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Designing an Outcome Study to Monitor the Progress of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
by Joel R. Arick, Helen E. Young, Ruth A. Falco, Lauren M. Loos, David A. Krug, Marilyn H. Gense, and Steven B. Johnson
Article Summary:
During the past decade families, their advocates, and professionals have engaged in extensive and often heated debates about the effectiveness of various treatments and educational strategies for serving children with autism spectrum disorders. Documentation has emerged indicating that intensive early intervention can have significant positive outcomes for young children with autism. These positive effects include acceleration of development rates, significant language gains, improved social behavior and decreased symptoms of autism.
Service providers and parents are often confused about the effectiveness of various intervention practices because the research has been confusing. This confusion has lead to increases in complaints, due process hearings, and legal proceedings which have frequently resulted in stressful relations between service providers and parents. Therefore, the Autism Spectrum Disorders Outcome Study was designed to track the educational progress of 67 students between the ages of 2 and 6 years old whose primary diagnosis for services was autism spectrum disorder. The study was contracted to the authors by the Oregon Department of Education. This article describes the study results, how student outcomes were measured, and how student progress has been reported to teachers and parents. Outcome data were collected from performance observations, parent and teachers surveys, and standardized assessments. The strength of this data collection approach used by the authors is that it used a variety of sources and multiple methods to monitor student progress. Initial results, based on the first 16 months of the study, have shown that the majority of children have made significant progress in the areas of social action, expressive speech, and use of language concepts. In addition, they have displayed significant decreases in behaviors associated with autism. The data also show that many of the students have made significant progress in social interaction and expressive speech, as well as adaptive language concepts.
One of the primary goals of this study was to collect outcome data to help service providers plan effective programs for students with autism. The verbal feedback received so far from the teachers has shown that service providers have appreciated the information and are using it to help monitor student progress and plan educational programs. At the end of this study, which will conclude in 2003, the data amassed will be reported and made available to assist others in planning effective programs for the students with autism.
This particular study is an extremely important one because it will provide additional evidence as to the viability of a highly structured behavioral intervention approach, similar to the ones reported by Lovaas (1987; 1996). Having additional information that is provide by Arick and the rest of his authors in this study will be extremely valuable for policy makers who are faced with paying significant amounts of money for long-term outcomes for children with autism.
Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning of young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(1), 3-9.
Lovaas, O. I. (1996). The UCLA young autism model of service delivery. In C. Maurice, G. Green, & S. C. Luce (Eds.), Behavioral intervention for young children with autism: A manual for parents and professionals (pp. 241-249). Austin: PRO-ED.
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