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Purpose: Autistic camouflaging is a collection of strategies used to hide autistic characteristics. It can have serious consequences on autistic people's mental health and needs to be addressed and measured in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the French adaptation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire. Methods: 1227 participants (744 autistic, 483 non-autistic) answered the French version of the CAT-Q in an online survey or on paper. Confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance testing, internal consistency analysis (McDonald's ω), and convergent validity with the DASS-21 depression subscale were conducted. Test-rest reliability was assessed on a sample of 22 autistic volunteers using intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: A good fit was found for the original three-factor structure as well as a good internal consistency, excellent test-retest reliability and highly significant convergent validity. Measurement invariance testing indicates however that the meaning behind items is different for autistic vs. non-autistic people. Conclusion: The French version of the CAT-Q can be used in clinical settings to assess camouflaging behaviors and intent to camouflage. Further research is needed to clarify the camouflage construct and whether reported measurement noninvariance are due to cultural differences or a true difference in what camouflaging might mean for non-autistic people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) programs are among the most widely known interventions in autism, but their effects on families have received less attention despite the role that parents play in educating their child. The scarce literature on this topic primarily concerns the experiences of Anglophone, White, and Western families. This study documented the experience of 28 mothers and fathers who immigrated to Canada and received EIBI services provided by the province of Québec. Semi-structured interviews queried families' vision of EIBI and its consistency with their values and practices, their perception of the family-provider partnership, and the facilitators and obstacles they encountered in implementing EIBI. Results highlighted that families valued being involved and consulted, their partnerships with staff, and the professional and socioemotional competence of staff. These characteristics of EIBI implementation are consistent with the idea of cultural humility in applied behavior analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After being wrongfully blamed for their child's disturbances, French parents of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are now perceived as essential partners of care professionals. This shift in perspective has encouraged the development of parent training programs in the field of autism. In this paper, we present three programs currently implemented in France for parents of a child with ASD. We investigated their social validity, from the parents' perspective. All three programs showed good social validity: attendance rate was good and parents were satisfied. In France, like elsewhere, more parents should be given the opportunity to participate in such programs to help them deal with the specific challenges of raising a child with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]