• Hats Off To Columbus Area Support Group and Bartholomew Community School Corporation: Partnership
• Hats Off To Hamilton-Boone-Madison Special Services Cooperative: Movie Day
• Hats Off To South LaPorte County Special Education Cooperative and Autism Society of Central Indiana: Start a Walk in Your Community
• Hats Off To M.S.D. of Wayne Township: Creating Building Level Autism Teams
• Hats Off To Johnson County Special Services
• Hats Off To Switzerland County Middle School Autism Team
• Hats Off To MSD of Lawrence Township: Training via District Website
• Hats Off To MSD of Warren Township: S.A.F.E. Supporting Autism for Everyone
• Hats Off To MSD of Martinsville: Camp Discovery: A Place for Kids to Have Fun!
• Hats Off To An Autism Team Working in Indiana: First Responder Training
• Autism Teams: Building Capacity Across Indiana
• Hats Off to Noblesville Schools for Creating Training Classrooms: Using Evidence-Based Practices of Visual Supports and Work Systems
• Hats Off To Asperger Autism Group of Goshen
• Hats Off to East Centeral Indiana Autism Society of America Chapter: Interlock
• Hats Off To Greater Lafayette Area Special Services Autism Team

Hats Off To Greater Lafayette Area Special Services Autism Team:  Assessment and Training

Contributed by Melissa Dubie, Educational Consultant

IRCA would like to introduce you to an autism team that started several years ago trying to make a difference for students and families by providing supports, in-service training and problem-solving via school-based general education intervention teams and the assessment process. Greater Lafayette Area Special Services (GLASS) provides support to students in three public school systems: Lafayette School Corporation, West Lafayette Community School Corporation, and Tippecanoe School Corporation. The autism team consists of a group of individuals whose experiences and backgrounds are diverse. Autism team members include psychologists, an autism consultant with experience in residential facilities as well as in public schools, behavior consultants with mental health expertise, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and GLASS administrators. Many of the members have worked in the field of autism for over twenty years. The autism team meets frequently using a collaborative format that enables them to discuss specific students’ needs and supports by listening to each other, saying what they honestly think, and being open to others’ opinions. This process relies heavily on the strengths and diversity of each team members’ knowledge and experiences. Several team members shared the importance of leaving one’s ego out of the discussion, which can be unsettling at times, but diversity of opinions is welcome. The GLASS autism team’s primary focus is a sincere and on-going commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of students on the autism spectrum.

Several elementary buildings have implemented a process called Creative Problem Solving (http://www.indstate.edu/soe/blumberg/cpsp/home.html) for the General Education Intervention (GEI) team. Each building is assigned a school psychologist who helps the GEI team work through concerns regarding students (e.g., fighting, refusing to do work, failing grades). Students are referred to the school-based team to problem solve. The school psychologist observes the student and an initial meeting is held that allows the team to identify the student’s strengths and challenges. An action plan with various interventions is developed to address areas of concern. Additional suggestions are given to the teacher with support provided by the staff with needed expertise within the building. Parents are included within this first step of developing the action plan. After strategies have been implemented, the school GEI team meets again regarding the student to decide whether interventions need to be adjusted, or to ask the parents to sign permission for an educational evaluation to determine whether their child is eligible for special education services. The school staff tries to support all students to develop their self-understanding, learn new behaviors, and build self-confidence within their home school without using special education identification when possible.

The building psychologist determines if the school-based problem solving team will continue with the testing procedure or if the cooperative’s autism team needs to become involved. The autism team is only involved in assessments when it is difficult to determine whether the student is displaying characteristics of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or whether some other eligibility might better describe the student.Following the criteria outlined in Article 7 regarding autism eligibility, the autism team proceeds with gathering information. The team starts with several observations across unstructured (e.g., recess, physical education, hallways, lunchroom) and structured (within the classroom) settings conducted by two people from the team. Sometimes additional observations from different team members have helped improve decision-making and have clarified outcomes. The team also engages in an in-depth interview with the parents about their child’s developmental history. At this time, numerous factors (e.g., health, emotional, environmental, home life experiences, other disorders, etc.) are discussed and considered to analyze the underlying cause of the behavior and not just the symptoms. Additional assessment tools such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised (ADIR) are incorporated into the assessment, when needed. Also, team members keep open communication (e.g., faxing report and phone calls) with outside professionals that may already be involved in the student’s case.

The team’s involvement does not end with assessment. Often the team will continue by consulting and working with families, if needed, after the initial conference or placement. The GLASS autism team tries to embrace and wrap themselves around the family and staff by providing strategies and in-service trainings when needed.

The manner in which the GLASS autism team functions is unique due to the fact that their key focus is on using the assessment process to discover what specific training should occur for school staff and parents. There are some precautions to be stated if others are considering this as an option. First, autism team members all need to feel very confident in their abilities to test individuals on the autism spectrum. Second, the autism team should only be used in a few cases a year because the task of testing all students eligible on the autism spectrum disorder could be taunting and, more important, may take away from the integrity of the school-based problem solving teams. On the positive side, the GLASS autism team is able to give time to investigate the cause of the problems instead of just the symptoms. Also, they are able to give additional support to the staff and parents through in-service training and sharing resources which in the long range will help build capacity within the school system.

If you want to learn more about Greater Lafayette Area Special Services autism team’s assessment process, contact the GLASS autism team at 765-771-6006 or email the team through Olivia Schueler at opschueler@lsc.k12.in.us

Dubie, M. (2007). Hats off to…Greater Lafayette Area Special Services Autism Team: Assessment and training. The Reporter, 12(3), 4-5.