Inclusion of autistic students: promising modalities for supporting a school team

Figures & data

Figure 1. Theoretical framework for professional development, adapted from Desimone [59].

Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of the nine participants.

Participants’ characteristics	n (%)
Sex
Female	9 (100)
Function
Generalist teacher	4 (44)
Specialist teacher	1 (11)
Special education technician	3 (33)
Daycare educator	1 (11)
Grade level
2nd grade	2 (22)
3rd grade	2 (22)
4th grade	1 (11)
6th grade	1 (11)
Multiple grades	3 (33)
Level of training related to autism
No training	0
A small amount of training (from a few hours to 2 days)	3 (33)
A considerable amount of training (more than 15 h)	6 (67)
Quality of previous experience with autistic students
Positive	6 (67)
Neutral	1 (11)
Negative	0
Positive and Negative	2 (22)

Table 2. Modalities of the program according to the core features for effective professional development.

Modalities	Description of the implementation planned with the participating school	Core features
Regular presence of the occupational therapist	Presence of the occupational therapist at the school 12 full days, on the basis of two days per nine-day cycle over a four-month period. Contacts between the occupational therapist and the school staff each nine-day cycle (total of 12–15 h in contact per school staff member).	Extended duration: Regular presence in the school for a four-month period favors improvement of practices while being realistic with the resources available.
Needs analysis	Individual questionnaire administered to the participants concerning their priorities in terms of challenges in the participation of autistic students and their peers Sharing of needs and establishment of a common participation goal during a team coaching session with the various school staff members to decide on which type of activity they want to focus together. Specification of personal goals for each school staff member in the individual coaching sessions	Coherence: An analysis of the school staff’s needs favors coherence of the program with their priorities, values, and knowledge.
Content focused on inclusive activities and environments	The content is presented in the form of an autism-friendly school model describing the features of inclusive environments and activities that are conducive to the participation of autistic students in a variety of contexts and school activities, such as play, transitions, meals, and hygiene activities. The content is centered first on the implementation of universal strategies that could benefit all students and then on targeted strategies for students who still need support, including autistic students. The content is based on evidence-based practices in the field of autism [85] and the Person-Environment-Occupation model [58]. It will be presented in another article. A brief, 30-minute presentation on the autism-friendly school model was done to introduce all participants to the content focused on inclusive activities and environments. A participant’s notebook including the inclusive school model as well as strategy sheets presenting concrete examples of potential changes in school environments and activities related to each feature as distributed.	Content-focused: The model is centered on the different professionals’ school activities and environments. The use of strategy sheets facilitates the translation of the content into school personnel lives.
Team coaching	Team coaching sessions enabled participants to choose a goal related to participation in one type of activity in the school day, and then exploring strategies to adapt the environment or the activities to better meet the needs of autistic students and their peers. Three team coaching sessions with the nine school staff members: at the beginning, mid-point, and end of the project (2.5 h / session). Two coaching sessions were planned with the entire school team to share strategies tried by the participants (2 h, very informal).	Collective participation: Team coaching aims at creating opportunities for school staff to collaborate by sharing effective strategies and seeking solutions to the challenges encountered.
Individual coaching	Individual coaching sessions enabled to clarify the concrete goal for each school staff member, what this meant in his context, and then exploring and trying out strategies to adapt the environment or the activities to better meet the needs of autistic students and their peers in his classroom or context. Four or five sessions of individual coaching were planned for each participant (approximately one per nine-day cycle). Modalities were adapted to each one’s needs (e.g., participant observation, experimenting of strategies in pairs). A short interactive interview concluded each meeting to follow up on the action plan relating to the features of inclusive activities and environments and referring to the strategy sheets as needed.	Coherence and active learning: Individual coaching favors coherence of the program with each participant’s context as well as active learning thanks to the participants’ involvement in the research, testing, and evaluation of practices that are more conducive to the students’ participation.

Desimone LM. Improving impact studies of teachers’ professional development: toward better conceptualizations and measures. Educ Res. 2009;38(3):181–199.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Wong C, Odom SL, Hume KA, et al. Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: a comprehensive review. J Autism Dev Disord. 2015;45(7):1951–1966.

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Law M, Cooper B, Strong S, et al. The person-environment-occupation model: a transactive approach to occupational performance. Can J Occup Ther. 1996;63(1):9–23.

 Google Scholar