Promoting Inclusive Educational Environments for Children with Autism and Other Social-communication Challenges: Preschool Class and Primary School

Browse trials for

• Autistic Disorder 1,344
• Autism Spectrum Disorder 1,727

Autistic Disorder

1,344 studies on the registry are indexed under Autistic Disorder; 334 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 24 is below the median of 45 across 1,044 interventional studies indexed under Autistic Disorder.

Lead sponsor

Stockholm University is the lead sponsor of 24 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.

Eligibility criteria

Study arms

• Experimental
  Experimental group

  In the experimental group, in-service training on autism, program quality, and APERS will be provided to participating staff. Furthermore, APERS-rating to assess the program quality for students with ASD/SCC will be conducted. Pertaining feedback on program areas of strength and improvement will be provided by the APERS-raters to the classroom teachers. Subsequently, assigned coaches (already employed at the school as special educators or equivalent) will based on the APERS-ratings develop an action plan to improve program quality for students with ASD and SCC, in collaboration with classroom teachers. Subsequently, the coach will provide weekly or bi-weekly coaching to promote program quality during the course of two school semesters (approximately 8-9 months).

  Behavioral: APERS-based model

• No intervention
  Comparison group

  The classrooms in the comparison group will also be rated with the APERS, and feedback will provided to classroom teachers. However, no further support will be provided in transforming APERS-ratings with pertaining feedback into best practice.

Interventions

• BehavioralAPERS-based model

  APERS-assessments followed by in-service training, APERS-feedback and on-site coaching to improve primary school classroom quality for students with ASD/SCC

Primary outcomes

1. Change from baseline in autism program quality assessed with the Autism Program Environment Rating Scale - Preschool and primary school (APERS-Fk/L-SE)

   The APERS-Fk/L-SE is a rating scale designed to examine primary school program quality for autistic students in Sweden. It contains 10 domains including areas such as students' personal independence and competence, and challenging behaviors. The scale consists of 59 items rated on a five-point Likert-scale (1= low quality - 5 = high quality) resulting in individual item scores, subdomain scores, domain scores and a total score.

   Time frame: Baseline and about 9 months from baseline

Secondary outcomes

1. Change from baseline in how children feel about their school assessed with How I Feel About My School (HIFAMS)

   The HIFAMS is a questionnaire designed to assess the happiness and subjective well-being of children in school. It is to to be completed by all children in all participating classrooms in the study. The questionnaire is composed of seven questions which asks children how they feel about school life, which are scored using a three-point Likert "face" scale (sad face, neutral face, happy face).

   Time frame: Baseline and approximately 9 months from baseline

2. Change from baseline in parents ratings on their children's body functions, activities and participation and contextual factors assessed with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets for Autism

   the ICF Core Sets for Autism is a questionnaire for parents to complete about their children. It contains a number of statements about their children's body functions, activities and participation, and contextual factors that may affect their children's functioning rater on a Likert-scale from either 0 to 10, or -5 to 5 (contextual factors), where higher ratings indicate higher levels of functioning and participation.

   Time frame: Baseline and approximately 9 months from baseline

3. Change from baseline in children's self-regulation and academic behavior assessed with children's self-regulation and academic behavior questionnaire

   The Children's self-regulation and academic behavior questionnaire is designed for teachers to rate children's self-regulation and academic behavior skills in various situations in the classroom, rated on a five-point Likert scale from 0 to 4, across 11 items, where higher ratings indicate more skills and better self-regulation.

   Time frame: Baseline and approximately 9 months from baseline

4. Change from baseline in teachers' global impression of the child in the classroom

   Teachers' global impression of the child in school during the latest week. Rated on a four-point Likert scale from 0 to 3, across four items, where higher ratings indicate more well-being, participation, engagement and adaptive behaviors.

   Time frame: Baseline and approximately 9 months from baseline

5. Change in teachers' stress assessed with the Teachers' Stress Scale

   The Teachers' Stress Scale is a questionnaire designed for teachers to complete about their perceived work-related stress. It consists of five items, and is rated on a six-point Likert scale from 0 to 6 where higher ratings are associated with more stress.

   Time frame: Baseline and approximately 9 months from baseline

6. Change in teachers' perceived self-efficacy for supporting students with autism using the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers

   The Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers is a questionnaire for teachers to complete about their perceived self-efficacy for supporting students with ASD and socio-communicative challenges in their classroom. It consists of 28 items, and is rated on a six-point Likert scale from 0 to 5. Higher ratings indicate more self-efficacy.

   Time frame: Baseline and approximately 9 months from baseline

7. Change in teachers' work satisfaction assessed with the Teacher Work Satisfaction Questionnaire

   The Teacher Work Satisfaction Questionnaire is designed for teachers to complete about their work satisfaction. It contains three items that are rated on a six-point Likert scale from 0 to 5, where higher ratings indicate more work satisfaction,

   Time frame: Baseline and approximately 9 months from baseline

Other outcomes

1. Social validity assessed with the Social Validity Scale

   A scale designed to asses the social validity of the procedures, goals and outcomes of the study by participating school staff. It consists of 12 items rated on a Likert scale from 0 to 5, where higher ratings indicate higher levels of perceived social validity.

   Time frame: Follow-up approximately 9 months after onset of study

2. Social responsiveness measured with the Social Responsiveness Scale 2 (SRS-2)

   The SRS-2 is a scale designed to identify the presence and severity of social impairment within the autism spectrum and to differentiate it from that which occurs in other conditions. In the current study used to assess the level of social challenges for the participating "index children" (i.e. children with autism or socio-communicative challenges participating in the study). The scale contains 65 items and is rated by the children's parents. Each item is rated on a scale from 1 to 4, where 1 is "not true" and 4 is "almost always true". Higher scores indicate more severe social impairment associated with autism, while lower scores indicate the opposite.

   Time frame: Baseline assessment

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No