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School-Implemented Interventions for Preschool to High School Students with Autism: An Update on Recent Research

  • Autism Spectrum Disorders (ES Brodkin, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this review is to provide an update on the recent research (2016–2021) that evaluates the effectiveness of school-implemented interventions for students with autism (3–21 years old) from preschool to high school.

Recent Findings

Overall, the recent literature demonstrated that there are EBPs that help students with autism acquire a variety of skills across domains (academic, social communication). Though many educators and peers were able to achieve high-fidelity implementation, there remains variable fidelity of intervention use in some studies.

Summary

Though there is some evidence that educators and peers can successfully implement interventions, there are additional focal areas that are missing from the literature that are needed in schools (e.g., mental health, vocational). Future research should leverage implementation science approaches to support the use of proven efficacious interventions in schools.

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Notes

  1. To respect the diversity and preferences of the autistic community, we are using identity-first language [2].

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

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Funding

This manuscript was supported in part by the Institute of Education Sciences (grant nos: R324A200033 (Locke) and R305B170021 (Hugh)) and the Health Resources Services Administration Autism Intervention Network on Behavioral Health (grant no: UT3MC39436 (Locke, Ahlers)). The funders had no role in the design of this project, in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to submit this manuscript for publication.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, 6200 NE 74th St, Bldg. 29, St. 100, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA

    Maria L. Hugh, Kaitlyn Ahlers, Mahima Joshi & Jill Locke

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  1. Maria L. Hugh
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Correspondence to Maria L. Hugh.

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Hugh, M.L., Ahlers, K., Joshi, M. et al. School-Implemented Interventions for Preschool to High School Students with Autism: An Update on Recent Research. Curr Psychiatry Rep 23, 54 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-021-01266-4

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