A UK and Ireland survey of Educational Psychologists' intervention practices for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been identified in recent systematic literature reviews, the extent to which the practice of educational psychologists (EPs) in the UK and Ireland is informed by these is unknown. This study presents the results of a questionnaire which surveyed 146 EP practitioners in the UK and Ireland about their use of 31 EBIs for ASD. This survey also explored the factors which influence EP practitioners' decision-making when planning interventions for students with ASD. Out of the 31 EBIs, EP Practitioners were most often involved with implementing visual supports, social stories, reinforcement, antecedent-based interventions, prompting, and social skills training. The most salient factors which influenced EP Practitioners' decision-making when planning interventions for students with ASD included the student's individual needs and factors related to the school context. Implications for EP practice are discussed in addition to the limitations of this study.
The most thoroughly researched topic in relation to autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) is the evaluation of interventions. Educational psychology in the United Kingdom and Ireland is the most closely allied profession to school psychology in the United States. In considering what is published by and for the profession, it is important to include all of those journals that are directly relevant to the profession including educational psychology journals. This review reports on the type, focus, and quality of school-based ASD intervention research reported in school and educational psychology journals between 2005 and 2015. Twelve evaluation studies are reported, which evaluated 10 discrete interventions and two commercial packages. These interventions targeted academic, social, communication, and behavioral outcomes. Implications for the practice of school psychologists are discussed including the application of research to the idiographic nature of the work of school psychologists. K E Y W O R D S autism, intervention, school-based
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