1. Ilene Schwartz, Ilene@uw.edu University of Washington
Children Learn Best When they Learn Together:  Meeting the Needs of Young Children with ASD
Ilene Schwartz,
University of Washington

2. Objectives
 Participants will increase their knowledge about the core deficits of ASD
Participants will recognized the characteristics of high quality programs for children with ASD
 Participants will be able to define the intensity of a program for children with ASD in metrics other than the length of time of the program

3. Lessons I’ve learned. Listen to consumers
Lessons I’ve learned *Listen to consumers *The power of positive reinforcement *Give people something to talk about *Thing about the quality of life of the people with whom we work

4. Five take home messages:
Increasing the quality of life for people with ASD and their families should be the goal of our intervention
Evidence based practices are starting points – as behavior analysts we must evaluate evidence the old fashioned way…one child at a time
Support participation through environmental arrangement and explicit instruction
Students with ASD may need different levels of support in different developmental domains and in different activities throughout their lifetime
Student failure is instructional failure

5. Autism is a collection of overlapping groups of symptoms
that vary from child to child
Siegel, 1996, p.301

6. NO ONE WAY TO EDUCATE CHILDREN WITH AUTISM!!!

7. There are no instructional strategies that are autism-specific

8. Students with autism: Are children first
Have diverse strengths and needs
Most often need explicit instruction across curricular domains
May be gifted academically or have intellectual disabilities
Will need specialized instruction in core deficit areas -- social skills, communication, executive functioning, flexibility

9. Children with ASD require
Instruction to be more explicit
Reinforcement to be more explicit and perhaps extrinsic to start
More opportunities to practice with feedback
Planned instruction to facilitate generalization

10. Schwartz & Davis (2008) Appropriate curricular content across domains
Systematic instruction and data-based decision making
Individualized supports and services
Comprehensible and/or structured environments
Functional approach to behavior problems
Family involvement, including education

11. Why intervene in schools?

12. People with disabilities are not separated from those of us without disabilities in the real world, so why would we separate them at school?

13. What is inclusion?
Inclusion is not a set of strategies or a placement issue. Inclusion is about belonging to a community – a group of friends, a school community, or a neighborhood.

14. “Inclusion is a right, not a privilege for a select few” (Oberti v
“Inclusion is a right, not a privilege for a select few” (Oberti v. Board of Education in Clementon School District, 1993).

15. Inclusion means providing all students within the mainstream appropriate educational programs that are challenging yet geared to their capabilities and needs as well as any support and assistance they and/or their teachers may need to be successful in the mainstream. But an inclusive school also goes beyond this. An inclusive school is a place where everyone belongs, is accepted, supports, and is supported by her or her peers and other members of the school community in the course of having his or her educational needs met

16. Participation in valued routines, rituals and activities
Skills
Membership
Relationships
Community of Practice
Participation in valued routines, rituals and activities

17. DATA Project Developmentally Appropriate Treatment for Autism
We are in our 20th continuous year of operation
Currently funded by local school district and fund raising

18. The goal of DATA Project originally was and continues to be to provide a school based program for young children with ASD and related disorders that is effective, meets the needs of its consumers (e.g., families and school personnel), is acceptable to consumers, and is sustainable.

19. Historical Context 10 years after the Lovaas article
4 years after Let Me Hear Your Voice
The trickle down of information is beginning
Parents are beginning to ask (demand) 40 hour + programs from school districts

20. We have an ongoing partnership with our public school
We were running a high quality integrated preschool that ran for 12 hours a week
We really believed that 40 hours a week of segregated discrete trial training was not in the best interest of young children with ASD

21. What to do??
We wanted to develop a program that insured that students with ASD had opportunities to interact with typically developing kids everyday
We wanted to develop a model that reflected current best practices in applied behavior analysis

22. We wanted a program that was replicable and sustainable
We wanted to insure that this was a program that could be implemented by public school programs
We kept the idea that “Children with ASD are children first” at the center of the model

23. Project DATA was born
Initially funded by an OSEP model demonstration grant
The goal was and continues to be “blending approaches to meet individual needs”
The blended approaches were ABA, ECSE, and ECE

24. Project DATA Technical and Social Support for Families Extended,
Intensive
Instruction
Integrated Early Childhood Experience
Collaboration and Coordination
Quality of Life Influenced Curriculum

25. High Quality Early Childhood Program
Inclusive
Intentional teaching
Supportive child teacher relationship
Class membership

26. Creating a Positive Classroom Climate and Culture

27. Using a Variety of Instructional Strategies
A Discrete trial is the core of instructional strategies
Peers
Toys
Building staff
Areas around school outside the classroom

28. DTT vs. Naturalistic Intervention is a false dichotomy
Rather, we should look instructional strategies on a continuum from decontextualized to embedded
A discrete trial is the instructional frame that we use to deliver the instructions

29. A Discrete Trial Prompt (if necessary) Instruction Child’s Response
Consequences
Inter-trial Interval

30. Decontextualized
Instruction is provided in a setting that is convenient for instruction
Great for beginning skills or academic skills
Embedded
Instruction is provided in the setting in which the skill will be used or that approximates that setting
Great for facilitating generalization

31. Use an Activity Matrix to Plan Instruction
Look at the child’s objectives and determine:
During what activities will we be able to provide instruction
Do we have adequate opportunities for instruction across all children on the matrix
When is it feasible to collect data on these objectives

32. Activity Matrix -- Individual
Comm.
Social
Self care
Safety
Table work
imitation
circle
1-step dir.
participation
Free play
Spatial concepts
Puzzle
Point to pic.
Par. Play
Play game
Turn to name
Snack
Drink from cup
transitions
Follow schedule
Hang up clothes
Put on clothes
Walk
stopping

33. Activity Matrix -- Class
Brian
Sophie
Miles
Adam
table
Imitation
Name writing
Circle
1 step dir
Partic.
play
Vocabulary
Puzzle
Point to pic.
Spatial con.
Par. Play
Play game
Turn to name
snack
Drink from a cup
Trans.
Follow schedules

34. Make your matrix your own

35. Extended instructional day
Inclusion + intensive instruction
The goal of the extended instructional day is to help children access and succeed in “general education”
Behaviorally based
Data-based decision making

36. Highly Supported Instructional Time
1:1 or 2:1 Student:Teacher ratio

37. Technical and Social Support for Families
Home Visits
Transition Support

38. “In promoting a partnership between parents and teachers, home visits provide the means for effective team problem solving, observing children in their home environment, and encouraging parent involvement,” (Beardmore et. al., 1999)

39. Home Visits Monthly, two hour home visits
At home, at school, in the community, at day care, play dates, collaboration with private consultant, etc.
Family/Caregiver driven: parents own the agenda
Support the family in working on high priority skills at home

40. Example: Will’s Trying New Foods Plan at school
High priority for family at home: trying new “super foods” (fruits and vegetables)
At school, we are working on Will taking a bite of a “super food” before eating the rest of his snack
W.B. bite of orange

41. Transition Support Accompany family on school tours
Communication with child’s new teachers in the next educational setting at the beginning of the school year
Supplemental transition report to accompany the preschool report
School visits if necessary

42. Quality of Life Influenced Curriculum
Goal of DATA Project is for children to participate in a meaningful way in their family and community
Our assessment process includes family input
We are heavily focused on social, communication, and independence skills
We embed explicit instruction into every activity and fade supports as soon as children are independent
Generalization and maintenance are key

43. So, what is intensity?
Is it the number of hours of scheduled therapy a child has every week?
Is it time on task?
Is it the number of words spoken or heard (cf. Hart and Risley)?
Perhaps it is the amount of time children actively participate in meaningful activities rituals, and routines
What is the role of involvement with typically developing peers?

44. Where do we go from here?
Rethink goals. How many examples of feature, function, class does any child really need to know?
Remember the applied in ABA
Consider the end goal. What is the purpose of EIBI? Where do we think the children and their families are going?
Rethink intensity. More may not always be better. Perhaps quality intervention may be more important that quantity. Select settings, goals, intervention in mind.

45. Want more? Contact me at: Ilene@uw.edu Or
Julie Ashmun at
Check out our website at