Examining the Impact of an Adapted Professional Development Model for the Advancing Social-Communication and Play (ASAP) Intervention

Given the increasing prevalence of autism among school-aged children, preschool classrooms need evidence-based interventions to address students’ social-communication needs. However, the complex school context presents unique challenges to maintaining a high level of intervention fidelity. We have engaged in an iterative development and testing process of professional development (PD) supports for the Advancing Social-Communication and Play (ASAP) intervention to create a PD model that supports preschool teams in their uptake and intervention fidelity. This pilot cluster randomized control trial included 12 classrooms (42 educators, 43 autistic preschoolers) and compared classrooms that received ASAP with adapted PD supports (ASAP-PD) to ASAP with materials only (ASAP-MO). The PD model supported gains in educators’ knowledge of ASAP content and reported use of ASAP procedures when compared to ASAP-MO classrooms; however, there were no group differences in fidelity of implementation during classroom observations, and implementation varied widely across classrooms. There were also no group differences in primary student outcomes, although parents in the ASAP-PD group reported significant changes in child skills from pre- to post-test. Implications for practice and future directions for research are discussed with a focus on the importance of implementation supports to address common challenges in schools.