Autism Task Force Meeting, November: Educator Training

The 3 hour meeting started off with a general comment to set autism as a priority for the state of Arkansas.  A couple of people chimed in, but again it seemed as if the Task Force was adrift.  Six parents and one therapist then spoke before the Task Force on individual concerns, which all focused on education: untrained staff, IEP not being followed, and teachers not using devices for non-verbal children with autism.

Two presentations one from the University of Fayetteville and the other from Arkansas Department of Special Education (ADE), touched on training of education professionals.

University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas’s Department of Education, as presented by Professor Tom Smith,  now offers a new graduate certificate in autism through its graduate school of education. The certificate has 5 areas: speech language pathology, lifespan of autism, assessment, instrumental methods such as ABA, and a practicum. The new certificate is not required for any particular professional position. University of Arkansas program is offered online across the state, a huge plus for rural areas with internet access.

University of Arkansas is also moving forward with college living quarters and supports for college students with disabilities such as autism.

Arkansas Department of Special Education

The Department of Special Education Director Marcia Harding also discussed its training of  professionals in autism at the Task Force meeting in this detailed handout.  This year the Arkansas continuing education programs are jammed full of autism offerings.  There’s hardly anything else offered but autism training right now by ADE.  

My one concern was the sheer variety of ADE programs: how many programs can be done successfully? Many of the ADE programs are one or two day events from out-of-state presenters who aren’t available for follow-up help.  I assume school districts are to ask ADE specialists for implementation assistance. Also, as the parents at the beginning remind me, the training does not trickle down to the classroom level.

I am going to bring up as a comparison program STAR, for which Arkansas Easter Seals provides training and implementation assistance.  The only reason I'm praising the STAR program is that Arkansas school districts are purchasing the product, as seen in their use of federal stimulus funds.  That’s critical, that the Arkansas schools choose the curriculum and use it, rather than not implementing the autism curriculum.  STAR can also be done by special education teachers, speech-language pathologists and even paraprofessionals. For follow-up assistance the school districts once again return to Arkansas Easter Seals staff.

BCBA, or Board Certified Behavior Analyst, training was not explored at the task force meeting. I was very disappointed to hear that no Arkansas institution was interested in supplying this credential. The closest training is in Memphis, Tennessee. (Online certification in the BCBA degree is available.)

BCBAs are the most popular professional for designing and managing autism treatment programs using ABA, discrete trial, etc. These BCBAs are supposed to move to Arkansas for the autism waiver program, even though all other states have BCBA shortages as well.

For now speech language pathologists and special education teachers do most behavioral therapy, which is what the STAR program allows.  At least therapy can start immediately for Arkansas students with autism.

One of the biggest problems with training any Arkansas autism professionals is the hands-on training, done with children and adults with autism. Demonstration classrooms where outside professionals can work with children are critical. Only a few Arkansas facilities are available for educators to work with a group of children with autism: SPARC in Jonesboro, Arkansas Easter Seals in the summer, and hopefully five model autism classrooms that ADE is establishing throughout the state.

The BCBA certification requires 1500 hours of hands-on practice. While the work may not always be with individuals with autism, the BCBA has a tremendous experience advantage over any Arkansas education who studies autism in a few days of continuing education.

Comments

[Carole]

This is sooo important to have in an IEP mtg to help create a plan the teacher can follow. It is not being done, instead the police are called and kids taken away and charged with felonies because of their autistic meltdowns.

[Eye Contact Arkansas]

Thank you for speaking at the task force meeting on Friday, December 18th. I know it's very difficult to speak in public about the difficulties your child faces. You and your family have a lot of courage to make this information public. I hope that thanks to the attention of top Arkansas officials you'll have a better outcome.

I'll be posting your Fort Smith story shortly.