The range of approaches

Nationally and internationally there is a vast array of information and opinion about ASD and effective practice. Robust evidence about effective practices for children with ASD is evolving rapidly. Visit the Ministry of Education website for more information about effective interventions for children and young people with ASD.

Early intervention

There is a growing body of evidence that good quality early intervention results in positive outcomes for children with ASD (Hurth, Shaw, Izeman, Whaley & Rogers, 1999; National Research Council, 2001; Prizant & Rubin, 1999; Simpson, 1999, Woods & Wetherby, 2003).

Type of intervention

No one approach has been shown to be more effective than another for all children with ASD in terms of either initial intervention or long term strategy (National Research Council 2001; Prizant and Wetherby,1998; Fletcher-Campbell, 2003; Heflin and Simpson; 1998, Simpson, 1999; Roberts and Prior, 2006).
Systematic, planful teaching in structured environments, which links assessment and intervention leads to greater outcomes (Hurth et al, 1999).
The most appropriate and efficacious programmes for children with ASD employ a variety of practices, including a systematic and ongoing evaluation of interventions and treatment (Fletcher-Campbell, 2003; LeCouteur, 2003; National Research Council, 2001; Simpson, 2003; Prizant and Wetherby, 1988; Roberts and Prior, 2006).

Practitioner skills in a variety of practices

The skill of the professional is knowing when to use which approach for particular children, situations and skills (Prizant and Wetherby, 1998; Volkmar et al, 2004; Fletcher Campbell 2003; Woods and Wetherby, 2003).
Participating in the Development Project provides specialist practitioners with an opportunity to refine and develop the variety of practices necessary for working effectively with children with ASD and their families. Such practices include: visual strategies, social stories and contemporary Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) techniques.

SCERTS as a framework

The SCERTS framework focuses on Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional Support. It was developed by Barry Prizant and his colleagues for working with children with ASD. Assessments and interventions are embedded in the settings, activities and routines of the child’s regular day. The SCERTS Framework page of this site has more information.
The Development Project is not aimed at comparing SCERTS with another approach or evaluating SCERTS to see if it works, but it does aim to see how SCERTS fits with the way we work and live in New Zealand.

Learning together

The local project teams taking part in the Development Project work together as professional learning communities. It is a process called ‘action learning’, which means they are continually learning and reflecting with each other, to improve practice with children with ASD and their families. The members of each team learn with and from each other by applying their learning to their real-life work with children and families and then reflecting together on their experiences. The teams meet regularly to support this process.

Seminars and workshops

In March 2007, Barry Prizant and Amy Laurent (SCERTS developers) ran SCERTS seminars in Auckland and Wellington. These were attended by the local project teams and a broad range of people supporting children with ASD in early childhood and school. The local project teams also have some distance input from Barry and Amy.

Another series of interactive workshops at Masters level were attended by local project teams in August 2009 in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.