with your partner (we suggest every 2 weeks)
to review and code sections of videos that demonstrate your current goals.
8. Keep yourself focused on just one skill at a time to boost your confidence
and self-esteem.
9. The fidelity scores of master therapists typically fall in the 85–90% range.
Perfection is not a human attribute!
So far, we have discussed the tools a coach needs in his or her tool kit in order
to transition into a coaching role. We have additionally discussed interdisciplinary
knowledge of the child’s needs and strengths (the generalist role), a back-up team
of colleagues who also know the child and family and can provide advice and sup-
port, well-developed skills in the intervention being applied, and a peer support
and supervision group. We also assumed that the coach has kept the child’s goals
in clear view and has broken down all related objectives into short-term learning
goals. A final assumption is that the coach has had meaningful experience train-
ing others to carry out interventions—students or other trainees, assistants, and
colleagues who have asked for help with certain techniques. We will cover step-by-
step skills in coaching a session in later chapters. Right now, we need to focus on
two more areas of skill: how to transition from direct therapy to coaching models,
and how to develop the kind of relationship that is necessary with parents when
one becomes a coach.
Shifting Intervention Sessions from Therapist–Child

to Parent–Child with Coach Support
It is very difficult to transition from direct intervention to parent coaching, and
it is even more difficult to do this with families that have experienced you as a
direct therapist. Remember the purpose of the shift—to increase children’s learn-
ing opportunities exponentially and to provide parents with the skills they want:
to know how to help their kids, what to do and how, when, and where to do it. Par-
ents want to get it right. It is our universal experience that when we first meet par-
ents with their young children, the parents’ initial question is “What can we do?,”
not “What will you do?” Therapists who tell us that the parents they work with
are not motivated, that they sit on the sidelines, or text, or check their phones, or
do housework, or nap during their home visits do not realize parents develop these
habits in response to therapists providing direct therapy in the treatment hour.
Interventionists who want to support parent-implemented intervention will do
well to look out for these intentional or unintentional therapist’s behaviors, which
often signal that the parents are not integral to the intervention:
• Working with the child, rather than supporting the parents to work with
their child
• Telling the parents what the intervention’s goals are, rather than asking
them what they want their child to learn
• Directing parents what to do at home, rather than asking them how the
therapist can be of help in everyday life at home
• Working only with materials and equipment that the therapist has brought
to session, rather than items the parents have at home
• Conducting activities that are far removed from the typical daily living
routines these parents carry out with their child
• Expecting that the parents will observe rather than interact, or asking the
parents not to interact because it interferes with treatment
For all these reasons, it is often easiest to begin your coaching practice with
families that are new to you as an interventionist, so you can develop coaching
interactions from the start. Chapters 5 and 6 describe how to begin the parent–
child–coach interactive triangle from the very first contacts, in the initial assess-
ment and treatment sessions. However, we have watched so many therapists shift
their practice from direct therapy to coaching that we know this approach can be
successful and that parents will be very appreciative of their new role once they
have had the chance to learn it. For families that are accustomed to being on the
periphery, the coach can set up a new plan for collaborating following these steps:
1. Discuss the new plan and the reasons for it at the beginning of a session.
Be ready to notice and address positive and negative emotional reactions
to change.
2. Ask parents what their goals are for the session, and ask them to describe
something that has gone well or not so well with their child over the past
week (the initial observation activity). If the parents do not have a goal,
you can share your list of treatment goals and let them choose one.
3. Ask the parents an open-ended question: how they felt about the activ-
ity and their child’s response, and share your own reflections about what
occurred, emphasizing the parents’ successful actions and any positive
reactions to the parents the child may have had. You have begun the plan–
act–reflect–evaluate format that will be laid out in Chapters 5 and 6.
4. It is critical that in this first encounter the parents have a positive experi-
ence working with their child, and it is the coach’s responsibility to make
sure this happens. However, for adult learners, feelings of success and com-
petence come not from adult praise, but rather from meeting their own
goals, which in this situation are reflected in their child’s positive response
to them, their child’s learning, the parents’ enjoyment of such interac-
tions, and the parents’ sense of mastery and competence as expressed in
the child’s learning and engagement. The coach who responds to parents’
efforts with their child by highlighting these observations has provided a
much more powerful reinforcer than the coach who simply tells them how
“great” they’re doing (which in itself is kind of judgmental and distancing
for some parents).
Incorporating Principles of Adult Learning into Your Coaching

Parents, like coaches, are adult learners of the intervention being used, and the
principles of adult learning apply to both. As adult learners, parents have goals for
their own learning based on their immediate interests, priorities, and needs. They
expect to see immediate consequences for their efforts. If their goals are not met,
they will not maintain a learning relationship with the coach. Parents need to feel
respected for what they bring to the situation, and they evaluate the teaching–
learning process as it unfolds. Adults (like children) are hands-on learners. If there
is an action to be accomplished, they will learn it by doing it, seeing its effect,
and assessing what occurred. This is where feedback about what just happened
can be helpful. Watching and copying a more skilled person are less effective and
much less satisfying than doing and assessing, which emphasizes independence,
intention, and control. A beginner cannot learn a tennis swing (or how to play
a musical instrument, or a dance step) by being told how to do it, or by reading

about it, or by watching someone else. One has to pick up the racket, hit the ball,
see what happens, and then have a coach explain why the ball went where it did.
Then one has to hit the ball again and again, and again, until the muscles and
brain learn to do automatically what one aims to accomplish.
Parents need to experience the same rewards that skilled therapists experi-
ence with children in intervention: the reward of seeing the child make small
changes, the pleasure of interacting with a happy child, the excitement of seeing
learning happen in the moment, and the sense of competence that comes from
helping children reach new goals. These are the rewards that have fueled us as
therapists, and these are the rewards that we, as coaches, need to hand over to
parents to experience firsthand—to build their feelings of confidence and compe-
tence in themselves and in their children.
Now that we have described the learning content that new coaches need to
begin coaching the parents of young children with ASD in everyday activities
with their child, it is time to examine the type of interpersonal relationship that
marks a successful coaching relationship between adults and coaches.
Coaching Characteristics:
The Relationship between Coach and Parent
Parents need to know (and feel) that the coach genuinely cares about them
and their child in order to be open to the coaching process and willing to work
together. Think back to the last time you tried to learn something completely new.
Remember how inept you felt, how anxious you might have been, how embar-
rassing it was to make mistakes, how impossible it seemed that you would ever
master the skill. With coaching, parents are not only trying something different
but also doing so with the most important person in their life—their child—in
front of an “expert” whom they do not know very well. Parents have to trust what
the coach is teaching them, have to be motivated to keep practicing, have to feel
safe enough to talk about their experiences, and have to be comfortable asking
for help without feeling inept, ignorant, judged, or criticized. They must have the
humility to make mistakes and demonstrate failures in front of the coach without
becoming so discouraged that they give up trying. A competent coach shows a
caring, compassionate attitude through encouragement, humor, acceptance, and
the creation of a safe, supportive, and motivating environment in which parents
can try out new approaches, ask for guidance, and make mistakes, accepting them
as a necessary part of the learning process. The coach who empathizes and reflects
on his or her own mistakes or misjudgments emphasizes a common learner stance.
A coach who understands errors as markers of learning opportunities is providing
the kind of emphatic reciprocal relationship that will support parent learning.
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précises mais ne se pressait point comme elle. Il crut l’apercevoir sur
les boulevards mais elle disparut dans la foule. Il se demandait :
— Si je la rencontre que lui dirai-je ? l’aurai l’air ridicule selon
mon habitude. Et que faire ? Je n’ai pas d’argent à moi. Jeanne me
donne vingt sous par vingt sous et il ne faut pas que je lui en
redemande trop souvent.
Son désir restait le plus fort. Il ne pouvait oublier ce regard, ce
frôlement ; même il s’étonnait un peu qu’elle n’eût pas encore
essayé de se rapprocher de lui, de lui faire signe. Des soirs se
passèrent ainsi en vaines recherches. Il alla jusque dans la rue où
elle demeurait. Il la vit rentrer, voulut se précipiter et n’osa point. Elle
était la femme idéale dont rêvent ceux qui approchent de la
trentaine. Il la parait de toutes les qualités sentimentales qu’il n’avait
trouvées ni dans Lucie trop jeune, ni dans Jeanne trop pratique. Elle
s’ennuyait certainement avec cet homme méticuleux qu’était son
mari. Elle devait être assoiffée de lyrisme. C’était avec elle qu’il eût
voulu vivre.
Il dit un soir :
— Tout de même il faudrait bien que nous les invitions à notre
tour.
— J’y pensais, répondit Jeanne.
Elle vint, superbe. Il tremblait quand elle lui tendit la main.
Cependant elle disait :
— Mais c’est très bien, chez vous ! Mieux que chez nous ! Qu’est-
ce que vous me racontiez donc, Jeanne ?
— Oh ! dit celle-ci, ce sont des meubles que je tiens de mes
parents. Ils ne sont pas vilains mais si ça continue nous serons
obligés d’en vendre et de nous contenter d’une chambre et d’une
cuisine.
— Allons donc ! protesta Ternant, vous n’en êtes pas là ! Et
Monsieur va devenir célèbre un jour ou l’autre.
Il dit cela d’un ton plus méprisant que sérieux. Vaneau manquait
trop d’assurance pour riposter. Et puis elle était là. Toute la soirée il
espéra que grâce à quelque coïncidence il se trouverait seul avec
elle. Ternant pouvait passer dans l’autre chambre pendant que
Jeanne serait à la cuisine. Il en fut ainsi à la fin du repas. C’était une
des manies de Ternant de se dégourdir les jambes après avoir
secoué sa serviette. Jeanne préparait le café. Il resta seul en face
d’elle plusieurs minutes à pâlir, à trembler, à ne pas pouvoir
prononcer une parole.
— Vous ne dites rien ? fit-elle.
Il répondit, d’un air qu’elle dut trouver, pensa-t-il ensuite, niais :
— Mais si, madame !
Ce fut tout. Il n’en reprit que de plus belle le soir ses allées et
venues, ne pouvant se débarrasser de son désir. Jeanne ne
soupçonnant rien parlait toujours de Mme Ternant. Hier elle était
allée s’acheter un chapeau au Louvre ; ce soir elles étaient montées
ensemble jusqu’à la place Clichy : Vaneau cependant errait dans les
environs du Conservatoire. Il désespérait de jamais la rejoindre.
Jusqu’au soir où grâce au hasard il la vit descendre d’une voiture et
entrer dans un hôtel pendant qu’un jeune homme — gants, monocle
et chapeau haut de forme, — payait le cocher. Vaneau n’en mourut
point mais il souffrit quelque temps.
Les années passaient l’une après l’autre. C’était toujours la
suivante qui devait lui apporter avec la gloire la richesse et la
délivrance. Elle viendrait comme la colombe de l’arche annoncer que
les temps étaient révolus et tenant une couronne de lauriers. S’il
avait pu partir au-devant d’elle, l’obliger à se hâter ! Cependant elle
arrivait avec ses trois cent soixante-cinq jours alignés en bon ordre
comme des soldats de plomb : les dimanches étaient leurs sergents,
les douze mois leurs capitaines. Mais ils se ressemblaient tous.
Des dimanches, il en vécut de sinistres l’hiver. Jeanne préférait
rester à la maison. Il n’aurait pas demandé mieux que de sortir mais
pour quoi faire ? Il ne se sentait ni le courage ni seulement le désir
de recommencer à chercher l’aventure comme autrefois par les
rues, sur les quais, dans la cathédrale, au musée. L’après-midi lui
paraissait interminable : personne ne venait frapper à leur porte. Dès
trois heures la brume envahissait la cour ; des fenêtres s’éclairaient.
Aux étages inférieurs ce n’étaient que va-et-vient, que poignées de
mains sur les paliers, que : « Vous êtes bien aimables d’être venus
nous voir ! », que bruits de pianos. Jeanne ne détestait point cette
solitude ; elle cousait, reprisait, tandis que dans sa chambre il se
morfondait. En vain essayait-il d’écrire : il le faisait avec de moins en
moins de confiance en lui-même. Pourtant il ne consentait pas
encore à renoncer. Il venait de terminer un acte en vers dont Jeanne
n’avait pas voulu écouter la lecture et qu’il ne savait à quel théâtre
déposer ; il avait autant de chances ici que là. N’ayant réussi à se
rattacher à aucun groupe il ne connaissait aucun ami qui pût le
conseiller utilement. Sans résultat, lorsqu’une simple mention lui eût
fait si grand plaisir, il prit part à d’infimes concours littéraires. Mais il
ne suffit pas d’être inconnu pour que ce soit un devoir à la foule de
vous hisser sur le pavois.
La nécessité le condamnait à des besognes dont la monotonie
devenait accablante. Parmi ces hommes dont l’énergie déjà mince
s’épuisait à ressasser des potins de bureau, parmi ces hommes
aussi cancaniers que des femmes il se rapetissait encore lui qui
avait rêvé de monter haut. Les autres vivaient là comme poissons
dans l’eau. Ils écrivaient, les coudes largement écartés sur leurs
tables comme pour être avec elles en parfaite communion. En été
dehors c’était le chaud soleil sur les feuilles roussies des squares, le
murmure des jets d’eau tièdes dans les vasques, les passants
obligés de marcher habillés de pied en cap, avec d’inutiles faux cols
vite trempés de sueur. Ici ils étaient à l’ombre. Chaque après-midi
vers trois heures le garçon s’annonçait, porteur d’une cruche pleine
d’une boisson presque glacée. Quant aux trains qui sifflaient dans
les gares chargés à rompre leurs essieux de voyageurs et de malles,
ils ne les entendaient pas : assis chacun sur sa chaise ils ignoraient
la fiévreuse attente des départs. Il y avait bien chaque année un peu
avant Pâques les mêmes discussions pour établir la date du congé
de deux semaines auquel chacun avait droit. Sans doute en
parlaient-ils longtemps à l’avance et la veille du départ chacun se
montrait-il quelque peu surexcité. Mais aussitôt rentrés ils
reprenaient leurs habitudes en même temps que leur veston de
travail usé aux coudes. L’image des champs, des bois, des
montagnes, de la mer, s’effaçait vite de leur mémoire. Et leur vie
n’était complète qu’au bureau. Ils s’y trouvaient heureux en toute
saison : « Il y fait frais l’été, disaient-ils, et chaud l’hiver. » Depuis
longtemps Dominique lui-même avait cessé de se frapper le cœur.
Ils arrivaient difficilement à joindre les deux bouts. Jeanne
devenait insupportable et ce n’était point sa faute. Courageuse, elle
consentait à travailler, mais elle eût été heureuse de pouvoir
économiser un peu pour une maladie, pour un accident ou
simplement pour la vieillesse. Il n’y fallait pas songer. Les
discussions se multipliaient. Elle lui répétait :
— Voyons ! Au lieu de perdre ton temps est-ce que tu ne ferais
pas mieux de chercher des écritures supplémentaires ? Regarde
donc les Ternant !
Ils ne les voyaient plus depuis quelques années. Grâce à ses
relations Mme Ternant avait trouvé dans une maison de banque qui
venait de se fonder une place plus avantageuse : cent soixante-
quinze francs par mois. Pour Jeanne qui en gagnait la moitié c’eût
été le rêve. Mais avec un mari comme le sien qui ne connaissait
personne inutile d’y songer.
— Ou bien, disait-elle, reste au bureau après les autres. Cela te
fera bien noter. A la fin de l’année tu auras une augmentation de
deux cents francs.
Il résistait, ne voulant pas que l’on pût dire qu’il fût devenu un
rond-de-cuir exemplaire. Il se refusait à ressembler à Dominique. En
secret il continuait à se frapper le cœur ; aucune source vive n’en
jaillissait.
Ses parents, il n’était pas retourné les voir. Il attendait avec
impatience ses deux semaines de congé annuel pour faire ce qu’il
appelait « ses démarches ». Elles consistaient à monter des
escaliers, à attendre dans une antichambre de journal pendant une
heure pour voir un monsieur qui poliment lui disait entre deux
portes :
— Ce que vous m’apportez ne nous convient pas. Croyez bien
que je le regrette.
Ou encore :
— Nous sommes si encombrés qu’il serait préférable pour vous
d’essayer ailleurs.
Mais ailleurs aussi on était encombré.
Il voyait des jeunes gens de son âge qui, correctement vêtus,
une fleur à la boutonnière, entraient en frappant du talon, apportant
des articles que quelques jours après non sans amertume il lirait
imprimés. Ils n’avaient eu que la peine de naître ; tout de suite
l’avenir s’était ouvert devant eux comme une belle avenue qui
semble là-bas se rétrécir mais s’élargit à mesure que l’on avance et
qui se peuple de claqueurs dont les applaudissements intéressés ou
tarifés flattent pourtant l’oreille. Pour eux la vie ne pouvait être
qu’une succession de triomphes : elle n’était pour lui qu’une
succession de défaites. Jeanne quand il rentrait ne l’interrogeait
même pas.
Il regardait de loin la mêlée en spectateur qui parfois et malgré
lui-même eût été heureux d’être un combattant. Pas une œuvre ne
serait restée vivante s’il avait été possible de la jeter en proie aux
différents partis qui se heurtaient dans l’arène. Il y avait des corps-à-
corps et des luttes à distance. Ils ne mouraient pas tous mais tous
étaient atteints. Les invectives sifflaient comme des javelots pour
s’enfoncer par delà les groupes dans les statues d’argile, d’airain ou
d’argent. Mais chacun ne regardait que devant soi ; personne ne se
retournait pour écouter sonner le métal ni pour voir s’effriter la pierre.
Et les statues continuaient de se dresser hautaines et, la minute
d’après, par miracle intactes ; l’herbe et les fleurs des champs
poussaient encore autour de leurs socles et les oiseaux du ciel
venaient boire dans leurs mains tendues vers les foules. Ils se
disputaient l’héritage, dont chacun prétendait s’établir l’incorruptible
gardien, de cadavres à peine refroidis. Grandes âmes à les en croire
et pour qui ne les voyait que de loin ; mais si l’on pénétrait en elles
on y sentait grouiller la jalousie, la méchanceté, parfois la haine,
comme des crapauds et des serpents dans des souterrains de
châteaux haut bâtis sur les collines. Le plus noble d’entre tous
gravissait la pente de la montagne, fraternellement précédé des
ombres de Michel-Ange, de Beethoven et de Tolstoï et donnant la
main à Jean-Christophe. Plus il s’éloignait de la plaine et plus
nombreuses les flèches partaient de tous les camps ; mais elles
n’avaient point la force d’arriver jusqu’à leur but et leur pointe
s’émoussait contre les rochers ou s’enfonçait inoffensive dans la
bruyère. Vaneau comme les autres le regardait de loin ; si comme
eux il ne bandait point son arc contre lui il ne se sentait ni la force ni
même le désir de marcher à sa suite. Que ne tâchait-il de se
rapprocher de lui ! Chacun portait avec lui son étalon de la dignité de
l’artiste, comme dans les bois on se coupe un bâton de houx
proportionné à sa taille ; tant pis s’il était trop long, — où trop court,
— pour les autres. Les mendiants des salons ricanaient des
mendiants des antichambres. Et c’était comme le bruit d’une
tempête, comme le bruit d’un vent qui souffle avec impétuosité et qui
remplit toute la maison où sont assis les Douze. Mais il n’y en avait
pas douze sur qui vinssent se poser les langues de feu.
Son père lui écrivait quelquefois. S’affaiblissant il cessait peu à
peu de travailler. Les Lavaud vieillissaient de plus en plus acariâtres.
A Grenelle aussi leurs clients s’en allaient les uns après les autres
pour ne plus revenir. Il apprit par un journal le suicide de Detroyes
désespéré, disait-on, du silence qui se faisait autour de lui. Vaneau
le revit rallumant sans cesse son cigare ; un filet de fumée s’en
échappait un instant, puis une fois de plus le cigare s’éteignait. La
gloire ne durait donc qu’un temps ? Elle n’était que fumée. Cette
fumée même on ne pouvait donc pas au gré de ses désirs en
respirer de nouveau le parfum ?
Toute la détresse humaine se rassemblait au-dessus de sa tête
comme une nuée d’orage. Il arriva que Jeanne fut enceinte.
VII
De la brume traînait encore entre les branches des arbres au-

dessus des maisons. Elle avait comme une odeur de suie : la fumée
des cheminées que fouettait le vent de Décembre se mélangeait à
elle. Pas de neige. Les bois sans feuilles étaient tout noirs ; les
chemins détrempés semblaient ne pouvoir conduire qu’en des pays
agrandis par la solitude et le silence de l’hiver. Il faisait à peine jour
mais Vaneau reconnut dans le brouillard à l’horizon familier l’église,
les cyprès et les croix du cimetière. Toute sa nuit n’avait été qu’une
longue veille, une veillée funéraire à distance. Il se sentait les yeux
gonflés, la gorge serrée.
Pour la troisième fois depuis dix années il revoyait sa petite ville.
Il n’y revenait point comme il se l’était promis en homme célèbre ! Il
allait avoir trente-cinq ans ; ses cheveux commençaient à grisonner.
Elle ne l’attendait point ; elle n’avait pas envoyé au-devant de lui de
délégation. Il revenait dix ans après comme il était parti. Si, pourtant.
Elle l’attendait avec ses maisons toujours les mêmes, résignée à son
sort. Elle ne songeait point à s’étendre davantage sous le ciel, à
allonger ses maigres petits faubourgs. Pour une maison neuve qui
venait de s’élever deux vieilles s’affaissaient sous le poids de leur
chaume couvert de mousse que ne pouvaient plus supporter les
solives vermoulues. Peut-être parce qu’il sentit confusément cette
résignation, Vaneau frissonna en se frottant les yeux. Sur son
passage quelques portes s’entr’ouvrirent ; le reconnaissait-on
seulement ?
Il arriva à la maison. Rien ne dénonçait le malheur. Les volets
étaient accrochés, la porte entre-bâillée. Quand sa mère l’entendit
gratter ses bottines sur les marches de granit, — comme il y a
longtemps il y grattait ses sabots de gamin, — elle se leva, vint à lui,
fit un geste vers le lit, se mit à pleurer.
Tout était en ordre comme d’habitude. Dans la cheminée les
cendres étaient balayées. Le lit lui-même n’était pas bouleversé. Le
mort n’y tenait pas beaucoup de place. Vaneau fondit en larmes.
Sa mère avait vieilli : ses cheveux étaient blancs. Depuis des
années ou depuis deux jours ? Elle allait et venait. Sur le fourneau à
charbon de bois elle avait préparé pour lui du chocolat. Elle dit :
— Mon pauvre petit ! Ainsi tu vois ?… Depuis le temps que tu
n’es pas venu !… Je sais que ce n’est pas ta faute… Mais tu dois
avoir faim. Tu as peut-être froid aux pieds ?… Allons ! Débarrasse-toi
de ton chapeau… de ton pardessus… Mets-toi là près du feu…
Pose-les plutôt sur ton lit… Tu vas manger un peu.
Il ne pouvait parler. Enfin il demanda :
— Mais pourquoi ne pas m’avoir averti ? Je serais venu plus tôt.
— Ah ! Tu le connais bien ! Quand je lui ai parlé de t’écrire il s’est
mis en colère. Ça allait te déranger de ton travail à ton bureau. Tes
chefs feraient des difficultés pour te laisser partir. On ne pouvait pas
passer sa vie à perdre son temps et son argent en voyages. Tu vois
tout ce qu’il a dit. On ne t’a télégraphié qu’au dernier moment.
Il le regardait à jamais immobile, un crucifix sur la poitrine. C’était
la fin d’une vie dont chaque jour avait été rempli par le travail et qui
s’était étendue tout le long de quarante années de résignation.
— On avait parlé de le mettre dans le cercueil hier soir. Je n’ai
pas voulu, pour que tu le voies encore une fois. Il parlait souvent de
toi, les derniers temps surtout. Il s’inquiétait. Il aurait voulu que tu
viennes nous voir une fois par an mais il disait tout de suite : C’est
ces voyages qui coûtent cher !
Deux hommes vinrent avec le cercueil ouvert qu’ils posèrent près
du lit. Ils égalisèrent le son qu’ils remuaient avec leurs mains.
Vaneau machinalement les regardait faire. Ils n’étaient pas émus. Ils
avaient l’habitude de ce travail ; c’était leur vie. Puis ils le
soulevèrent dans son linceul chacun par une extrémité. La toile ne
céda point. Solide elle sortait de la vieille armoire où le linge n’est
jamais plié avant d’avoir été soigneusement visité. Quand on l’eut
mis dans le cercueil Vaneau se pencha encore sur lui pour
l’embrasser sur le front. Ses larmes jaillirent de nouveau.
Le cercueil fut posé sur deux tréteaux. Il fallut enlever la table
ronde autour de laquelle des années auparavant ils avaient été
réunis tous les trois pour les veillées d’hiver. Le rôle de la table était
fini : on aurait pu l’emporter elle aussi au cimetière. On le recouvrit
du drap noir semé de grosses larmes d’argent et partagé par une
croix en étoffe blanche. A la tête et aux pieds on alluma quatre
cierges sur des chandeliers descendus de l’église suivant la
coutume, un peu vert-de-grisés.
A neuf heures et demie le glas commença de tinter. Vaneau
connaissait les sonneries des cloches de son pays. Elles avaient fait
partie de son enfance. Elles ne ressemblaient point aux carillons
indifférents toujours les mêmes que l’on entend à Paris. Ici les
cloches avaient des voix joyeuses pour un baptême, pour un
mariage, lugubres et plaintives pour un enterrement. De vieilles
femmes en sabots avec des tabliers et des bonnets noirs arrivaient
l’une après l’autre ou par petits groupes. Elles faisaient avec la
branche de buis trempée dans le verre d’eau bénite le signe de la
croix sur le cercueil puis s’agenouillant disaient une prière pour le
mort en remuant les lèvres : elles ne pouvaient pas prier autrement.
Des hommes entraient vêtus de paletots noirs qui n’avaient pas
coûté cher mais qu’ils mettaient le moins souvent possible de peur
de les user trop vite ; on les devinait mal à leur aise dans les souliers
qu’ils avaient dû chausser aujourd’hui : ils aimaient mieux leurs
sabots. Ils prenaient la branche de buis étonnés de la sentir légère à
leurs mains, eux qui d’habitude soulevaient des fardeaux et ne
trouvaient lourdes ni la pioche, ni la cognée, ni la bêche. Puis ils se
retiraient un peu, gênés de leurs bras inoccupés qu’ils croisaient. Ils
l’avaient connu. Pour le suivre à l’église, au cimetière, ils perdaient
une demi-journée. Ils ne le regrettaient pas sachant que leur tour
viendrait.
Vaneau se tenait près de la cheminée avec son pardessus, ses
manchettes, son faux col, ses bottines, parmi ces hommes et ces
femmes. Il étouffait. Par instants il fermait les yeux comme pour
regarder au dedans de lui-même. C’était ici dans cette même pièce
où il y avait aujourd’hui beaucoup de monde qu’il avait comme les
autres dans des maisons semblables appris ses leçons, fait ses
devoirs, joué quand dehors il faisait mauvais. Aujourd’hui dans son
cœur il parlait à son père. Il disait :
— Tu aurais mieux fait de me garder près de toi. Si j’étais resté
ici peut-être ne serais-tu pas mort ? Je ne te reproche rien. Repose
en paix.
Enfin le clergé arriva. Les enfants de chœur avaient des
soutanes noires. Quand l’officiant récita les prières le cortège se mit
en marche.
Les quatre porteurs du cercueil avançaient, le buste rejeté en
arrière, enfonçant leurs talons dans la terre du chemin. Vaneau
donnait le bras à sa mère ou plutôt c’était elle qui s’appuyait sur lui.
Elle pleurait toujours. Elle avait vécu avec lui quarante années
durant sans qu’un seul jour les eût séparés. Ils avaient réuni leurs
efforts pour entrer dans la vieillesse avec un peu de tranquillité.
Jamais elle n’avait dépensé d’argent pour sa toilette ; jamais même
pendant les hivers les plus rudes elle n’avait donné son linge à
laver ; jamais elle n’était allée aux fêtes des environs comme on le
voit faire à certaines femmes qui mènent leurs maris par le bout du
nez. Elle n’avait jamais dépensé un sou qu’à bon escient. Peut-être
avaient-ils pensé que leur fils grâce à l’instruction qu’au prix de
combien de sacrifices ils lui faisaient donner leur viendrait en aide et
qu’ils pourraient grâce à lui se reposer au coin du feu. Elle l’avait
soigné tout le temps de sa maladie parce qu’il n’était pas possible
qu’il mourût. Aujourd’hui elle marchait derrière son cercueil. Vaneau
serrait les mâchoires.
L’officiant et le chantre psalmodiaient lentement le Miserere. La
montée était dure. Les porteurs à mi-côte s’arrêtèrent pour souffler.
Le vent passait dans les sapins, sur les tilleuls, roulant et déroulant
la brume. On repartit. L’officiant chantait :
— Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti ; incerta et occulta sapientiæ tuæ
manifestasti mihi.
Alors Vaneau vit clair. Il se dit à lui-même :
— Je suis de ceux pour qui la résignation est un devoir, qui
doivent accepter la vie telle que le destin la leur a faite. Ces conseils
d’accroissement, de développement, mais ils ne sont bons que pour
les riches, que pour les forts ! Je ne veux plus me plaindre ni me
décourager ; mais je cesserai de vouloir atteindre des sommets où je
ne puis prétendre. Je suis ce qu’il m’a fait, ce que, venant de lui, je
ne pouvais pas ne pas être. Certainement il était fier parce que
j’apprenais à l’école des frères tout ce que je voulais, mais ne m’a-t-il
pas toujours conseillé ensuite de me contenter de ma situation ?
S’est-il jamais insurgé ? A-t-il jamais essayé de monter plus haut ?
J’entends bien que l’on me parlera de négation de l’effort. Mais non.
Il n’a pas été question pour lui de lutte mais de travail. Il n’a pas
voulu se mesurer avec d’autres mais avec lui-même, avec sa force
pour la connaître et l’employer tout entière.
On entrait dans l’église. Elle était froide, sombre. On avait tendu
le chœur d’une draperie noire. Autour du cercueil exhaussé sur le
catafalque on disposa de grands chandeliers peints en noir. La mort
était là. Des chants lugubres passèrent lentement au-dessus des
têtes comme des chauves-souris qui sortent des molles ténèbres.
Dehors le ciel devenait plus noir encore comme s’il eût pris le deuil.
Malgré les cierges l’église se remplit d’ombre. La messe commença.
Montant des abîmes du moyen-âge, alors que les peuples sentaient
passer sur leurs têtes le souffle des grandes calamités et que le ciel
était sinistre au-dessus des cathédrales inachevées, le Dies iræ fit
sonner ses rimes triples.
Inconsciemment Vaneau s’agenouillait, se levait, s’asseyait. Il
poursuivait sa pensée ne voulant point la laisser qu’il ne l’eût
épuisée. Il se disait :
— Ces efforts, inutiles puisqu’ils dépassent mes forces, ces
désirs de gloire, j’en ai assez. La gloire ! Être connu ! Ils discuteront
sur la réalité du monde, mais pas un instant ils ne douteront de la
réalité de leur propre gloire. Le monde s’éteindra avec eux puisqu’il
finira pour eux à la minute précise de leur mort ; mais leur gloire leur
survivra. Pourtant qu’en sauront-ils ? Et qu’ils viennent ici ! Qu’ils
traversent les bourgs et les villages de France ! Ils n’y seront point
précédés par leur réputation. Leur auréole de cuivre reste accrochée
aux portes de Paris. Cinq cents, dix mille, deux cent mille lecteurs
les connaissent, mais des millions d’hommes les ignoreront à
jamais. Le bûcheron qui sa journée finie chante dans une auberge et
que dix mains calleuses applaudissent, a lui aussi ses minutes de
gloire.
Le chœur chantait :
— Dies magna, et amara valde.
Vaneau continuait :
— Je n’ai rien en moi.
Il avait beau médire de la gloire : il lui en coûtait de se faire cet
aveu. Sur son père et sur lui-même il versa quelques larmes qu’il
essuya d’un revers de main.
— Cela non plus je ne te le reproche point. Nous ne sommes
point responsables de ce que nous sommes. Un homme de génie
n’a pas à s’enorgueillir du poids de son cerveau. Mais nous avons
tort de ne pas nous connaître, de ne pas savoir nous dire : Tu n’iras
pas plus loin, mais tu peux et tu dois aller jusque-là. Je ne veux pour
moi ni de leur arrogance ni de leur orgueil illimité. Qu’ils se paient
l’illusion de réchauffer l’univers sur leur sein puisqu’ils ne doivent
jamais douter de la réalité de leur rêve. Que, me mesurant avec
l’étalon dont ils se servent pour eux-mêmes, ils me jugent trop petit :
libre à eux ! Je ne suis ni moindre ni trop grand : je suis autre. Ici
j’aurais été dans mon milieu. Près de ces bois et de ces champs
dans une maison où la place n’est pas mesurée j’aurais mené une
vie calme, pareille à la tienne. La grandeur n’est pas toujours dans le
tumulte ni la force dans le jeu perpétuel des muscles. Je n’aurais
pas dû aller à Paris. Tu ne m’as point retenu : peut-être si tu l’avais
fait me serais-je révolté ? Peut-être aussi parce qu’autrefois j’étais le
premier à l’école croyais-tu que là-bas la fortune me sourirait ?
Hélas ! Je n’ai pas de doctrine nouvelle à annoncer, pas de gestes à
faire sur les foules. Je ne peux m’engager à les tirer du désert pour
les conduire à l’entrée de la Terre Promise. Je n’ai plus que mon
métier. Je ne prendrai plus la plume que pour être un bon employé,
comme tu n’as jamais pris tes outils que pour être un bon ouvrier.
Ton exemple me servira de leçon. C’est le seul héritage que tu me
laisses. Je pourrais le refuser : je l’accepte aujourd’hui. Je n’ai pas
compris Jeanne : c’est elle qui avait raison.
Le clergé en tête on sortit de l’église pour se rendre au cimetière.
En passant les porteurs accrochaient les chaises de chaque côté de
la nef : elles se renversaient les unes sur les autres. Les cloches
sonnaient le glas. Le cercueil fut posé près de la fosse comme il
l’avait été près du lit.
Suivant le rite le prêtre l’aspergea encore d’eau bénite puis
l’encensa. Quand la dernière minute fut venue, on le descendit dans
la terre avec deux grosses cordes que quatre hommes laissaient
glisser dans leurs mains, lentement, de façon à ce qu’il reposât d’un
seul coup, pour toujours.
FIN
ACHEVÉ D’IMPRIMER
le trente et un janvier mil neuf cent quatorze
PAR
E. ARRAULT ET Cie
A TOURS
pour
BERNARD GRASSET
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Coaching Parents of Young Children With Autism Promoting Connection Communication and Learning 1st Edition Sally J. Rogers

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Coaching Parents of Young Children With Autism Promoting Connection Communication and Learning 1st Edition Sally J. Rogers

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Coaching Parents of Young Children

with Autism Promoting Connection

Developing Differently A Guide for Parents of Young

Young People with Migrant Parents Oecd Publishing

So Young So Sad So Listen A Parents Guide to Depression

Building Children s Resilience in the Face of Parental

Zero for Parents and Teachers or Almost All You Need to

Supporting Children and Young People with Anxiety A

Assigning Responsibility for Children s Health When

Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis for Children with

Early Start Denver Model for Young Children with Autism:

Early Start Denver Model Curriculum Checklist

Human Behavior, Learning, and the Developing Brain:

Human Behavior, Learning, and the Developing Brain:

Imitation and the Social Mind: Autism and Typical Development

FOR GENERAL READERS

A Parent’s Guide to High-­Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder:

What Science Tells Us about Autism Spectrum Disorder:

THE GUILFORD PRESS

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

LIMITED DUPLICATION LICENSE

The publisher grants to individual purchasers of this book nonassignable permission to

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-­Publication Data is available from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4625-4571-1 (paperback) — ISBN 978-1-4625-4572-8 (hardcover)

Chapter 1 Helping Parents Help Their Young Children with Autism: 1

Chapter 2 Key Practices in Coaching Parents 12

Chapter 3 Becoming a Coach: Knowledge, Characteristics, 23

Sally J. Rogers, PhD, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and

Geraldine Dawson, PhD, is the William Cleland Distinguished Professor of Psy-

Chapter 4 The Coach’s Tools 41

Clipboard and Pencil, 41

Chapter 5 Assessment, Goal Setting, and Treatment Planning 59

From Diagnosis to Treatment Planning, 59

Chapter 6 Parent Coaching Sessions 73

The First Coaching Session, 73

Chapter 7 Guides for Introducing Intervention Topics and Strategies 102

Topic VII: Why It Is So Important That Children Learn to Share

Chapter 8 Variations in Coaching Practices 220

Variations in Family Stories, 221

Chapter 9 Looking to the Future: Challenges and Opportunities 242

Children with ASD Who Have Co-­Occurring Conditions:

Appendix A Handouts and Checklists Used Routinely in Parent 255

Appendix B P-ESDM Infant–Toddler Curriculum Checklist 287

Appendix C Parent-Friendly Data-Tracking Tools 301

Appendix C.1: Simple Tally System, 303

Helping Parents Help Their Young

Why Has This Model Emerged?

Defining Coaching within Parent-­Implemented

Unique Aspects of the Coaching Relationship

ultimately promote self-discovery. Goal accomplishment is the result of the efforts

Table 1.1.Role Differences: Coach versus Interventionist

Where Do These Ideas Come From?

Who Are We Writing For?

What Lies Ahead?

enhance practitioners’ motivation and skills to support parents to embed interven-

Key Practices in Coaching

The current emphasis on parent-­implemented interventions for early ASD is fueled

The Generalist Model Developed by TEACCH

Key Practice: Attending to the Positive Parent–Child

were eventually proven wrong. Beginning with the landmark contributions of

A Parent’s Guide to High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder:

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the publisher.

Children with ASD Who Have Co-Occurring Conditions:

Defining Coaching within Parent-Implemented

The current emphasis on parent-implemented interventions for early ASD is fueled

hands-on therapy practices. Deeply informed by research in infant–toddler devel-

In a system-centered model, care processes are structured to facilitate the function

Dunst and Trivette (2009a) proposed a framework for help-giving relationships

Table 2.1.Similarities and Differences in Family-Centered Care and Parent