The Comprehensive Autism Planning System (CAPS) for Individuals with Autism and Related Disabilities: Integrating Evidence-Based Practices Throughout the Student's Day / Edition 2

by Shawn Henry MS, Brenda Smith Myles PhD

Overview

The Comprehensive Autism Planning System for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Related Disabilities (CAPS) is a tool to help teachers and educational teams to plan and implement a student’s program across the school. This includes planning for the implementation of the Individualized Education Program, and the curriculum relevant to the student. It takes the team through the process of planning out the goals/objectives to be targeted in each activity of the day, the modifications and accommodations that should be provided to support the student in each activity, the sensory supports to help the student stay engaged, and the communication and social supports that the student needs to be successful.  

In addition, it identifies the type of data that should be collected for each area and the reinforcers that have been chosen for use for success. As with many tools, while this system was developed for use with individuals on the autism spectrum, it can be an essential tool for any student regardless of the types of supports and needs they have. There are various forms of this system that focus on targeting specific skills for each activity and identifying the communication, sensory, and reinforcement supports that will be needed for each situation.

There are also vocational and transitional formats that are available for students making the transition to work. The system is helpful in sharing information across the education team, in helping families to see how programs are being implemented, and is greatly helpful in setting up classroom environments that meet the individual needs of the students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937473792
Publisher:	Future Horizons, Inc.
Publication date:	07/09/2013
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Shawn A. Henry is executive director at the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), where he concentrates on developing statewide change efforts in promoting advances in the training of professionals serving students with autism and providing supports for families. He was previously the program director of training and evaluation at the Kentucky Autism Training Center, Universityof Louisville (KATC), where he coordinated targeted professional development throughout the state. These experiences, as well as serving as an elementary special education teacher, primarily teaching students with autism, led Shawn to develop the Comprehensive Autism Planning System (CAPS).

Brenda Smith Myles, PhD is a consultant with the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), the Ziggurat Group, and the Education and Treatment Services Project for Military Dependent Children with Autism. She is the recipient of the Autism Society of America’s Outstanding Professional Award, the Princeton Fellowship Award, and the Council for Exceptional Children, Division on Developmental Disabilities Burton Blatt Humanitarian Award. Dr. Myles has made over 500 presentations all over the world and written more than 150 articles and books on ASD. In addition, she served as the co-chair of the National ASD Teacher Standards Committee; was on the National Institute of Mental Health’s Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s Strategic Planning Consortium; collaborated with the National Professional Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, National Autism Center, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to identify evidence-based practices for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Further, in the latest survey conducted by the Universityof Texas, she was acknowledged as the second most productive applied researcher in ASD in the world.

Read an Excerpt

Ginny’s CAPS

The following brief case study shows how CAPS was implemented for an 8-year-old student with ASD, Ginny. Ginny is in the second grade and tested in the “below-average” range on a test of cognitive ability. Ginny uses PECS (Frost & Bondy, 2002) to communicate, but shows limited generalization to school staff and none among peers. She receives her education in a kindergarten/first-grade resource room and is included during “specials” and early-morning calendar group. Ginny has been demonstrating some behavioral issues related to transitions, attention to task, and interacting appropriately with peers. Observations in Ginny’s classrooms confirmed behavioral issues identified as problematic and revealed an inconsistent use of supports. Ginny’s team met to create a CAPS to match Ginny’s daily schedule. Similar to most students, Ginny’s day begins before her first academic class. She starts with breakfast at school. As shown on the CAPS, Ginny will be learning three skills during this time: (a) making choices, (b) using a language board, and (c) following a schedule. Use of choice and language boards and the reinforcement is natural – eating the food she chooses from the breakfast menu. While Ginny does not need sensory supports for this activity, she does require communication and social interventions. She has social questions on her language board and a visual support that illustrate stable manners. Data collected include (a) frequency of making choices and (b) the number of times she used her language board.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Beginning With the End in Mind

1. The Comprehensive Autism Planning System

2. Structure/Modifications

Kai-Chien Tien, PhD, and Hyo Jung Lee, PhD

3. Reinforcement

Joyce Downing, PhD

4. Sensory Strategies

5. Communication/Social Skills

Teresa Cardon, PhD, CCC-SLP

6. Data Collection

Andi Babkie, PhD

7. Generalization

8. Instruction Often Occurring in Specialized Settings

with Sheila M. Smith, PhD, and Sherry Moyer, MSW

9. M-CAPS – Using CAPS in Middle School, High School,

and Beyond

10. The CAPS Process

11. Using CAPS for Technical Assistance/Consultation

Lee Stickle, PhD

12. Case Studies

Preschool – Mitchell 

Yu-Chi Chou, PhD

Elementary School – Sam 

Christina Carnahan, PhD

Home – Jason 

Jill Hudson, MS

Middle/High School – Michael 

Amy Bixler Coffin, MS

Index

Glossary

Editorial Reviews

CAPS is an invaluable guide for anyone who has to negotiate the complex and sometimes daunting system of available resources for individuals with ASD. Written in clear and precise language that will speak to both the layperson and the specialist, this book offers new insights and techniques relevant to students at various ages and stages of development. The multidisciplinary CAPS model acknowledges the need to tailor programming to a student’s individual differences and unique set of circumstances. As a supervisor for ASD programs for a large public school district, I am always looking for ways to improve our ability to serve our students. I recommend the easily accessible CAPS model and this ready-to-use guide to any professional in the educational field looking to support students with ASD and other disabilities.” 

- Doreen Tilt, MSEd, CAS, supervisor of autism spectrum disorders program, Bridgeport Public Schools, Bridgeport, Connecticut

“The CAPS is invaluable! This flexible tool can assist in collaboration, transitions, and IEP planning by providing practitioners with an organized framework for implementing evidence-based practices and supports throughout the day. It also helps with accountability and consistency across providers – an increasingly important issue. This expanded second edition of CAPS includes important new material on technical assistance/consultation as well as up-to-date considerations of current mandates and trends that support CAPS use. With plenty of clear examples, resources, and poignant case studies, educators, family members and, most important, persons with ASD, will benefit from this book.”

– Paul G. LaCava, PhD, assistant professor of special education, Rhode Island College

“This tool takes the mystery out of addressing the complex needs of individuals on the spectrum by allowing the multidisciplinary team to use and implement a transdisciplinary process that allows for the individual expertise of each team member to be used collectively, thereby ensuring consistency of quality supports, instruction, and progress monitoring throughout the day. Our Center team believes that the CAPS is so effective that we have incorporated it into our comprehensive training program that is used to train teachers and related service providers in our state. The CAPS turns the mandated IEP document into a user-friendly tool that is shared with all staff, and is tremendously helpful to general education teachers.”

– Ruth Eren, EdD, associate professor, director, Center of Excellence on Autism Spectrum Disorders, Southern Connecticut State University

From the Publisher