Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

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Support - Autism Education Network

The Autism Education Network is designed to provide school teams support, training, and resources to guide services for students with autism. Below are potential offerings autism network team members may provide based on the request. The level of support provided will be based on AU/school team needs as well as autism team availability.

Training (Virtual or In-Person):

The CDE autism team can create targeted, individualized trainings for an AU/school team based on current needs. These trainings can be done virtually or in-person (pending COVID guidelines), and can cover an array of topics related to autism. Trainings can be anywhere from two hours to one full day. The team does not offer individualized versions of currently offered CDE trainings (see training section below).

Field Support:

Field support is intended to offer consultation/coaching services and allows the CDE autism consultants to partner with AU/school teams to address systemic or long-standing concerns. This service supports implementation of evidence-based practices within the school setting. The consultant will work with the team to understand current needs, and then establish goals and a subsequent action plan. This plan may include up to six virtual or in-person visits (depending on need and COVID guidelines).

TeleSchool:

The CDE autism team partners with Children’s Hospital Colorado to offer support in completing functional behavior assessments (FBAs) and developing behavior intervention plans (BIPs) via virtual coaching sessions. This service is designed for teams looking to expand their skills in addressing challenging behavior (e.g., aggression, self-harm, property destruction) and can commit to recurring weekly or biweekly sessions for approximately one to two months. These sessions involve discussions, coaching, and practice implementing various forms of FBA/BIP and analyzing data. This service is recommended for teams addressing unique and intensive behaviors (e.g., considering alternative placement, behaviors that are not responding to intervention over time, behaviors that have injured staff or other students).

Resource Recommendation:

For teams looking to expand knowledge and in need of quick, potentially asynchronous learning opportunities, the CDE autism team can offer recommendations of existing resources to review. Consultants can provide individualized suggestions of webinars, modules, currently offered CDE trainings, and other related resources. To review options, please visit the webinar page to see all archived webinars, or the training section to see currently offered CDE autism team trainings.

Flyer - Network Request (PDF)

Network Request

When completing the field request, you will be prompted to describe the needs of your program and how they relate to Colorado’s Autism Quality Indicators

Quality Indicators

• Autism Quality Indicator, PDF Version
• Autism Quality Indicator, Word Version

​Questions about the Colorado Autism Education Network? Please contact Brooke Carson (see Specialist Contacts section below) with questions about the Autism Education Network.

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• Virtual Events
• Face-to-Face Trainings
• Tri-State Collaborative
• Archived Tri-State Webinars (On-Demand)
• Other Training Opportunities

Virtual Events 

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Autism Evaluation (formerly Educational Identification of ASD)

This distance learning opportunity will be presented over four days, in three-hour segments. The training is designed to support districts in understanding how to identify students suspected of having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), using evaluation tools to assess the triad of characteristics of ASD. Participants will learn how to build a body of evidence to support the identification of ASD (determining eligibility) in an educational setting (without using the ADOS).

View/Print Autism
Evaluation Flyer (PDF)

Registration

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Instructional Strategies Course:

If you are not planning to attain the full RBT credential through the BACB, you might be interested in this free online course.  The content is the same, but the RBT certification information has been removed (e.g., ethics, how to write reports, etc).  The Instructional Strategies course is 21 hours vs. the 40 hours.

If you are participating strictly for professional development, you may enroll yourself in the Instructional Strategies course at any time and you have unlimited access to the content.  You can work at your own pace and the books are not required.   

About the Instructional Strategies Training:

• You do NOT have to apply for this course and can create an account at the link below and begin taking modules at any time.
• There is no timeline for completing the course. You can complete content whenever is convenient for you.
• The course is completely free.
• You will receive a certificate of completion for 7-8 contact hours.
• This course does NOT meet BACB requirements for the 40-hour RBT training.

This course was developed instructed by TASN Instructors:

Peggy VonFeldt, BCBA; Pam Scharping, BCBA; Shana Kaplan, BCBA 

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Face-to-Face Trainings

Structured Teaching for Classroom & Student Success

The CDE Autism Team is pleased to be hosting a new in-person training, Structured Teaching for Classroom & Student Success. This opportunity will consist of two in-person days of didactic and participatory learning on the Structured Teaching (ST) model, incorporating direct student practice with coaching feedback from Dr. Sperry and the ASD Support Team (consists of autism specialists).

View/Print Structured Teaching
for Classroom Success Flyer (PDF)

What is Structured Teaching (ST)?

Structured Teaching (ST) is an evidence-based model that promotes independence by capitalizing on the visual strengths of people with autism. The ST model supports students of all ages and ability levels and utilizes a highly structured environment, across a variety of educational, community and home/living settings.

Presenter

Dr. Laurie Sperry, PhD, BCBA-D: Dr Sperry brings extensive expertise in autism and specifically in comprehensive treatment programs for autistic learners in school settings. Her graduate and post doctorate work were completed in North Carolina where the concept of Structured Teaching was developed at TEACCH in Chapel Hill, one of the nation’s premiere institutions on evidence-based practices for autism.

What does the training look like? 

Days 1 & 2 will be in-person (Denver Metro Area), Day 3 will be in the participant’s school with a Core Team Trainer coming to that location to provide feedback on the Structured Teaching implementation.

Core Team of autism specialists will deliver content to the participants. There will be 6 Teaching Teams comprised of 4 licensed individuals/participants (grouped at time of training to work together for the 2 days) and a Core Team Trainer. Team members will rotate roles which includes alternating between working with a student, workstation setup, note taking for their team and collecting data for their team.

Registration

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Foundations for Instruction

With school districts reporting staff shortages and team members lacking autism training, this content will focus on teaching instructional strategies to IEP team providers newer to the field of ASD (0-5 years). The focus of this in-person training is for participants to learn autism strategies using specially designed instruction for effective programming (student/classroom). This will be a hands-on learning opportunity with embedded coaching and practice on learned content.

View/Print Foundations
for Instruction Flyer (PDF)

Registration

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 Tri-State ASD Collaborative

ASD Resource Lists

Past Webinars

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Coming Soon!

2025-2026 Autism Spectrum Disorder Literacy Institute

This statewide institute will be conducted by nationally recognized experts on literacy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Dr. Christi Carnahan and Dr. Pam Williamson. The institute content will focus on a balanced approach to literacy including instruction in phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing. Each aspect of literacy will be linked to the unique cognitive, social, and communication issues inherent in ASD. Assessment strategies will include an overall estimation of the students' literacy abilities from interactive to independent, which will help teachers determine what additional literacy assessments may be needed to inform instruction. Measures of student outcomes and teacher outcomes will be incorporated into the course, developed by the presenters.

When and Where?

This training will be conducted in a hybrid format. Course work will be organized into three Moodle modules, each module followed by a virtual Zoom session with the presenters.

Fall/Winter

Registration and dates TBD

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2025-2026 Autism Communication Toolkit Training

This six-hour training is for team members working directly with students with autism.

The Communication Toolkit training is designed to:

• Support understanding of communication in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) including formal and informal measurement of communication abilities.
• Help participants develop a rationale and plan around “where to start” when developing communication systems for students with early emerging communication skills including coaching communication partners for success.
• Discuss Evidence Based Practices (EBPs) and match practice to the characteristics of individual students with ASD.
• Give participants a variety of interventions to support students with ASD in developing a functional communication system.
• Follow up with participants through virtual coaching (1 hour requirement within 6-8 weeks of the one-day training completion).

When and Where?

Fall/Spring

Dates TBD

This training will be conducted in a hybrid format.

Course work will be organized into Moodle modules, followed by a virtual Zoom session with the presenters.

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Jump To Resources:

• Autism Program Quality Indicators
• Determination of Eligibility
• Guidelines for Educational Evaluation
• Educational Identification Resources
• Local and national ASD organizations

ASD Documents from CDE

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Educational Identification Resources

FAQ's for Educational Identification of ASD in Young Learners (PDF)

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ASD Office Hours

 

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Join the Colorado Autism Spectrum Disorder Listserv

To join the Autism Spectrum Disorder listserv please contact Lauren Gould

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Contact an ASD Specialist