Training parents of autistic children in the techniques professionals use to relate with and communicate with them can improve the common behaviors seen in such children, researchers say.

Parents who participated in a weeks-long training program to help them manage their children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder said they saw more reductions in disruptive behavior compared with parents who only received educational materials, the researchers found.

With the appropriate kind of training and support parents can acquire the necessary skills to care for autistic children when their behavior and communication suffers as they try to express their needs or feelings, they report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Children with autism often display problem behavior that can be very challenging for families," says Kara Reagon of Autism Speaks, who was not involved in the study. "All behavior serves a person. Sometimes children with autism have behavioral problems because they don't have the communication skills to say what they want."

Almost 200 children aged 3 to 7 and their parents took part in the largest trial of any behavioral intervention method ever attempted with children with autism, conducted at six sites.

The study participants were divided into two groups; half of the parents underwent a 24-week training program where they learned hands-on techniques such as such as how to use visual aids, how to spot triggers for trouble and which of their autistic child's behaviors should be corrected and which should be ignored.

The other group of parents was just given educational information about autism during 12 on-site sessions and one home visit.

At the end of the study the hands-on parents reported a 48 percent improvement in the behavior of their children, compared with a 32 percent improvement reported by the education-only group.

"We empowered parents by teaching them to interact with their child in a more efficient way," says Luc Lecavalier, a psychologists at the Nisonger Center of Ohio State University, one of the centers taking part in the study.

After 6 months, 80 percent of the kids participating at OSU showed dramatic improvements in behavior as effective as the best drugs currently being used to treat autism, he says.

Parents who participated said they were grateful for the opportunity.

"Sometimes you need something just for the parent," said Brett Sheraw, whose son Preston was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 5. "I think a lot of times, the autism spectrum is harder on the parent than the child."

Autism spectrum disorder is estimated to affect one out of every 68 children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.