• Academic Supports for College Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Advice from Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Teachers Regarding Literacy Instruction
• Advice for Peer Tutors
• Applying the Ziggurat and CAPS Model in Your School District
• Aspects of Support for Learning
• A Young Adult's Guide to Deep Breathing as a Relaxation Technique: A Personalized Fact Sheet
• Can Schedule Usage Training Include Elements of Literacy Instruction?
• Clean Up Your Act! Creating an Organized Classroom Environment for Students on the Spectrum.
• Change is Good! Supporting Students on the Autism Spectrum when Introducing Novelty
• Classroom Choreography: The Art of Scheduling Staff and Students
• Complexities of Instructional Support
• Creating a Circle of Support
• Critical Features of Early Intervention: Merging Best Practices
• Developing Long Term Relationships Between School and Parents
• Early Intervention for Young Children on the Autism spectrum: Parent’s Perspective
• Educating Students with Autism: Are There Differences in Placement?
• Establishing Long Term Goals: What Are We Hoping to Achieve
• For General Education Teachers: Helpful Questions to Ask About Students with ASD
• Get Engaged: Designing Instructional Activities to Help Students Stay On-Task
• "Ham It Up and Get It Cookin!!" Thoughts From Dr. Greenspan
• Home-School Communication
• "I Can Do It Myself!" Using Work Systems to Build Independence in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
• “I Wake Up for MY Dream!” Personal Futures Planning Circles of Support, MAPS and PATH
• Life After High School...So Now What
• Literacy Resources
• Lovaas Revisited: Should We Have Ever Left?
• Making the Most of Morning Meeting
• Motivating Students Who Have Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Moving from Preschool to Kindergarten: Planning for a Successful Transition and New Relationships
• Peer Support Programs
• Promoting the Educational Success of Students with Autism: The Role of the Parent-Staff Relationship
• Planning for Successful Transitions Across Grade Levels
• Practical Steps to Writing Individualized Education Program (IEP) Goals: And Writing Them Well
• Practical Recommendations for Utilizing a Range of Instructional Approaches in General Education Settings
• Recognizing Different Types of Readers with ASD
• Reframing Our Thinking and Getting to Know the Child
• Restricted Repertoires in Autism and What We Can Do About It
• School Cultures that Support Students Across the Autism Spectrum
• Service Learning: Something to Think About
• Supporting Staff Using Coaching Model
• Supporting Students with Asperger's Syndrome
• Teaching Students Who Are Low-Functioning: Who Are They and What Should We Teach?
• Theory of Mind in Autism: Development, Implications, and Intervention
• There is No Place Called Inclusion
• The Road to Post-Secondary Education: Questions to Consider
• Tips for Teaching High-Functioning People with Autism
• Tips to Consider When Including a Student with ASD in Art, Music, or Physical Education
• Transition: Preparing for a Lifetime
• Transition to Middle School
• Transition Time: Helping Individuals on the Autism Spectrum Move Successfully from One Activity to Another
• Understanding the Design and Power of a Personal Schedule
• Using Visual Schedules: A Guide for Parents
• Who Are We Working for Anyway? Avoiding Personal Agendas at Meetings to Better Support Individuals Across the Autism Spectrum
• Structured Teaching Strategies: A Series
• Growing Up Together
• How to Open A Combination Lock/Locker
• Supporting Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders Through Postsecondary Transition
  • Predictors of Positive Transition
  • Tips for Writing Transition IEP Goals
  • Employment or College?
  • Timeline for Supporting an Individual with ASD Through Transition

Applying the Ziggurat and CAPS Model in Your School District

Contributed By Melissa Dubie and Kristie Lofland

In school districts across America, teams work together to build effective, proactive and positive comprehensive plans for students on the autism spectrum with the goal of facilitating their success at school and at home. There is common consensus that consistent programming across the school day is essential. Two useful tools that provide a framework for developing a comprehensive plan are the Ziggurat Model (Aspy and Grossman, 2007) and the Comprehensive Autism Planning System (Henry and Myles, 2007). These two tools combined help staff optimize a student’s daily program by incorporating needed supports in a well-organized manner.

The Ziggurat model includes three steps in designing a comprehensive intervention plan. The first step involves completing the Underlying Characteristics Checklist (UCC). The UCC addresses eight core characteristics of ASD, including social, restricted patterns of behavior, interests and activities, communication, sensory differences, cognitive differences, motor differences, emotional vulnerability, and known medical or other biological factors. It is best if every member of the multidisciplinary team receives a copy of the UCC prior to meeting. All team members (e.g., parent, teachers, related service providers, administration, paraprofessional) should be encouraged to reflect on each question about the individual from their own perspective. A meeting should then be held to gather input from all team members through a discussion of each of the 100 questions on the UCC. The exciting part of this process is everyone learns from one another about the individual with ASD and often new insights are gained. This process can also be used as part of the functional behavior assessment for individuals with severe behavior problems when the team is struggling with creating a proactive behavior plan.

Second, the Individual Strengths and Skills Inventory (ISSI) should be filled out by all members of the multidisciplinary team. This tool helps to identify the individual’s strengths and interests related to social skills, communication, sensory needs, cognitive abilities, motor skills, and emotional and biological issues. Often individuals with ASD have extreme interests that only a few people on the team may have noticed or had insights on how these can be incorporated into the day. When the Comprehensive Action Plan is developed, these strengths and interests will be embedded across the day to create academic assignments, calming breaks, visual supports, and to build high interest activities.

Third, is the actual Intervention Ziggurat which uses items from the UCC and the ISSI. The multidisciplinary team should prioritize key issues (no more than 10 areas) that are closely related. A serious look is then given at how the underlying characteristics should be addressed in the areas of sensory and biological needs, reinforcement, structure, and visual/tactile supports. In addition, the range of task demands for the individual student and ultimate skills to teach within all of the areas will be addressed. Strategies used should be proven effective via research. Addressing programming at all levels is essential and contributes to the effectiveness of the others. Thus, if needs in all areas are not addressed, the intervention will not be as effective and skills will not develop (Myles, et.al, 2009). Once the Ziggurat worksheet is completed with ideas on how to address the five areas, a CAPS can be developed for the student’s day.

While the Ziggurat worksheets allow a team to develop an intervention plan that is thorough and targeted, the CAPS provides a structure for implementation. The CAPS model provides an overview of an individual’s daily schedule by time and activity, and specifies supports the individual needs during each period (Henry & Myles, 2007). The nine key components of the CAPS worksheet include time, activity, targeted skills to teach (from IEP), structure/modifications, reinforcement, sensory strategies, communication/social skills, data collection, and generalization across settings. Thus, the CAPS enable the multidisciplinary team to answer the fundamental question: What supports does the individual need for each activity throughout the day? Together the multidisciplinary team goes through the student’s day to create this comprehensive plan. At the end of the meeting or several meetings, a specific hour by hour plan should be developed that all staff can follow. The plan is concise, easy to read and can be used by any staff member—including a substitute! This plan should be reviewed each semester for its effectiveness.

The CAPS worksheet can also be used to share information when a student is transitioning to a new school building or level (e.g., when the student is transitioning from middle school to high school.) At that point of the planning process, it may not be possible to have all the information for a detailed CAPS worksheet (e.g., exact time, teachers, and schedule of classes for the next school year). However, what can be provided using the CAPS worksheet is an overview of supports the student would need to be successful during group work, individual work, tests, lectures, etc. This plan can then be expanded if necessary for each individual class as more information is obtained or support is needed.

The Ziggurat and CAPS models are two effective tools in providing a comprehensive program for your students with ASD that will ensure that all key components for success have been addressed while incorporating the needs, strengths, challenges and interests of that individual student. It ensures that all staff who work with a student provide needed supports in a consistent manner.

References

Aspy, R., & Grossman, B.G. (2007). Assessing autism spectrum disorders: Guidelines for parents and educators. Autism Advocate, 48(3), 11-14. Retrieved on August 27, 2010 from http://www.texasautism.com/WorkshopFiles/AdvocateAssessingAutism.pdf

Aspy, R., & Grossman, B.G. (2007). The ziggurat model: A framework for designing comprehensive interventions for individuals with high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome. Shawnee Missions, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing Company.

Henry, S. & Myles, B.S. (2007). The comprehensive autism planning system (CAPS) for individuals with Asperger syndrome, autism, and related disabilities: Integrating best practices throughout the student’s day. Shawnee Missions, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing Company.

Myles, B.S., Grossman, B.G., Aspy, R., & Henry, S.A. (2009). Planning a Comprehensive Program for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 1(2), 164-180. Retrieved on August 27, 2010 from http://www.texasautism.com/WorkshopFiles/Ziggurat_CAPS_EarlyChildhoodJournal.pdf

Myles, B.S., Henry, S.A., Coffin, A.B., Grossman, B.G., & Aspy, R. (2007). The CAPS & ziggurat models: Planning a comprehensive program for students with autism spectrum disorders using evidence-based practices. Autism Advocate, 48(3), 16-20. Retrieved on August 27, 2010, from http://www.texasautism.com/WorkshopFiles/AdvocateZigguratCAPS.pdf