**8. Relationship of family training intervention research to NIH's priorities and NIMH's sponsored work-group recommendations**

Finding ways to improve quality of life for ADS children and their families is one of the top priorities of NIH and congressionally mandated research as noted in the Combating Autism Act of 2006 [75, 76]. A report from a NIMH-supported work group of well-known autism authorities addresses what has traditionally been problematic in the field of autism [77]; namely, that fragmented and isolated individual study approaches have not been effective in systematically advancing the most effective behavioral interventions [78]. In response, Smith et al. proposed a developmental process for designing and conducting studies on psy‐ chosocial interventions in autism, which provides a way to systematically validate and dis‐ seminate interventions; the process includes the following steps: (a) conduct initial efficacy studies that may utilize intrasubject methodology to provide in-depth information about in‐ dividual responses over time, (b) manualize the intervention and pilot-test it with larger numbers of participants, (c) conduct clinical trials to test the efficacy under controlled condi‐ tions, and (d) conduct effectiveness studies to evaluate outcomes in community settings.

[8] Elder J, Valcante G, Yarandi H, White D, Elder TH. Evaluating in-home training for fathers of children with autism using single-subject experiementation and group

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The author and team have been following a developmental sequence that is consistent with that of the NIMH work group and especially part of the final step—evaluating outcomes in community settings. Delivering the training to all family members including siblings, and providing training interventions using state of the art internet technology would greatly ex‐ pand our ability to deliver comprehensive family-centered training in the community, and produce significant gains that would improve the quality of life for individuals with autism and their families.
