Family Focus Groups to Refine an Online Intervention to Support Interactions Between Siblings With and Without Autism

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience differences in social communication skills which are reflected in their interactions with others, including family members. Family-based interventions can support interactions and improve developmental outcomes. Using a person-based approach, we obtained feedback and perspectives from family members’ related to the Speak, Play & Listen intervention—an online, family-mediated intervention to support social communication development for children with ASD. The Speak, Play & Listen intervention uses a cascading model where a researcher supports the parent who then trains and coaches siblings without ASD during play with their sibling with ASD. We conducted a formative qualitative research study to improve and refine the Speak, Play & Listen intervention using four focus groups to obtain feedback. Focus groups included parents of children with ASD (two groups; N  = 14), as well as siblings without ASD ages 13 to 17 (one group; N  = 7) and ages 18 to 21 (one group; N  = 9). Results included parent and sibling perceptions related to positive features, benefits, and potential challenges of the intervention, as well as suggestions to improve the intervention.