Perspectives on the Autism Regulations

Kathleen M. FeeleyAssistant Professor

Long Island UniversityKathleen.feeley@liu.edu

Required Training In Autism…all persons applying for a teaching certificate or a license as a special education teacher, in addition to all the other certification or licensing requirements, complete course work or training in the area of children with autism. 

… candidates … who apply on or after September 2, 2009, complete at least three clock hours of course work or training in the needs of students with autism from an approved provider.

The applicable titles are:

Students with Disabilities (all levels)Speech and Language DisabilitiesDeaf and Hard of hearingBlind or Visually Impaired

Evidence Based Strategies• There is a preponderance of evidence supporting

the effectiveness of strategies grounded in applied behavior analysis – for very young children with autism (e.g., Lovaas,

1987; Sheinkopf & Siegel, 1998)– elementary aged children (e.g., Hagopian, Bruzek,

Bowman, & Jennett, 2007; Peyton, Lindauer & Richman, 2005)

– adolescents (e.g., Anglesea, Hoch, & Taylor, 2008; Taylor, Hughes, Richard, Hoch, & Coello, 2004)

– adults with ASDs (e.g., Jerome, Frantino, & Sturmey, 2007; Lattimore, Parsons, & Reid, 2006).

Evidence Based Strategies

• The use of behaviorally based strategies is supported by the U.S. Surgeon General (Rossenwasser & Axelrod, 2002),

• As well as the New York State Department of Health (Clinical Practice Guideline: Report of the Recommendations, 1999).

Tailoring instruction to meet the unique needs of each student

with ASD Instructional opportunities may vary in terms of:

– the environment in which teaching occurs (ranging from a natural to a distraction free environment),

– the extent to which the interventionist directs the teaching opportunity verses the extent to which the student directs the teaching opportunity,

– the density with which the teaching opportunities are delivered, as well as the extent to which naturally occurring reinforcers are delivered following appropriate responding.

Representative Anchor Points

• Discrete Trial Instruction (DTI)

• Instruction embedded within an activity

• Naturalistic instruction

Strategies to Address Challenging Behavior

• Functional Behavior Assessment

• Positive Behavior Support Plan– Strategies to address setting events– Antecedent strategies– Skill Replacement strategies– Consequence strategies

Strategies to Enhance Communication Skills in Students

with Autism

• Lovaas Model of Applied Behavior Analysis

• Verbal Behavior Intervention

• Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Strategies to Address Social Skills

• Peer based strategies – Peers at interventionists– Peer modeling– Peer networking

• Video Modeling

• Social Stories

Packaged Interventions

• Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI)

• The Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children (TEACCH)

• Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT)

Additional Recommendations

• Basic coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis

• Appropriate field work experience

• Development of in-service courses

Recent Surveys

• Loiacono and Allen (2008) reporting only 20% of the randomly selected institutions of higher education in NY State indicated they offer a course in ABA to their prospective special education teachers on undergraduate or graduate level.

• In a recent study conducted in the Southeastern region of NY State, Loiacono and Allen (2008) found more than 88% of the employed special education teachers (in the 16 districts that responded to the survey) had received no training in ABA methodologies from their respective institutions of higher learning.