The number of autistic students pursuing postsecondary education continues to increase, but they do not persist, graduate, or maintain post-graduate employment at the same rate as their allistic (non-autistic) peers. Using a critical theoretical lens and exploring persistence from Schlossberg's transition theory (1981,) this narrative inquiry…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand how K-5 inclusion staff members described their use of the 28 EBPs identified for students with autism and their support needs to implement these EBPs with students with autism in inclusive settings within the Northeastern states. Kolb (1984) stated that learning is a process by…

Interpersonal connectedness (IC) is an essential social function across life but is critical for young children. IC begins at birth and is vital to emerging physiological and affect regulation, attachment, communication, and cognition. IC occurs through dynamic interactive behavioral coordination, resulting in an embodied dyadic state of shared…

A neurological disorder, along with several behavioral issues, may be to blame for a child's subpar performance in the academic journey (such as anxiety, depression, learning disorders, and irritability). These symptoms can be used to diagnose children with ASD, and supervised machine learning models can help differentiate between ASD traits and…

An estimated 50,000 autistic young adults in the United States transition out of high school each year, and more than a third of them do not engage in any form of employment or formal education in their twenties. Daily living skills (DLS)?are one key?predictor of?autistic adults attending post-secondary education, obtaining employment, and living…

This practitioner article provides practitioners with instructional techniques to support reading and language comprehension development for children who demonstrate slower growth, including those with autism and concurrent intellectual disability.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that impacts areas of social communication and social interaction. The prevalence of ASD has increased in the last ten years. Symptoms and behaviors include restrictive and repetitive movements, highly restricted and fixated interests, insistence on sameness, and hypo or hyper-reactivity.…

Parents play a significant role in the educational development of their children. However, there is little research around utilizing parents to collect data on their children's language skills. In particular, children with autism oftentimes demonstrate delays in the acquisition and use of language. Having information on a child's language…

Both reading and language skills are necessary for children to see success in academic and everyday life settings. This manuscript describes in detail four key instructional techniques used to target reading and language development in struggling and early readers, including children with both autism and cognitive disabilities. The techniques…

Systems navigation can be difficult, especially for low-resourced families (i.e., families who are "low income" or meet one of the following indicators: mother has a high school diploma or less; primary caregiver is unemployed; or the family receives governmental assistance). Navigators may help families access services; however, the…

Neurodivergent youth (i.e., autistic, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) are at increased risk for school refusal and subsequent disengagement. Factors associated with school refusal in this population remain unclear. Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify profiles of school and demographic variables associated with…

The purpose of this realist synthesis study is threefold: (a) to examine the relationship between young autistic adults between 18 and 30 years of age and their clinical providers (e.g., doctors, therapists, educators, caregivers, etc.), (b) to understand what conditions contribute to trusting and inclusive relationships between young autistic…

Behavior analysts are expected to provide high quality services to autistic individuals/individuals with ASD. Quality behavior intervention requires the interventionist to demonstrate critical thinking skills, in-the-moment analysis, flexibility, and clinical judgment (J.B. Leaf et al., 2016a; J.B. Leaf et al., 2016d, Soluaga et al., 2008). Yet,…

Background: Specific treatment and interventions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions who display harmful sexual behaviour have yet to be widely evaluated. This review aims to consolidate and assess the quality of research exploring non-pharmacological interventions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions who display harmful…

Linguistic repetitions in children are conceptualized as negative in children with autism -- echolalia, without communicative purpose -- and positive in typically developing (TD) children -- linguistic alignment involved in shared engagement, common ground and language acquisition. To investigate this apparent contradiction we analyzed spontaneous…