Training Educators in Autism Spectrum Disorder Support: A Study on Signs, Strategy Application, and Prompting Needs

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1 in 50 children in the United States, with prevalence continuing to rise. Despite longstanding mandates for the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in educational settings, there remains a gap between research and implementation in classroom environments for students with ASD. The HANDS in Autism® Summer Training program is designed to bridge this gap by providing hands-on, interactive professional development for school personnel. This study examined follow-up evaluations completed 30 days post-training to assess the extent to which educators applied, improved, or needed additional prompting for key instructional and behavioral strategies introduced during the training. Findings indicated high rates of strategy application and improvement, particularly in visual structure and behavior management, while data-related practices (e.g., collection and analysis) were more likely to require further support. These results suggest that the HANDS model offers a promising framework for translating EBPs into classroom practice, though further study is needed to assess long-term retention and outcomes across staff roles.