Barriers, Facilitators and Implications for Practice: Secondary Findings from a Program Evaluation of a Novel School Based Community Based Instruction (CBI) Program in Elementary School for Students with Autism

Abstract

ABSTRACT A mixed methodologies study was completed to evaluate an elementary school-based Community-Based Instruction (CBI) program for students with autism and secondary findings were identified in the focus group analysis related to barriers to program success, facilitators of program success and implications for practice including occupational therapy. Developed and coordinated by an occupational therapist, the program’s mission was to develop work behaviors, job skills, social skills, career interests, and self-determination skills by generalizing knowledge from the classroom through the performance of jobs within the elementary school. Jobs in the school community included running a coffee cart, performing library jobs, organizing a Lost and Found, maintaining a garden, and running a farmer’s market to name a few. The program evaluation results showed positive program knowledge and positive attitudes among three stakeholder groups (staff, parents, and administrators) through quantitative and qualitative findings. Through the thematic analysis of the focus groups, barriers to program implementation, facilitators of program success and implications for practice were identified including implications for school-based occupational therapy practitioners which this article further explains.