An online ASD learning module for pediatric health care professionals

Advances in Autism,Volume 3, Issue 3, July 2017. Purpose Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have co-occurring health care needs and are likely to come into contact with several health care professionals over their lives. At the hospital, youth with ASD may require specialized supports to optimize health care experiences and for medical services to be delivered safely. At present, there is a limited understanding of how to best support this patient population. The goal of this pilot project was to develop, implement, and evaluate an online training module for hospital staff about ASD. Design/methodology/approach To evaluate participants ’ perceived utility of the learning tool, a post-module survey was administered. Findings One hundred and two health care professionals and other hospital staff completed the training and evaluation measure. Majority of participants had prior ASD-focused education (66%) and had experience workin g with at least 20 youths with ASD (57%). Majority of participants (88%) perceived the information from the module to be helpful in their daily work and reported that they learned something new (63%). Participants were interested in receiving additional ASD online module training opportunities on to pics including: hands-on behavior management strategies, in-hospital resources, guidance on treatment adherence, and ASD training geared specifically to protection services staff. Originality/value The results from this evaluation have imp...
Source: Advances in Autism - Category: Child Development Source Type: research