Supporting students with ASD

in mainstream schools

Irene Ho, Ph.D.

Department of Psychology

The University of Hong Kong

Learning & Teaching Expo 2015

Upsurge of students with ASD in HK

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

EDB records of the number of students with ASD in public sector mainstream schools

• Current estimate: 1 in 120 students in mainstream schools in Hong Kong • Projected to further increase at a rate of 20% per year • 7,200 in 15/16, 8,600 in 16/17, 10,300 in 17/18

Challenges and needs:

3

Schools/teachers •Need for expertise

enhancement •Need for quality

professional support

Children with ASD • Social problems • Emotional difficulties •Academic struggles

Parents •High stress level •Need for specialized

parenting skills • Insufficient support

How do we address these needs in the school context?

School capacity building

Programme

Family/ Parent

Support Programme

Public Education

Holistic Support Programme for Students with ASD and Parents

• School-based capacity building programmes • Training courses • Sharing platforms

Needs of students with ASD

Challenges Needs

Social interaction

• Explicit and supplemental training on deficit skills

• Support to apply and generalize skills

Emotional regulation

Academic learning

3-Tier Model • An internationally

established model of school support for students with ASD

• Promoted in HK as a model for SEN support

Supplemental training for students with ASD

T3: Intensive individualized training Follow-up of T2 training in one-on-one context

T2: Small-group training Learning and practising in a guided small-group setting

T1: Quality teaching in the classroom Practising learned skills in natural setting

Role of supplemental training in 3-Tier Model

School-based support:

model of capacity building

Critical features:

Student training addressing

critical deficit skills

(Tier 2 support)

Coaching for school

personnel

Enhancement of peer

relationship

Linkages to Tier 1 and Tier 3 support

Support for parents

Development of quality group programmes for students with ASD

•What are the indicators of quality?

•How to promote quality programmes for school-based group training?

Student group training: quality indicators • Identification and prioritization of training goals based on

individualized and comprehensive needs assessment.

• Training goals are individualized, capitalizing on strengths and addressing critical psycho-social and adaptive skills.

• Training format and strategies comply with established standards of evidence-based practice for students with ASD.

• Each training programme consists of 18 to 21 hours of direct training per year for 4 to 6 students.

• Students will receive 3-year continuous and spiral training, with training directions being based on student progress in previous years.

Evidence-based practice for children with ASD

*National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders (2014). Evidence-Based Practice Brief: Social Skills Groups. http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/Social-Skills-Groups-Complete-10-2010.pdf National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder (NPDC) http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/evidence-based-practices *Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., Brock, M. E., Plavnick, J. B., Fleury, V. P., & Schultz, T. R. (2014). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, Autism Evidence-Based Practice Review Group. http://fpg.unc.edu/sites/fpg.unc.edu/files/resources/reports-and-policy-briefs/2014-EBP-Report.pdf

Teacher training and parent support Indicators of capacity enhancement:

knowledge, skills, attitude, sense of efficacy

(student, teacher, parent)

A designated school personnel participates in every session of student training and teacher consultation/training sessions are conducted to facilitate the dissemination of related knowledge and skills to school personnel, also to foster linkages among Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 support. Training and consultation are conducted with parents to facilitate students’ practice and generalization of skills learnt in group training and to foster home-school collaboration. Peer-mediated activities are conducted to promote peer relationships of students with ASD.

How to promote quality programmes: strategies

Meeting needs:

Strategies

Knowledge Skills Attitude Sense of efficacy (Motivation & emotional support)

Coaching: direct teaching and mentorship • Students (focus on core needs, Tier 2 support,

assessment/evidence-based) • School personnel & parents Sharing of good practices amongst service providers

Building networks and collaboration • Families • Educators • Home-school partnership

Impact & sustainable development

Specialized staff (passing on of experience)

Documentation (resources)

Platforms for sharing and mutual support (schools, families)

Coaching Program for Educators A viable and effective solution

• Coaching is a form of embedded sustained professional development for practicing educational professionals (Gentry, Denton, and Kurz,

2008)

• Widely adopted internationally in the training of educators (Knight, 2009;

Scott & Martinek, 2006)

• These processes contribute to the development of intellectual capacity in schools (Neufield & Roper, 2003)

Coaching Program : Merits

Merits of coaching

programme

Introducing expertise from NGO

Additional support to

school

Addressing individual

ASD-specific needs

Designated teachers’

participation

Stringent quality control

Extensive professional

support

Coaching Program Successful Experience in HK

Effective supplemental group training, coaching for teachers, support for parents, promotion of peer acceptance

Pilot project by JC Charities

Trust (2011/12 to 2013/14)

(2015/16 to 2017/18)

Programme

Monitoring Team

NGO Professional Teams

Coaches and Training Programs

HKU, EDB, professional team • Set program parameters • Provide backup support, feedback, and

evaluation

Professional supervisors • Provide supervision and support for

trainers and training programmes

How to promote quality programmes: Ongoing *Support *Monitoring *Evaluation

http://www.socsc.hku.hk/JCA-Connect/