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Extensive work has been undertaken in North America on effective practices in early childhood education, early childhood special education, and autism-specific interventions. Much of this work, however, has not been disseminated in teacher-friendly ways nor has it been translated into useable formats that support teacher uptake and incorporation into everyday classroom practice. The research presented here drew on practice literature from North America and a Design-Based Research approach to produce a Model of Practice (MoP) for Australian classroom teachers working with students on the autism spectrum in their first year of primary school. This practice model aims to support pedagogical decision making in relation to the effective and inclusive education of this student cohort. Iterative cycles of design involving generation of educational practices from the literature, content validation by experts, and social validation by classroom teachers were undertaken. These cycles were guided by MoP design principles and resulted in a prototype Early Years Model of Practice (EY-MoP) comprising 29 empirically-supported practices, which were highly endorsed by Australian teachers. The field testing of the EY-MoP should provide preliminary evidence of the applicability of this tool in Australian early years classrooms.

The increasing number of children on the autism spectrum entering mainstream schools requires classroom teachers with the knowledge and skills to create supportive and inclusive environments in which these students can thrive. This paper reports the perspectives offered by 33 teachers who volunteered to trial an Early Years Model of Practice (EY-MoP) designed to provide information and guidance on foundational practices supportive of students on the spectrum. All teachers worked in Australian primary schools and had at least one student on the spectrum in their early years classrooms. In pre-and post-trial interviews, teachers shared their impressions of, and experiences with, the EY-MoP. In general, they endorsed the model as a resource outlining foundational practices for working with students on the spectrum. Insights shared pointed to the positive impact that this kind of comprehensive, foundational resource can have on teaching practice both in everyday planning and as a reflective tool. Responses also indicated that the model enhanced teachers' knowledge and confidence in supporting students on the spectrum. Taken together, these teacher data provide preliminary evidence for the viability of the EY-MoP as a resource to support both beginning and experienced teachers in their work with young children on the spectrum.

Globally, there are more bilingual speakers than monolingual speakers; however, scant research evidence exists regarding social communication development and outcomes for bilingual children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A stronger evidence base will facilitate health professionals and educators providing accurate recommendations regarding language use. This study employed a longitudinal cohort design to compare social and communication skills, at baseline and over 12 months, for 60 monolingual and 60 bilingual children with ASD receiving community based early intervention. We found few differences at intake, and no difference in the magnitude of change over 12 months for this cohort. Findings support the notion that there is no basis on which to discourage home language use with bilingual children with ASD.

Our aim was to explore insights from clinical practice that may inform efforts to understand and account for factors that predict spoken language outcomes for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder who use minimal verbal language. We used a qualitative design involving three focus groups with 14 speech pathologists to explore their views and experiences. Using the Framework Method of analysis, we identified 9 themes accounting for 183 different participant references to potential factors. Participants highlighted the relevance of clusters of fine-grained social, communication, and learning behaviours, including novel insights into prelinguistic vocal behaviours. The participants suggested the potential value of dynamic assessment in predicting spoken language outcomes. The findings can inform efforts to developing clinically relevant methods for predicting children's communication outcomes.

Globally, there are more bilingual speakers than monolingual speakers; however, scant research evidence exists regarding social communication development and outcomes for bilingual children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A stronger evidence base will facilitate health professionals and educators providing accurate recommendations regarding language use. This study employed a longitudinal cohort design to compare social and communication skills, at baseline and over 12 months, for 60 monolingual and 60 bilingual children with ASD receiving community based early intervention. We found few differences at intake, and no difference in the magnitude of change over 12 months for this cohort. Findings support the notion that there is no basis on which to discourage home language use with bilingual children with ASD., Author(s): Samantha Siyambalapitiya [sup.1] [sup.2] , Jessica Paynter [sup.2] [sup.3] , Vishnu K. K. Nair [sup.4] , Christina Reuterskiöld [sup.5] , Madonna Tucker [sup.6] , David Trembath [sup.2] Author Affiliations: [...]

Use of empirically unsupported practices is a challenge in the field of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We explored whether attitudes and perceived evidence were linked to intended practice use in early intervention staff. Seventy-one participants completed ratings of the evidence base, current and future use of six ASD intervention practices, and reported attitudes to research and evidence-based practice. Participants reported greater use and rated the evidence base higher for the empirically supported practices. However, variability in accuracy of evidence base ratings was observed across individuals. Higher perceived evidence was linked to greater future use intentions for empirically supported and unsupported practices. The need for accurate information across practice types is highlighted. Self-report methodology limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Our aim was to explore insights from clinical practice that may inform efforts to understand and account for factors that predict spoken language outcomes for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder who use minimal verbal language. We used a qualitative design involving three focus groups with 14 speech pathologists to explore their views and experiences. Using the Framework Method of analysis, we identified 9 themes accounting for 183 different participant references to potential factors. Participants highlighted the relevance of clusters of fine-grained social, communication, and learning behaviours, including novel insights into prelinguistic vocal behaviours. The participants suggested the potential value of dynamic assessment in predicting spoken language outcomes. The findings can inform efforts to developing clinically relevant methods for predicting children's communication outcomes., Author(s): David Trembath [sup.1] [sup.13] , Rebecca Sutherland [sup.1] [sup.2] , Teena Caithness [sup.1] , Cheryl Dissanayake [sup.3] , Valsamma Eapen [sup.4] , Kathryn Fordyce [sup.5] , Grace Frost [sup.6] [...]

The increasing number of children on the autism spectrum entering mainstream schools requires classroom teachers with the knowledge and skills to create supportive and inclusive environments in which these students can thrive. This paper reports the perspectives offered by 33 teachers who volunteered to trial an Early Years Model of Practice (EY-MoP) designed to provide information and guidance on foundational practices supportive of students on the spectrum. All teachers worked in Australian primary schools and had at least one student on the spectrum in their early years classrooms. In pre-and post-trial interviews, teachers shared their impressions of, and experiences with, the EY-MoP. In general, they endorsed the model as a resource outlining foundational practices for working with students on the spectrum. Insights shared pointed to the positive impact that this kind of comprehensive, foundational resource can have on teaching practice both in everyday planning and as a reflective tool. Responses also indicated that the model enhanced teachers' knowledge and confidence in supporting students on the spectrum. Taken together, these teacher data provide preliminary evidence for the viability of the EY-MoP as a resource to support both beginning and experienced teachers in their work with young children on the spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing recognition of the communicative potential in many of the informal and idiosyncratic behaviors exhibited by children with developmental and physical disabilities. To assist in assessment and intervention [...]

We assessed the spoken language of 73 preschool aged children on the autism spectrum receiving community-based early intervention at two time points, approximately 7 months apart. Using the Spoken Language Benchmarks, there was a small non-significant change in the proportion of children transitioning from below, to at or above, Phase 3 (word combinations). Using binomial regression, a model comprising seven of nine clinician-proposed child-related predictors explained 64% of the variance. None of the predictors were individually significant, although a large effect size (OR = 16.71) was observed for children's baseline rate of communicative acts. The findings point to substantial unmet clinical need in children with minimal verbal language, but also the relevance of clinician-proposed predictors of their spoken language outcomes., (© 2022. The Author(s).)