Welcome to the Autism Services Research Group!

We seek to advance research that improves the quality of life of children, youth, and adults with autism spectrum disorders. To improve outcomes, understanding the whole person is essential and collaboration between parents and caregivers, family members, teachers, and therapists is vital.

Who we are.

Our research involves the development and testing of interventions and the study of services and outcomes of interventions. We emphasize research that has direct implications for community-based services, the shortage of trained professionals, and the need for interventions that have positive effects for all children using personalized treatment planning.

What we do.

With funding from NIH, we have completed three randomized controlled trials of COMPASS. We have current funding for a new research project to develop and test a training package for COMPASS consultants. COMPASS is a parent-teacher consultation intervention that is designed to assist public school special educators and parents in person-centered decision-making for individualizing evidence-based interventions for children with autism.

Why we do it.

COMPASS puts into practice the importance of collaborative decision-making between parents and professionals, the necessity of understanding how autism affects each person individually, how personal and environmental strengths are considered to offset challenges, and how ongoing data-based decision making is applied to ensure optimal outcomes.

COMPASS Manual

Published with Springer and developed for specialists providing consultation and support to classroom teachers, the COMPASS manual details the exact methods and protocols to develop, implement, and monitor outcomes of children with autism.

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COMPASS Profile

See our COMPASS Profile page to begin building a profile for your child or student.

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Student Opportunities

Discover how COMPASS informs our clinical training program for School Psychology.

Our Research