A parent-delivered intervention to teach purchasing skills to young adults with disabilities

The present study investigated the effects of training parents of young adults with disabilities to use constant time delay to teach their children purchasing skills in the community. The parent intervention involved target skill selection and instructional planning (e.g., identifying prompts and reinforcers), parent training on constant time delay, and child training in the community using feedback. The student intervention included a parent-delivered constant time delay procedure. A multiple-probe design across three parent-child dyads was used to measure the effects of the intervention on the parent's ability to teach his or her child with disabilities and on the child's acquisition of purchasing skills in the community. Findings indicated that parents were able to apply the constant time delay procedure and that students successfully acquired the purchasing skill when taught by their parents. In addition, both parents and students maintained the effects of the instructional procedure and skill several weeks (i.e., 6-8) after the intervention was terminated. Implications for future research and practice regarding the parent-delivered time delay intervention are discussed.