Purpose:
Telepractice has become a popular service delivery option for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, practitioners can face some unique challenges when delivering interventions to young children and their families via telepractice. Furthermore, the use of telepractice requires specific practitioner skills, technologies, and family participation to ensure that interventions are effectively delivered. Drawing on the existing literature and our collective experience implementing telepractice-based interventions with families, we provide five practical tips for supporting families of children with ASD while implementing effective interventions via various telepractice modalities. Telepractice tips include the following: (a) think beyond video conferencing formats, (b) establish a meaningful and culturally responsive relationship with the family, (c) select appropriate interventions to support the child's development, (d) adhere to ethical and professional standards when implementing telepractice, and (e) gain knowledge and skills through professional development to enhance telepractice delivery.
Conclusion:
Using each of these tips will help practitioners support families with children with ASD in effective implementing telepractice interventions.
Children with complex communication needs (CCN) who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) often need more time to process and respond when communicating with others. This study employed a survival analysis approach exploring child response-time patterns following different communication opportunities for young children with CCN who use AAC. The results showed a median of 1.87 s response time with significant individual variability. Children took less time to communicate following a choice or a question than following a comment. AAC modeling was also associated with shorter response times. Additionally, the more opportunities that occurred without a child response, the longer child response time tended to be. Our findings suggest that if the child does not make a response attempt, instead of repeating communication opportunities, communication partners should consistently wait and use questions and choices along with modeling to increase child communication.
The development of communication is a fundamental part of early childhood. Yet many students with disabilities require supports such as augmentative and alternative communication to develop communication skills. Teachers and paraeducators play key roles in supporting communication for these students, but often lack effective and accessible training options that include relevant content, active engagement, and application with individualized coaching. To meet this need, we engaged in iterative development, revision, and testing of the POWR Training System, an online training and coaching program for teachers and their paraeducators. As part of a multi-year, federally funded grant, this iterative process was informed by feedback from educators and experts as well as by outcomes for paraeducators, a teacher, and children in a series of nonconcurrent single case studies. A description of the iterative process, outcomes for paraeducators, a teacher, and children as well as feedback related to the program are described. Future research directions are discussed.
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