Strategies for Teaching Based on Autism Research (STAR Program) Curriculum Review and Implementation

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is becoming more prevalent in school systems. Researchers began tracking the prevalence of ASD in the year 2000. It is estimated that 1 in 68 children have ASD in the United States of America (1 in 42 prevalence for boys and 1 in 189 prevalence for girls) (Landa, 2018). Medically a child can be diagnosed with ASD but school systems themselves are not able to formally diagnose ASD in children. (ECTA, 2012). ASD can be hard to diagnose as some cases are more severe than others and the earlier that a child is found to have ASD, the better supported they will be both at home and in the classroom. Furthermore, the earlier the identification, the more able we are to give parents and students early access to early intervention services to aid in the success of the child and family as a unit (Boyd et al., 2010). Beginning in early intervention, the Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research (STAR) Program has been found to be effective for students with ASD while using the following strategies: discrete trial training (DTT), pivotal response training (PRT), and functional routines (Stahmer et al., 2015). These skills can be taught to students that do not have ASD but are primarily using evidence-based strategies designed to aid students with ASD in day-to-day school activities