Autism Intervention in the Community: Increasing the Use of Evidence-Based Practices

Wendy Stone, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, READi Lab, University of Washington

Transforming Healthcare Systems to Increase Early Access to Autism-Specialized Services

Early detection of autism is the key to specialized services that can lead to significant gains in social, language, and behavioral development. However, families of young children often encounter many obstacles as they navigate the path from autism concerns to autism treatment. Prevailing healthcare models prevent many children from accessing early autism-specialized services and accruing the associated benefits. Alternative healthcare models that employ preventative intervention approaches are critical for improving outcomes for this ever-growing group of children in our communities.

David S. Mandell, ScD
Director, Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research
Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Pediatrics,
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Why Autism Interventions Fail in Schools and What To Do About It

The last 50 years have seen tremendous advances in policy that increase the civil rights of and improve access to care for children with autism and other disabilities. While these policies represent a tremendous step forward, they have not resulted in commensurate improvements in quality of care. Outcomes for children with autism still lag far beyond what has been demonstrated in university-based intervention trials. In this presentation, using school-based interventions as an example, we propose a quality and outcome-oriented way of thinking about disability policy and its implementation in the public sector.