Training University Students About Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Outreach to School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists

Joann Benigno`,Heather Hamm,Sarah Taylor,Bridget Wright,John Mccarthy

doi:10.30707/tlcsd4.1/znrr1070

Abstract

Training preprofessional students about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is crucial, particularly since students with ASD are represented on the caseloads of approximately 90% of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs). When this training can occur within the context of an outreach program, the results of such programming can be mutually beneficial for the individuals served as well as the students. Through the present program, six graduate students and four undergraduate students created materials for 15 SLPs working in the schools in a significantly underserved region of the United States. Students created nearly 800 materials for the SLPs to use in therapy with children with ASD. These included visual schedules and picture/icon cards and social stories. Students completed a survey and wrote a reflection paper about what they learned. Survey data from all participants indicated that the program met the needs of the SLPs and furthered students’ skills in creating materials and understanding more about the demands of working as an SLP in the schools. Implications for undergraduate and graduate training including increasing student knowledge and confidence as well as gaining student perspectives on the experience and collaboration are discussed. Future directions for extensions of this training program are proposed.

Highlights

McCarthy, Taylor, Wright, and Lee (2019) identified that training opportunities such as learning how to make materials that support the communication of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are one avenue to pursue in the area of skill development for pre-professional students pursuing a career in speechlanguage pathology or related fields
In addition to supporting children with ASD and advancing university students’ knowledge and skills, community outreach efforts have the potential to benefit other stakeholders including families and speech-language pathologists (SLPs). These outreach programs are even more critical for universities located in underserved school districts, where materials and supplies are frequently funded by the SLPs themselves and time to create effective materials is limited by workload and caseload demands
Materials Created by the Students for the Speech-Language Pathologists

Summary

Introduction

90% of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) report they regularly provide services to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; American Speech-LanguageHearing Association, 2018). Benigno, McCarthy, Taylor, Wright, and Lee (2019) identified that training opportunities such as learning how to make materials that support the communication of children with ASD are one avenue to pursue in the area of skill development for pre-professional students pursuing a career in speechlanguage pathology or related fields (e.g., psychology and music therapy). Given that the caseloads of school SLPs in our state are high and 90.2% of school-based SLPs regularly provide services to students with ASD (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2018), it is clear that SLPs could benefit from additional assistance to help manage their workload. In a different training program, Benigno and colleagues (2019) enrolled a total

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