Discover more from Special Education Today by John Wills Lloyd
No SET newsletter today? Try the SIAT June 2023 newsletter
Would you believe it's available now?
The excellent and fine newsletter, Science in Autism Treatment, of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment for June 2023 is now available at https://mailchi.mp/asatonline/science-in-autism-treatment_2023_06. Folks who are interested in staying current with evidence-based treatment for individuals with autism and their families will likely find this resource particularly valuable. Check it!
The current issue carries a feature about the popular “Son Rise” program that has been touted since the 1980s, had celebrity endorsers, and lots of advocacy. Stacha Leslie, Catherine McHugh, and Thomas Zane reviewed research about Son Rise. Readers might want to read what they learned. The report by Leslie et al. provided a good case example of the continuing need for high-quality research.
And, if you need an extra deep dive into the general topic of evidence-based treatment for autism, take the time to go through the SIAT archives (which go back to the 1990s!).
No SET newsletter today? Try the SIAT June 2023 newsletter
Just a reminder that people of high intelligence and great talent can be fooled.
So true, Jim. Thanks for saying it.
I think that's an important part of the reason that it's important to employ objective scientific methods to ascertain to effects (beneficial or detrimental) of instructional methods, procedures, and practices—a point with which I suspect you agree. That's why I'm so reluctant to accept someone's statements (e.g., "she is so much better since we started the XYZ program" or "those kids have improved so much!") as convincing, compelling evidence of effectiveness.
I'm *not* arguing that people's perceptions of improvement are unimportant. I'm just saying that just saying (that's not a typo) some students "seem better" can't be equated with those students actually having better outcomes. We need strong measures to make informed evaluations and decisions.
In their forth-coming paper for Exceptional Children, "Evidence-Based Assessment in Special Education Research: Advancing the Use of Evidence in Assessment Tools and Empirical Processes," Betsy Talbot, Andres De Los Reyes, Devin M. Kearns, Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez, and Mo Wang present a strong case for letting the sun shine on important measures in special education. It is still available for free for just a little longer at https://doi.org/10.1177/00144029231171092 (and I hope CEC and Sage will keep it open access for a lot longer).