National Guideline for Supporting the Learning, Participation, and Wellbeing of Autistic Children and Their Families in Australia

Trembath, D., Varcin, K., et al. (2022).

Brisbane (Australia): Autism CRC, Available from: https://www.autismcrc.com.au/.

This evidence-based guideline provides recommendations to families, service providers, and educators to support the learning, participation, and wellbeing of children on the autism spectrum and their families. Recommendations regarding guiding principles; goal setting; selecting and planning and supports; delivering supports; and outcomes, quality, and safeguarding are summarized with a focus on those relevant to the practice of speech-language pathology.

Autism CRC (Australia)

Practitioners should follow guiding principles in their treatment approach including:<br /> <ul> <li>Supports should be both child- and family-centered, strengths-focused, culturally competent, evidence-based, and neurodiversity and family affirming (Strong Recommendation).</li> <li>Assent of the child receiving care should be sought and families should have the information necessary to make informed decisions (Strong Recommendation).</li> <li>Practitioners should have appropriate qualifications and provide coordinated care with appropriate consent (Conditional Recommendation).</li> </ul>

Recommendations for selecting appropriate goals to support children on the autism spectrum and their families include:<br /> <ul> <li>Goals should be set by the child and family with support from practitioners and relevant others to create accessible environments, help families advocate for their children, and target skills that promote learning, wellbeing, and participation with consideration of child-factors, family-factors, and contextual factors (Strong Recommendation).</li> <li>Practitioners should have rationales for goals including assessment of risk-benefit (Strong Recommendation) and discuss goals with the child and family (Conditional Recommendation).</li> </ul>

Recommendations for selecting and planning appropriate supports include:<br /> <ul> <li>Supports should help develop social-emotional, motor, and academic skills and should consider sensory needs (Strong Recommendation).</li> <li>Practitioners should offer supports that are practical and personally meaningful to children and their families (Strong Recommendation).</li> <li>Supports should help the child communicate with a variety of people across a variety of contexts, through a mode that is effective for them (Strong Recommendation). <ul> <li>Supports focusing on comprehension should help the child develop functional understanding and help communication partners be aware of the child's strengths and preferences.</li> <li>Supports focusing on how the child communicates should explore a variety of communication modes with consideration of environments, cultural differences, and co-occurring conditions.</li> <li>They should not have communication partners physically guide a child to use a communication system.</li> <li>Supports focusing on why the child communicates should help the child engage in meaningful relationships and express desires, preferences, feelings, and dissent.</li> <li>They should not force the child to interact in a way common to neurotypical children if it will adversely impact their freedom and identity.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Supports should help develop cognitive skills (Strong Recommendation). <ul> <li>Supports should help children develop executive functioning in meaningful childhood contexts and help develop skills for transitioning between activities.</li> <li>They should not reduce children's passionate interests.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Supports should help develop skills necessary for participation in activities of daily living (Strong Recommendation). <ul> <li>Supports should optimize participation in meaningful activities and help the child build confidence.</li> <li>They should not fail to consider environmental modifications or supports for others.</li> </ul> </li> </ul>

Recommendations for delivering supports include: <ul> <li>Practitioners should work with the child and family to determine the aspects of service delivery (e.g., setting, format, provider, dosage) most likely to lead to meaningful increase in the child's learning, participation, and wellbeing (Conditional Recommendation).</li> <li>Practitioners should work with families to minimize burdens such as time and finances, while keeping in mind family members may be on the autism spectrum themselves or be raising more than one child who is receiving services (Strong Recommendation).</li> </ul>

Recommendations regarding outcomes, quality, and safeguarding include:<br /> <ul> <li>Practitioners, along with the child and family, should monitor generalization and maintenance of skills through child observations, reports from others, and the collection and evaluation of outcome data (Strong Recommendation).</li> <li>Practitioners, along with the child and family, should review goals outcomes at regular intervals. (Strong Recommendation).</li> <li>Practitioners should share information related to monitoring in a way that is understandable and meaningful to the child and family (Conditional Recommendation).</li> </ul>