Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, exposing the influence of decades of policies that have under-resourced and marginalized these communities. The history of segregation and inadequate funding in education has been exacerbated by the pandemic, compounding the educational…

Early Discovery is a program that supports mildly delayed young children who did not qualify for Part B/C services. Our goals were to: (1) provide high-quality services; (2) educate and empower parents/caregivers; (3) link families to community resources; and (4) reduce the need for special education. Services included speech-language,…

Mathematics is often perceived as a difficult subject by many students, parents and teachers alike. Difficulties with the subject are most often attributed to cognitive factors (lack of ability, preparedness, practice and knowledge). Emotional factors are often overlooked and are easily written off as potential persistent and serious causes of…

The transition to parenting (Galinsky, 1987) can be a tumultuous time, particularly when parents have experienced traumatic and stressful life circumstances. Interventions to help these parents often focus on the first 2 years after birth because of the importance of this sensitive period for babies' developing brains. However, we describe…

Children with autism incur trauma and have increased vulnerabilities for experiencing trauma. This paper summarizes the current literature in the study of trauma in typically developing children and those with autism. A treatment model for children with autism, drawing on components from cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), trauma-focused CBT, and…

Effective and engaging instruction is the cornerstone of any well-managed classroom. Even the best behavior support practices will not lead to academic achievement if the academic instruction is ineffective. Specific teacher practices associated with improved student behavior include high rates of opportunities to respond, direct instruction, and…

Effective classroom instructional and behavior management is essential to ensure student academic and social success. Foundational strategies such as clear expectations and routines, specific feedback, and high rates of opportunities to respond have strong empirical support, yet are often missing from educator repertoires. In this article, the…

Core deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) center around social communication and behavior. For those with ASD, these deficits complicate the task of learning how to cope with and manage complex social emotional issues. Although individuals with ASD may receive sufficient academic and basic behavioral support in school settings, supports for…

Prenatal exposure to alcohol causes a pattern of brain-based deficits and is associated with behavioral challenges (Wozniak et al., 2019). Understanding the neurocognitive behaviors common among individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) can increase teachers' effectiveness (Tremblay et al., 2017). Environmental changes, such as…

Many teachers struggle with implementing self-help eating goals for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). No group programs exist to target this important problem. We used findings from applied behavior analysis research and adapted single-subject interventions into a group-based eating program. In describing the program using two…

Students who are at risk for or show low-intensity behavioral problems may need targeted, Tier 2 interventions. Often, Tier 2 problem-solving teams are charged with monitoring student responsiveness to intervention. This process may be difficult for those who are not trained in data collection and analysis procedures. To aid practitioners in these…

The "Pivotal Response Training" (PRT) is currently one of the most effective models for the educational evidence-based interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorders. The model is based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and represents a naturalistic child-centered intervention for the development of appropriate social interactions. This…

This article presents the importance of multidisciplinary, family-centered care, and a developmental bio-psycho-social approach to treating feeding difficulties in a child with a complex medical history. Hannah spent the first 9 months of her life in the hospital and was discharged dependent on nasogastric tube feeding. Her journey to recovery…

Research suggests that many children with ASD are visual learners (Quill, 1997) and may struggle to comprehend expectations presented in a verbal mode only. Visually structured interventions present choices, expectations, tasks, and communication exchanges in a way that is appealing and approachable for visual learners. There are many types of…

College counseling centers report increased student presentation with severe psychological issues (Gallagher, 2012). Although dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has demonstrated efficacy with multiple clinical populations, standard model DBT is not feasible for many traditional college counseling centers. This article describes the iterative…