cc >> I know it will just take
a moment for people to get settled.
Hi. My name is Linda
Tuchman-Ginsberg, and I'm delighted to be here this
afternoon to talk about teaching
spectrum disorders, chifocusing on what works.tism
My background is in professional
technical systems and the dtranslation of research tod
practice. So I've had the wonderful
opportunity over the last five
investigator or co-principal years to be the principal
involvement in a national professional development center
on autism spectrum disorders. And today I'm going to spend a
little bit of time giving you some background on the center,
talking about what we have
the research about what lethe research tells us areof
evidence-based practices, but then to focus on the process of
how we have focused on
providing training and technical developing materials and
development to school districts and early childhood programs to
actually translate those
tells us have an evidence base practices that the research
activities in programs and talk about some of those practices
that have helped us make that happen, and then look at some of
the evaluation to show the
sharing a little bit about some iof the lessons we've learnedy
about being effective in this work.
So, the National Professional Development Center on Autism
Spectrum Disorders, as Marsha mentioned in the introduction,
is a three-university site
Development Institute at the project between the FPG Child
Chapel Hill with Sam Odom, a University of North Carolina in
the field of autism, in addition widely published researcher in
University of California Davis to the Mind Institute at the
with Sally Rogers and Sally Ozonoff, also well-known in the
field of autism as the
and then our Waisman co-investigators for that site,
This project has been funded by the US Department of Education
Office of Special Education Programs.
It was part of their effort to say from the Department of
Education we know we need to
happening for children and be paying attention to what's
intervention, early ychildhood and K-12 systems.ly
So this is a list of our staff
like to point out and recognize anour two staff members fromst
Waisman Center who've done the
directly supporting schools and implementing evidence-based
practices and that's Ellen
formally Lana Collet-Klingenberg Franzone and Kate Szidon and
had a significant impact on the early development of thist
project. The goals of the national center
have been to promote
achievement of children and youth with autism spectrum
disorders and to support their
through the use of families, as I mentioned before,
Secondarily, we looked at the practices that would help
improve the capacity of states
practices and increase the to implement evidence-based
are highly qualified to serve nchildren with autism spectrumo
disorders. All of the work of this project
has been done in
Let's see, I'm not really used to using this thing.
That's Sam Odom, who's the
I just wanted to make sure I pointed that out.
These are the states that we have worked with.
Over a five-year period we have worked with three sites, three
states at a time for four years,
work with our 12th state. So wrapping up our last year of
supported Wisconsin in the first through Wisconsin we have
and Vermont this year. So yeit's been so interesting tor,
know, be grounded in our Midwest
big state, and then have the Wisconsin, move down to Texas,
tiny state. So we've opportunity to work in Vermont,
opportunities and experiences, had really great
children, schools and families, there are more similarities than
differences in the broad range
school district. Our first of needs for children in our
the research that supports the task was to identify
really, for this project, evifocused on what we calledd we
focused interventions or
comprehensive program like might individual practices, not a
non-school-based program, but actually what are some of those
individual practices that would be practical for a team of
educators to be able to implement within the curriculum
of a school day that helped learners with autism actually
become engaged in learning
participating in the curriculum and sort of general education
activities to the extent possible.
So we looked at research that produced specific behavioral and
developmental outcomes for
demonstrated as effective in children that had been
successfully implemented in aeducational settings where
there's so many variables for so
So we combed through the many children in play at once.
looked through the core features literature using some key words,
interventions that addressed the of autism, looked at both group
and then set our own criteria. areas of autism specifically,
have learned out in the field is there's this big emphasis on
intervention programs, schools, early intervention, intensive
programs, those funded by the waiver, by insurance, having a
focus on evidence-based practices, but there also
probably as many definitions
there are initiatives saying of evidence-based practices as
practices. So one of we need to use evidence-based
was to establish the criteria for this project, and you can
see from this slide that we looked at both experimental or
quasi experimental design studies and single subject
design. There's a lot more research and
literature on single subject
experimental designs, and we design than there are with
really important information thought we would be missing some
However, we were very focused on if we didn't include both.
least five different single the subject studies by three at
different researchers before we would include the research as
supporting our evidence base, and then we looked at the
combination. So we
literature, and, to date, we do have a new literature review
under search to see if there
Last year or years ago we completed a second research to
make sure that all these
to support them, to prcontinue to be on our list.rch
So this list is in alphabetical order, arranged by academics and
cognition, behavior,
transition, meaning transitions between programs, and we looked
at what was available in early
and high school. So childyou can see that theddle
practices are spread out across the age span and the different
domains. What I would like to say about
this list, you will notice that there are a number of behavioral
interventions that are just core
in social skills, communication, to engaging children with autism
learning such and engaging in belearning, but there are alsor
quite a few that look at more naturalistic interventions.
Use of assistive technology,
interventions for enhancing social skills and the use of
social stories type of things.
a broad range of areas. This So there are practices that span
materials for our website, and I list is available on the
link to the website where you wcan not feel like you have tohe
capture every moment of this
so that you can go from looking at this list today
And just to remind you, we think back and revisit it.
thare delicious. [LAUGHTER]ces
One of our professional development summer
institutes, this cake was made to celebrate.
So in case you wonder what to put on your next birthday cake.
[LAUGHTER] This grid, which I know is not
that easy to see either but it's also available in our
resources, shows how this project, evidence-based
practices, overlap with those of National Standards Project.
And at a glance, what it says is
common. There are theresome we identified ases in
having an evidence base that
emerging practices. So were still identified as
translating the research into practice?
We developed a number of
evidence-based practices and a learning materials on
those practices were being process for validating that
fidelity, which means if the implemented with what we call
B, C, D and E and that's what rleads to an effective outcome,,
then we were working with schools and staff to say are you
using all the steps. A lot
know what peer mediated interventions are, and then when
they looked at our checklist
involved in really doing it accurately they said, oh, I did
this step but I didn't quite do this one, and we said, well,
let's try and see what happens
see if you get a better outcome iffor the children that you'rend
working with. So that gives you an idea of
that translational piece where
So there are, as I mentioned, a number of resources that we
developed with our sort of what we're most proud of are these
online modules that include those step by step instructions
as well as a number of other
show you in a moment. That supporting materials that I will
I think they are doing some updating so I can't even link to
it to show you, but it's right there.
There are two ways to access it.
project on the Waisman Center's Owebsite, or two, through ours
national website through the FPG
North Carolina. So those Institute at the University of
really support the professional development we've been providing
to schools but also are available for anybody to access
at no cost. So, those materials are there.
There's also been sort of an
what is autism that the text of that is available, but through
the Waisman Center we've set up an online course that is free
and anybody can register, and more information about that is
also available on the Waisman Center's website listed below.
So these online modules that
of our legacy and the heart of with think are the cornerstone
content, a description our work, talk about all of the
They include pre- of wand post-tests.e is.
They have all downloadable information.
They have case study examples.
They have suggested activities They have resources.
And they include those and discussion questions.
implementation of checklisthose practices. by step
So they're just a tremendous resource.
They're embedded in part of the autism internet modules.
Rather than develop our own site, we wanted to post them in
a site that would be there when the project was gone, and the
autism internet modules include a tremendous number of
information and educational modules for parents, for people
with autism spectrums, for
them, and all of our modules are professionals who work with
practices in that site. So embedded under evidence-based
that they were all validated by some of the professionals who
actually did the research, and
reviewed by, like for the picture exchange communication,e
the developer of that, Andy Bondy, actually reviewed our
module very carefully and said, yes, this is true to our intent
of this system so thank you very
in another way to people in muca very user friendly way.ere
So then, as I've been talking about, we really focused on
using those checklists in our practices to get to
implementation. This is an example of what a
checklist might look like.
user friendly and trying to Amerge details of researchbe
findings, and user friendly we've learned is a very big
challenge. And so I think now that we've
got the basic core of what that is, we're focusing a little bit
more on making them a little bit
are very accurate and reflect what is really important to be
true to what the research says
So this is for one on naturalistic interventions and
starts step by step through activities such as identifying a
target, collecting information
theme through many of these onpractices, taking a look at a
building in, how are we collecting data to see if we're
doing this. For the teachers and educators
who are working on it, there's a
themselves to say, how are we doing in learning this practice?
Are we integrating and
So that's the core materials using all of these steps?
development activities, but thatwe also look at a morenal
comprehensive model including the quality of the program.
And there is a graphic that goes
It's on my screen. Interesting..
It was there when I, okay.
these comprehensive elements of program quality, we are looking
at the program quality, what the
through their IP, their strengths and history and their
teacher's knowledge. Let's
sin pieces. There you go.n
And then we identify the
fit for that individual child. evidence-based practices that
individual child's perspective So we're really looking from an
individual goals, not a curriculum for a whole class,
and then wrapping that into sort
what are we going to do, how did of a cyclical process of then
back and refining it go anthese practices.nt to go
So when we look at program
number of indicators in that quality, we have identified a
that are conducive to a child making success, and there was an
instrument called the autism
that was developed for this prproject that is not publiclye
available yet that looks at these elements of a classroom
environment to see how those
the context and climate of the environments are organized in
learning success for children with autism spectrum disorders.
And we use this at the beginning
with the school district to look and the end of our engagement
the individual practices. at tWhen we are looking at as
individual students, we have
goals, and one of the things been starting with their IEP
lot of IEP goals are not written that we have discovered that a
measure if progress is being in a way that you can really
these evidence-based practices. So what we've done is startedo
with the IEPs and really helped teachers, not change the IFSB
because the general intention and area is really good, but to
make modifications to scale it
go back and measure if progress towards these goals are beingn
made as a result of using these practices.
And for the children that have
we've identified three participated in our project,
And we've used something called goal attainment scaling which
focuses on sort of a continuum
to look like, and for children of what you expect that behavior
really broken it down a lot. with autism we have really,
of the key elements we've really And as this one shows you, one
down is how much prompting is being provided, how much doing
for and what's the process
to do this, this student that's helping that child learn
independently or to assess. lTo be successful, how much
support do they really need? And
been invaluable for. I could that's what this process has
these aspects. So then talk hours for all of
we're trying to work, and the one thing we know is that, and
this is where the whole field of professional development is
going now, that you can't just
says here's what that gopractice is, now do it.one
We have discovered that the coaching process, along with
professional development on the content, is essential to schools
and educators and teams of
change their professionals learning how to
So coaching has been an integral professional practices.
the schools and other early part childhood programs in with
implementing this project. So we know that coaching is what
helps sustain professional
it's a vehicle for developing dthat partnership and trustingd
relationship between someone who
idea of how to support and help a team or individual teacher or
educator or therapist know what it's going to take to be able to
practice in that way and to be
trusting relationship. And available to them and have that
conferencing ahead of time, being on site to observe and
then being able to meet afterward for discussions.
And this is just an example of
coaches and school districts how our staff supported local
come and go, and we thought it because our project is going to
those who would be available was really important to support
project ended and we were for ono longer available. our
So we met with the coaches once a week, or once a month, and
then the coaches work with their
more periodic basis. So I tethink I already mentionedut
that we know that coaching has
around change. So what the best promise for bringing
work? These slides have we learned from our
us a little bit about what we've are going to tell
use of evidence-based practices, used about teachers' increased
and also changes in improoutcome for learners.ogram
This is sort of our data from our first couple of years, but I
think that without spending a lot of time, the tables are
quite clear to show that from pre- and post-test measures that
teachers are using more evidence-based practices if we
look at before and after their
This slide shows the specific evidence-based practices that
they're using more of, and one
me is the use of of the most dramatic on this to
It is one of the most simple visual supports.
a huge difference in the ability interventions, and it makes such
navigate their way through of a student with autism to
activities. And so it a was amazing how basicng
starting with that for so many
was in making change. As people was and how powerful that
program quality through our rating scale and the program
quality improved, pre-
At the elementary school with, and post-engagement.
team members within school from aadministrators with families
being one of the areas that showed some of the greatest
areas of improvement, and just qualitatively in our
communications with school it was quite clear that that was a
huge area of need to improve
involved to sort of implement these practices and being able
to identify if they're
In the high school, there was also change.
And, again, looking in
We also took a look at student areas that are comparable.
So each of those five line bars on that table are addressing how
we scaled those objectives
So this shows you that a large that I showed you from those.
their goals or exceeded them, nand a few of the children made
progress but did not
And so some of the children that we worked with were really
complicated learners, and so
learn to set goals that actually would show change and
achievement and be realistic and
appropriate support. So in then providing the steps and the
to highlight a couple of wrapping up, just wanted
One is that in working with lea school or a program,d.
administrative buy-in and support is essential because it
really takes time to bring
and that a team peopleapproach works best. work
By definition, that team
families when we say that. And includes families, but we mean
really need to understand thwhat the content of theers
evidence-based practices are
they're practiced to fidelity. and what they looked like when
the content, then it's really hard to have a common ground for
communication about whether the team is effectively implementing
all the different steps in the
Coaching, professional process of that practice.
are essential and that use of ddata is essential to informedt
decision making and action. And I know there's huge
initiatives in public education right now to focus more on using
data to inform educational
right in with that, but we know dthat day-to-day, upfront staff
working with kids have so many
collecting data is really important but it's really hard
for them, realistically, to figure out how to do it.
So we really spend a little bit of time thinking about how can
we make it easy but make it important and part of the
process. So, thank
We have time for questions now. [APPLAUSE]