A family-centered nature therapy program significantly improved the interaction of parents with their children with autismChildren with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) generally have trouble interacting with others, including their parents. This can be very stressful for the parents and possibly to mental health concerns. This study investigated the potential of family-centered nature therapy for improving the interaction of parents with their children with ASD. Nature therapy typically occurs in a natural setting and includes therapeutically designed activities.
Fourteen children (age 3-7) with ASD living in Tehran City, Iran were non-randomly assigned to a either an experimental or control group, with seven children per group. The experimental group participated in a family-centered nature therapy program consisting of 10 three-hour treatment sessions in a natural setting. The child with ASD, along with one or both parents, participated in each session. The program consisted of two stages: the first stage involved freely chosen activities to get children “interested and mentally involved in nature”; the second stage focused on being present in nature and performing certain predetermined activities. The activities included horticultural therapy activities, interactions with animals in the natural environment, and physical activities in nature. Ten days after the last treatment session, parents of both the experimental and control group completed the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS). This same scale was completed by the parents as a pre-test before the first session and as a follow-up assessment three months after the last session. The CPRS measures parents’ understanding of their relationship with their children and is considered to be “among the most powerful measures of parent-child relationship”.
The posttest mean score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. These results indicate that the family-centered nature therapy significantly improved the parent-child interaction pattern. Areas of improvement included fewer conflicts between the ASD children and their parents, more positive parent-child relationships, and reduced dependence of the children on their parents.
This research supports the idea that integrating nature therapy with a family-centered approach could be beneficial for children with ASD and their families. This research also demonstrates how nature-based therapy can be “an effective, simple and readily accessible option to improve the interaction of parents with their ASD children.” Based on these findings, the authors suggest that “family-centered nature therapy be used as a complementary treatment along with other treatment strategies for children with ASD of all ages, and even for children with other special needs, to improve the growth of these children, and improve the mental health of their families.”
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