Program Announcement: Autism Spectrum Disorders CFDA 84.324A

Program Officer:
Dr. Celia Rosenquist
Celia.Rosenquist@ed.gov
(202) 219-2024

Purpose

The purpose of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Research (ASD) program is to contribute to the improvement of developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes of students identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from preschool through Grade 12 by (1) exploring malleable¹ factors relevant to comprehensive preschool and school-based interventions (e.g., intervention practices) that are associated with better developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes for students identified with ASD, as well as mediators or moderators of the relations between these factors and student outcomes, for the purpose of identifying potential targets of intervention; (2) developing innovative comprehensive preschool and school-based interventions or modifying existing interventions to make them comprehensive to address the developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional needs of students identified with ASD; (3) establishing the efficacy of fully developed comprehensive preschool and school-based interventions for students identified with ASD; (4) evaluating the effectiveness of comprehensive preschool and school-based interventions for student with ASD when implemented at scale; and (5) developing and validating measures of developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes that can be used by practitioners to monitor progress and evaluate outcomes for students identified with ASD.

The long-term outcome of this program will be an array of comprehensive programs and assessments that have been documented to be effective for improving the developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes of students identified with ASD from preschool through Grade 12.

Background

The prevalence rate of students identified with an ASD has increased dramatically over the last decade. In 1997, approximately 42,517 students between the ages of 6 and 21 were identified with autism. In 2006, approximately 224,594 students between the ages of 6 and 21 were identified with autism (U.S Department of Education, n.d.). The unprecedented increase in reported incidence rates within the past decade has created an extraordinary demand on schools to provide interventions that meet the educational needs of students identified with ASD. Furthermore, the highly variable cognitive and behavioral phenotype associated with ASD creates a significant challenge in developing and implementing effective interventions that address the range of developmental and academic needs of students with ASD. Compounding the problem is that few interventions to date have been manualized (Lord et al., 2005) or implemented and evaluated in a preschool or school based setting.

Through the ASD research program, the Institute supports the development and evaluation of comprehensive school-based interventions intended to improve developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes of students identified with ASD. By comprehensive intervention, the Institute means an intervention that is designed to address multiple outcomes, that can include developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, behavioral, and functional outcomes.

The Institute encourages researchers to develop innovative, modify existing, or rigorously evaluate fully-developed comprehensive school-based interventions. For example, applicants might consider developing an integrated literacy and social skill intervention designed to be delivered by teachers for students in kindergarten through third grade with ASD intended to improve academic, social, and communication outcomes. Or, applicants might consider evaluating which training approach is most effective in teaching parents the instructional strategies and approaches for the home-based component of a comprehensive preschool intervention for students with ASD. The Institute would also like to encourage applicants to develop or evaluate instructional approaches or strategies appropriate for students in middle and high school with ASD that will improve communication, behavior, and adaptive skills across academic and vocational instruction.

The Institute encourages researchers to explore malleable factors (e.g., intervention practices, child competencies) relevant to comprehensive preschool or school-based programs for children with ASD that are associated with better developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes for students identified with ASD, as well as mediators or moderators of the relations between these factors and student outcomes, for the purpose of identifying potential targets of intervention. This is translational research intended to inform development of innovative programs, practices, or products to improve outcomes for children with ASD. By way of illustration, researchers could propose to conduct detailed, quantifiable observational measures of practices and strategies used by teachers or other school personnel to address the developmental and academic needs of students with ASD in kindergarten through third grade inclusive classrooms. The research team could examine the use of specific practices, how IEP goals are addressed, children's interaction with peers, and strategies teachers use to structure the classroom environment for children with ASD. The goal here is to identify what type or combination of strategies is associated with better student outcomes and for which students. Researchers who can identify strong correlates of student outcomes could use this information as the basis for developing an intervention.

In addition, the Institute encourages researchers to develop and validate new, or validate existing, developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional measures or measurement systems designed to monitor progress and/or evaluate outcomes, particularly generalization and maintenance, for students identified with ASD.

References

Lord, C., Wagner, A., Rogers, S., Szatmari, P., Aman, M., Charman, T., et al. (2005). Challenges in evaluating psychosocial interventions for autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 695–708.