Effective Educational Practices Reading Guide

Guide for Iovannone et al. 2003 article

Iovannone, Dunlap, Huber & Kincaid, 2003. Effective educational practices for students with

autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 

18(3), 150-165.

The purpose of this article was to report on the core components of comprehensive educational programs for students with ASD. Researchers described the core components of several well-known and well-respected educational programs for students with ASD and identified the components that all of those programs shared. They identified 6 essential or key components that were included across these well-known and well-respected programs. Define what is meant by each key component, and identify what you would expect to see for each component in a comprehensive educational program for students with ASD.

1. Individualized support and services for students and families     

2. There is not one approach that works best for every student. Individualized support and services for students and their families take each student individually to determine the best way to support their needs. This includes considering family preferences when determining the goals to be taught and the methods by which instruction will be delivered, incorporating the child’s preferences and special interests into the instructional program, and focusing on the child’s strengths and weaknesses to determine the most appropriate intensity and level of instruction to meet the child’s individual goals.

2. Systematic instruction  

3. Systematic instruction involves carefully planning for instruction by identifying valid educational goals, carefully outlining instructional procedures for teaching, implementing the instructional procedures, evaluating the effectiveness of the teaching procedures, and adjusting instruction based on data. Strategies may invlove organizing the instructional setting, providing a schedule of activities, carefully planning and providing choice-making opportunities, providing behavioral support, defining specific areas of the classroom and school settings, prodividing temporal relations, and facilitating transitions, flexibility, and change.

3. Comprehensible and/or structured environment 

4. A structured environment consists of a curriculum that is comprehensible to both the students and the educational personnel.  

4. Specialized curriculum content   

5. Specialized curriculums contain content in the areas of the student’s core deficits. For example, individuals with ASD struggle in the areas of communication and social interaction so the curriculum would include systematic instruction in social engagement skills. 

5. Functional approach to problem behavior 

6. In order for education interventions addressing problem behaviors to be successful, positive and proactive behaviors must be considered and developed. Meaning, instead of eliminating the child’s problem behavior, intervelntions should focus on replacing the problem behavior with an appropriate alternative that results in a similar consequence.

6. Family involvement     

7. In most cases, family members are the most stable, influential, and valuable members of a child’s environment. Because of this, having those family members, especially parents, as active partners in developing the child’s educational plan is necessary.