The Standard and Practice of Assessing Response to Intervention for Children with Autism in Ethiopia

Background: Behavioral and educational intervention service for student with autism in Ethiopia is still primarily provided by the two parent owned autism centers. The primary goal of these center is to address the student’s behavioral, developmental, social and academic needs, which is an intensive undertaking process that requires many hours each week of different instruction and therapies. In this process, it is crucial to assess intervention response on an individualized basis, especially in a country like Ethiopia where service is offered with limited resources and human power. However, the implementation of assessment to intervention response has received scant attention (Zeleke, Hughes, & Chiytio, 2017).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the standard and practice of intervention implementing plan for students with ASDs in Ethiopia.

Methods: Using mixed method, data was collected from 120 students with ASDs, 12 program coordinators, 32 teachers, and 12 parents. Survey questionnaires, direct observation, focus group discussions, and individual interviews were utilized to gather information on the standard and practice of (a) intervention selection, (b) identification of reasonable strength of intervention, (c)implementing the intervention, (d) assessing progress, and (e) applying decision rules to the resulting data.

Results: The preliminary results indicate that even though a substantial service provision practice that addresses student’s behavioral, developmental, social, and academic needs observed, lack of documentation on intervention plan and implemented interventions were marked.

Conclusions: Implication on the role of plan implementation and how to assess response to intervention can be used to inform implementing an entitlement process in which services are integrated with assessment and a due process protection for students are discussed.