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. For more information, visit the SCERTS website.

SCERTS provides a way for the team around a child to work together and support each other to effectively gather and analyse comprehensive information about the child and their context, plan intervention and monitor progress.

In terms of current ways of working with young children with ASD, SCERTS presents as being well grounded in current robust evidence and is consistent with current recommended practices for educating children with ASD. See the Research page of the SCERTS website for more information (PDF 76Kb)

SCERTS encourages the use of a range of approaches (e.g. visual strategies, social stories and contemporary Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) techniques) and it does not discount any expertise currently within teams.

SCERTS appears to have a good fit with New Zealand’s child and family-centred early childhood education philosophy, Te Whāriki and the key competencies.

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 fit with the way we work and live in New Zealand.