| Abstract: As the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) continues to increase, more students diagnosed with ASD are educated in public school settings, dramatically increasing the need for high-quality behavioral and instructional interventions. The Project ECHO (Extension of Community Healthcare Outcomes) framework can be adapted to provide assistance in these areas to districts and schools that serve students identified with ASD. This panel will present ECHO- Education: Autism as a platform to deliver and facilitate high quality case-based support, professional development, and opportunities for collaboration among university-based specialists and school-based staff working with students with ASD in general and special education settings. The ECHO- Education: Autism model utilizes videoconferencing technology to simultaneously connect school and district-based staff in school districts across Virginia (known as the 'spokes') to an inter-disciplinary panel of university-based specialists (known as the 'hub') in bi-monthly hour-long clinics. During each session, two of the spoke teams present a specific de-identified student case to the hub and other spokes with the goal of collaborating to develop sustainable interventions for the student. Additionally, a brief didactic presentation in behavioral and/or instructional intervention or support is presented by the specialists in the hub. These professional learning opportunities are targeted to the specific needs and requests from the participating spokes. The ultimate goal of this videoconferencing model is to develop 'learning loops' among the spokes that offer the potential to increase collaboration and support within and among districts, schools, and teachers across Virginia, especially in areas that may have limited access to these resources. Measures of efficacy of the implementation of the ECHO- Education: Autism model include positive child and teacher outcomes, as well as increased school and district-wide development and capacity building as knowledge and support is disseminated through this collaborative experience. This panel will discuss the implementation of the pilot ECHO- Education: Autism initiative described above and will present a case study demonstrating the effectiveness of this model in increasing knowledge and support for education teams working with students with ASD in classrooms and schools across Virginia. |