Short report: Evaluation of a pilot virtual workshop to support parents of autistic young people to learn about their children’s character strengths

Parents of autistic children and young people (CYP) report several strengths in their CYP, spanning from cognitive skills to personality traits. The latter relate to Character Strengths (CS) which describe 24 qualities (e.g., Curiosity, Fairness) that are associated with wellbeing. Little is known about how building Awareness of, Exploring, and Applying CS can support autistic CYP and their families in daily life. Together with parents of autistic CYP, we co-produced and piloted a 2.5-hour virtual workshop to support parents of autistic CYP to learn about CS. 21 parents of autistic CYP aged 8–16 years old participated online. Prior the workshop, parents completed independent learning by watching a brief video explaining CS and completed the Values in Action-Youth survey to identify their child’s CS. During the workshop, parents connected with each other and explored using the Aware-Explore-Apply model of CS to reflect on their own CYP’s strengths use. After the workshop, parents reported a significant improvement in CS knowledge and confidence in the Aware-Explore-Apply model. Parents valued connecting with each other through talking about their CYP’s strengths. This pilot shows good acceptability and demand for co-produced single-session workshops to support parents of autistic CYP to learn about strengths identification and use. • Character Strengths (CS) describes 24 characteristics that can enhance wellbeing. • We piloted a co-produced virtual workshop on CS with parents of autistic children. • Parents valued connecting with each other through focusing on children’s strengths. • Single-session format has good acceptability and feasibility to enhance CS knowledge in parents.