Professional Development

Advanced professional development on Autism

3-hour Workshop/Training in person, Zoom, or hybrid

Advanced professional development regarding IDEA’s Autism eligibility with the latest information from current OAH cases to SCOTUS. IDEA’s Autism criteria remain unchanged since 2004 while prevalence rates have gone from 1 in 125 children (Schieve et al., 2006) to 1 in 31 according to most recent data (Shaw et al., 2025) While all children with Autism may not qualify for special education services how each state has interpreted IDEA into their special education criteria varies. This provides challenges when a state’s criteria for eligibility are different from state to state even though they must all comply with federal regulations. Why do students come from out of state eligible under Autism from but do not meet their new states? Why do students come from out of state eligible under Speech Language Impairment or Other Health Impairment but clearly meet Autism eligibility? This can lead to very difficult conversations at transition IEP meetings. Workshop will focus on: the use of various intelligence tests and when to use a nonverbal test; assessment tools and evaluation methods; the fact that IDEA’s Autism is not the same as Medical Model Autism (DSM-5TR); measures of social perception and adaptive behavior; as well as how to effectively and sensitively be able to communicate this often confusing and potentially emotionally laden information and still be legally defensible in meetings and reports.