Autism News

Welcome visitors! This page is dedicated to raising the level of awareness of school practitioners working with students with autism regarding modern strategies that may have come too late for many in the field to have have experienced in their initial education. Each item on this page relates to an activity that Project ACCESS is working on or otherwise is worthy of dissemination.

1. Practical Functional Assessment

Behavior Analysts that work with students with autism and who have traditional training may not yet be up to speed with Practical Functional Assessment. Created by Gregory Hanley, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Practical Functional Assessment was developted to be a "safe and efficient functional assessment procedures that inform highly effective and humane treatments for problem behavior of persons with autism or intellectual disabilities."

From the website:

"This website is dedicated to disseminating a practical means of determining the occasioning contexts and outcomes responsible for problem behaviors like self-injurious behavior and aggression often associated with autism or intellectual disabilities. The process is generally referred to as a functional assessment. The specific functional assessment process that will be the focus of this website relies on open-ended interviewing and a subsequent functional analysis referred to as an interview-informed, synthesized contingency analysis or IISCA.

Peer-reviewed research has shown IISCAs to be a quick, safe, and reliable means to understand enough about why problem behavior is occurring to design individualized treatments capable of eliminating problem behavior while promoting essential skills such as functional communication, delay and denial toleration, and contextually appropriate behaviors (e.g., accuracy with academics, vocational skills, independent leisure activity)."

2. Updates to the list of research supported autism evidence-based Interventions and AFIRM Modules

This information comes from the folks at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They maintain the AFIRM online learning modules. AFIRM stands for Autism Focused Intervention Resources and Modules. AFIRM developed 28 evidence-based practice modules based on the 2020 Evidence Based Practice NCAEP (National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice) report. Of special interest is the Matrix to Link EBPs with Target Outcomes and Ages: Table 3.7 Matrix of Evidence-Based Practices, Outcomes, and Age Categories. Based on this report that came out in 2020, AFIRM updated the learning modules available. Some new interventions have been added to the list of research supported autism evidence-based practices. Some were folded into other existing interventions but remain avaiallbe as supplemental modules.

These modules were added

These modules were removed from the list of 28 and combined with other existing EBPs:

  • Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
  • Pivotal Response Training (PRT)
  • Scripting (SC)
  • Structured Play Groups (SPG)

AFIRM maintains these as "supplemental modules" and you can read more about this on their website.

3. Why do we have three levels of autism in autism diagnoses?

Diagnostic levels arose because of the shift from DSM-IV to DSM 5, which included a shift from categorical diagnoses to dimensional diagnoses. This occured across the DSM. In DSM-IV, diagnoses used symptom lists to put clients in categories and based a diagnosis on the category they were in based on symptoms. A problem had arisen when making a diagnosis when symptoms were at boundaries: do you put them in this category or that one (this was especially true when deciding between autism and Asperger's). To eliminate the confusion, the autism diagnoses were collapsed to one, the new Social Communication Diagnosis was created/updated for people who did not manifest the behavior symptoms of autism (restricted and repetitive patterns), and the dimensional levels of symptom severity were introduced. We are attaching a good summary of these developments that is worth a quick skim. Another good point the article explains is the move from the autism triad (three domains) to two domains of Social Communication and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors. Severity Levels are determined for each of these two domains and then encapsulated into the final diagnosis.

The DSM-5: Classification and criteria changes is a paper by Regier, et. al. that discusses DSM-5's new classification system that more closely aligns with the IDC.

The Diagnosis of Autism: From Kanner to DSM-III to DSM-5 and Beyond by Rosen, et. al. provide great historical context for understanding diagnostic changes.

Autism Speaks has a pretty good description of the levels for the two domains for each of the three support levels. https://www.autismspeaks.org/levels-of-autism

4. Why are the incidence rates of autism on the rise (and dramatically so)?

As is sometimes true, a major newspaper that allows for op-eds and non-professionals to contribute to a conversation presents a unique perspective that you do not get from peer-reveiwed journals. Here is a listing of some pieces from the New York Times (these are not Project ACCESS' opinions, merely a collection of opinions from the NYT readership--these links link back to the Times' website):

The New York Times has published several opinion pieces and guest essays regarding autism in recent months, especially in late 2024 and 2025. Notable recent op-eds and related opinion pieces include:

  • "In Search of Better Ways to Understand Autism" (October 18, 2025): This is a collection of letters to the editor from readers responding to previous articles, discussing the challenges of defining and diagnosing the condition, and debating the concept of "profound autism".
  • "Should the Autism Spectrum Be Split Apart?" (October 7, 2025): This article discusses the debate between families of people with severe autism who feel the broad diagnosis has marginalized their needs, and autistic activists who argue against splitting the diagnosis, fearing it would invalidate their experiences and access to services.
  • "Autism Has Never Been One Thing" (Guest Essay, September 24, 2025, by Roy Richard Grinker): This piece argues that the history of autism shows it has always been a complex, varied condition, and warns against attempts to simplify its causes or return to a time when some people were excluded from the diagnosis.
  • "An Unproven Link to Autism’s Cause" (September 24, 2025): This includes letters to the editor responding to the Trump administration's claims linking autism to Tylenol and vaccines, with readers emphasizing the lack of scientific evidence for these claims and the potential harm of such misinformation.
  • "The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism" (August 19, 2025): This opinion piece debunks the persistent myth that vaccines cause autism and discusses how relitigating this disproven link takes away resources from real research that could help people with autism.
  • "Searching for the Truth About Autism" (July 9, 2025): Letters to the editor that discuss the actual drivers of increasing autism rates (like greater awareness and diagnostic changes) versus unproven theories, and the need for research into potential environmental and genetic factors.
  • "Kennedy’s Remarks on Autism Described My Reality" / "Facing the Realities of Severe Autism" (April 25 and May 10, 2025, Guest Essay by Emily May and subsequent letters): These pieces, focusing on severe, nonspeaking autism, share the experiences of parents dealing with profound challenges, arguing that this reality should not be overlooked in the broader conversation about neurodiversity.
  • "I Was Diagnosed With Autism at 53. I Know Why Rates Are Rising." (March 20, 2025, by Holden Thorp): This guest essay argues that greater awareness, not vaccines, has driven the increase in diagnoses, and highlights the personal benefits of a late diagnosis.

5. Explaining the Dear Colleague Letter on the Instructional Use of FBA

In November 2024, the U.S. Department of Education—through OSERS (Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services) and OESE (Office of Elementary and Secondary Education)—released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) providing updated guidance on how schools should use Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs) to create safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments for all students whose behavior interferes with learning. The letter is available on the ed.gov website.

The intent of this guidance is to shift FBAs from being merely a compliance activity under IDEA to a powerful instructional tool that helps educators understand student behavior and implement proactive, positive supports.

1. What the DCL Emphasizes: FBAs Are for All Students, Not Only Students with Disabilities

The letter clarifies that FBAs are appropriate for any student whose behavior interferes with learning, not only those already receiving special education services. This supports broader, equitable access to behavioral interventions and aligns with MTSS frameworks.

2. Why the Department Issued This Guidance: The DCL highlights ongoing national concerns:

A. Overreliance on Exclusionary Discipline

Suspensions, expulsions, and informal removals continue to be widely used, despite evidence of harmful, long‑term consequences such as lost instructional time, decreased academic achievement, higher absenteeism, and increased risk of juvenile justice involvement.

B. Effects of Students’ Lived Experiences

The DCL notes that certain experiences—poverty, trauma, discrimination, peer pressure, or social media—often influence student behavior and must be considered when schools respond.

C. Disproportionate Impact

Some groups of students experience these negative disciplinary practices at higher rates, deepening inequities.

3. What an FBA Is (According to the DCL): An FBA is a structured process used to identify:

  • Why a behavior is occurring
  • What function the behavior serves for the student
  • Which environmental, social, emotional, or instructional factors contribute to the behavior
  • FBAs gather data through direct observations, interviews, review of records, and analysis of context (antecedents, behaviors, consequences).

The goal is to use this information to design positive, instructionally relevant interventions.

4. Instructional Use of FBAs: What the DCL Says: The DCL reframes FBAs as a tool for proactive, educational support, not a punitive response.

Key instructional connections include:

A. Integrating FBAs into MTSS

The guidance encourages schools to use FBAs within Tier 3 supports for any student who requires intensive behavioral intervention, regardless of disability status.

B. Linking FBAs With Positive Behavioral Supports. Schools should use results of the FBA to teach:

  • Replacement behaviors
  • Coping and self‑regulation skills
  • Social skills
  • Academic engagement strategies

FBAs are designed to help educators understand what skills the student needs—not simply to stop behavior.

C. Strengthening Inclusion and Access

The DCL is explicit that FBAs and BIPs should support student inclusion, not serve as mechanisms for exclusion.

D. Connecting FBA Results to IEPs

For students with disabilities, IEPs must meaningfully reflect FBA findings and ensure behavioral supports are in place when behavior impedes learning.

5. Consent and Implementation. The DCL clarifies:

  • Parent consent is required to conduct an FBA in most cases.
  • FBAs should be conducted by qualified personnel (e.g., BCBA, school psychologist, or anyone with specialized training).

6. Why This Matters for Schools. This DCL is part of a national effort to:

  • Reduce exclusionary discipline
  • Address inequities
  • Promote proactive, evidence‑based behavioral support
  • Ensure students remain in instructional environments
  • Strengthen collaboration among educators, families, and students

The guidance encourages schools to view behavior as a form of communication, best addressed through supportive and instructionally grounded interventions.

The November 2024 Dear Colleague Letter on FBAs urges schools to use FBAs not just for compliance or discipline, but as a core instructional strategy that helps educators understand student needs and improve learning environments for all students.