Best Practices in Autism

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Best Practices in Autism

• Autism Consortium Regional Training
• Selena M. Joy, Ph.D. Brooke Bottari, CCC-SLP

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Roadmap

• Quick Facts
• 6 Essential Themes
• Putting it Together

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Quick Facts

• According to the Center for Disease Control and
  Prevention (CDC) in 2007, there are 1 in 150
  eight year old children who have ASD
• The National Autistic Society reported boys are
  four times more likely to develop ASD than girls

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Quick Facts

• From the 1992-1993 academic year to the 1999-2000
  academic year, there was a 218 increase in the
  prevalence of autism in Virginia and a 435
  increase in the United States according to the
  U.S. Department of Education
• ASD is the fastest growing developmental
  disability in the United States according to the
  New England Center for Children with 10-17
  annual growth

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Essential Themes

• Individualized Supports
• Systematic Instruction based on the principles of
  ABA
• Structured Environments
• Comprehensive Programming
• Functional Methodology to address challenging
  behaviors
• Family Involvement

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Individualized Supports Services

• Students with ASD are heterogeneous in their
  presentation of behaviors and in their unique
  preferences, interests, and learning styles
  requiring individualized instructional support
  needs. Dunlap Fox, 2002 Dunlap
  Robbins, 1991

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Individualized Supports Services

• Activities capitalize on student
  strengths/interests
• Materials capitalize on student
  strengths/interests
• Reinforcers are individualized
• Competence and independence is promoted
• Parent preferences are taken into consideration

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Systematic Instruction

• Strategies using applied behavior analysis have
  been documented to be effective in systematically
  teaching target behaviors. It is important for
  educators and families to keep in mind that ABA
  is not a specific program, procedure, or
  technique it involves methods and principles
  that are applied in diverse ways.
  Dunlap, 1999, p. 224

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Systematic Instruction

• Data collection
• Prompting hierarchy
• Discrete trials
• Planning for generalization
• Positive reinforcement

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Structured Environments

• Creating an environment that supports the
  identified learning needs of students is basic to
  instruction Heflin Alberto, 2001

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Structured Environments

• Clear physical boundaries
• Designations to differentiate areas
• Visual schedules
• Visual supports
• Individualized work stations

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Defining Structure

• Organize the instructional setting (Heflin
  Alberto, 2001)
• Provide a schedule of activities (Rogers, 1999
  Simpson Myles, 1998)
• Carefully plan and provide choice making
  opportunities (Dalrymple, 1995)
• Provide behavioral support (Earles et al., 1998)
• define specific areas of the school setting
  (Heflin Alberto, 2001 Volmer 1997)
• Provide temporal relations (Earles at al., 1998
  Heflin Alberto, 2001) and
• Facilitate transitions, flexibility, and change
  (Simpson Myles, 1998)

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ComprehensiveProgramming

• A good test of the functionality of a skill is
  to ask whether the result of not learning a
  specific behavior will require another person to
  perform the task for the student.
  Olley Rosenthal, 1985

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Comprehensive Programming

• Focus should be on those skills that
• are most likely to be useful in the students
  life to control his or her environment
• will increase the students independence and
  quality of life
• will increase the students competent
  performance Dunlap Robbins, 1991

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Comprehensive Programming

• Communication systems
• Social skills
• Thematic units
• Access to the general curriculum

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Functional Methodology

• Recent research evidence has suggested that in
  order for educational interventions addressing
  problem behaviors to be successful, positive and
  proactive behaviors must be considered and
  developed. Iovannone, Dunlap, Huber,
  Kinkaid, 2003

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Functional Methodology

• FBA
• BIP
• Data collection on problem behaviors and
  interventions
• Visual analysis of data

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Family Involvement

• Family members are the most stable, influential,
  and valuable people in the childs
  environment. Dunlap, 1999

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Family Involvement

• Communication with families
• Communication systems shared with families
• Behavior plans shared with families

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Putting it Together Data-Driven Instruction

• Goals Objectives should be broken down into
  measurable target behaviors
• Data needs to be taken on each target behavior
• Graph data for easy analysis
• Data must drive instructional decisions

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Putting it Together Structure

• Classroom space should have clear purpose
• Classrooms should be free of unnecessary
  distractions
• Individual work stations may be needed

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Putting it Together Structure (cont.)

• EVERY student should have a personal schedule
• Routines should be readily apparent

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Putting it TogetherProgramming

• Access to general education curriculum!
• Direct teaching of social and communication
  skills
• Use of thematic units

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Putting it TogetherProgramming (cont.)

• Plan explicitly for generalization!
• Take data on generalization of skills
• Differentiate instruction for all learners
• Behavior Specific Reinforcement

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Your Journey Begins