ASD and behavioural interventions: an introduction for school personnel: an external review

O'Keefe, Chelsea (2020) ASD and behavioural interventions: an introduction for school personnel: an external review. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This study encompasses an external program review of ASD and Behavioural Interventions: An Introduction for School Personnel (ASD & BI), an online course distributed through the New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The course is designed for educational professionals who seek additional training on autism spectrum disorder and appropriate interventions. This study focuses on the province of New Brunswick only. Sixty participants were included, and data collection occurred from November 2017 until April 2018. The participants completed pre- and post-test survey questionnaires at the start and finish of the course and a brief post-test short answer questionnaire. This information provided the data necessary to address the overarching research questions: How effective is ASD & BI perceived to be by participants? What is perceived as working well and what do participants perceive as not working? And, what is the typical demographic of participants who enroll in the course? The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test showed that there were significant differences between the pre- and post-test results (p<0.001), indicating a likelihood that completion of the course had resulted in significant changes in participants’ perceived competency of ASD. Five themes emerged through the qualitative short answer responses which were expanded on and utilized to develop four recommendations for future disseminations of ASD & BI. The small sample size and homogeneousness of the participant demographics suggests that the results of this review should not be generalized as the experiences of all professionals who enroll in the course but is a relevant to the immediate context of the current study. Additional reviews should be considered in the future, specifically those that include Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

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