Abstract

School and medical settings often use different identification criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disability affecting social-communication, behavioral patterns, and sensory experiences. Further, individual states may use varied definitions for special education eligibility. On January 1, 2019, the State of Oregon began implementing overhauled statewide criteria and evaluation requirements for ASD special education eligibility that directly align with current medical system criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Immediately following these changes, and then again 1 year later in January of 2020 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), we surveyed school-based practitioners across the state about their ASD evaluation practices as well as their knowledge, training, and beliefs regarding the newly revised standards. Our results indicated that practitioners felt more familiar with and had received better training on the new standards after a full year of implementation and that 58% of practitioners had changed their evaluation procedures in some way. However, 74% of practitioners reported that despite these changes, there was no difference in the number of students being found eligible for an ASD diagnosis, indicating that the real-world impact of the statewide policy change might be more limited than initially believed. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

摘要

学校和医疗机构经常对自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 使用不同的识别标准，自闭症谱系障碍是一种影响社交沟通、行为模式和感官体验的神经发育障碍。此外，各个州可能对特殊教育资格使用不同的定义。2019 年 1 月 1 日，俄勒冈州开始实施全面修订的全州范围内 ASD 特殊教育资格标准和评估要求，这些标准和评估要求直接与《诊断和统计手册》第五版( DSM-5)中指定的当前医疗系统标准保持一致。）。紧随这些变化之后，以及一年后的 2020 年 1 月（COVID-19 大流行之前），我们对全州的学校从业者进行了调查，了解他们的 ASD 评估实践以及他们对以下方面的知识、培训和信念：新修订的标准。我们的结果表明，在实施一整年之后，从业者对新标准感到更加熟悉并接受了更好的培训，并且 58% 的从业者以某种方式改变了他们的评估程序。然而，74% 的从业者表示，尽管有这些变化，但符合 ASD 诊断资格的学生人数没有差异，这表明全州政策变化对现实世界的影响可能比最初认为的更为有限。