Parents/Caregivers
Participating Parent/Caregiver Summary
- Families participating in the Classroom SCERTS Intervention project are expected to complete questionnaires at the beginning and end of the school year and participate in a 1 –hour interview with our project diagnostician. Participants are reimbursed for completing project questionnaires.
- CSI provides participating students diagnostic testing at no cost to the parent and training for you and your student’s teacher.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does my child receive a formal diagnosis by participating in this project?
- How long will my child be a participant in this study?
- Why do I have to complete these questions?
- How am I compensated for my participation?
- What exactly is SCERTS?
- Will my child be receiving SCERTS?
- How do I learn more about SCERTS?
Does my child receive a formal diagnosis by participating in this project?
Your child will participate in a series of assessments with a project diagnostician. Once all assessments are collected, the diagnostician will determine whether or not your child meets qualifications for study participation. This testing is not intended to serve as a formal diagnosis of autism.
How long will my child be a participant in this study?
Participation in the Classroom SCERTS Project lasts for one academic year or 9 months. Your child will not be followed for more than one year and your child’s school will only participate for one academic year.
Why do I have to complete these questions?
The information we collect from caregivers is important because you are the primary observer of your child’s development. This information helps us paint a picture of your child’s skills and to measure changes in skills over time.
How am I compensated for my participation?
Families are compensated for each questionnaire packet completed at the beginning and end of the year. Families that have special circumstances in regard to compensation may contact the office to discuss further options.
SCERTS is a curriculum-based intervention program for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). SC – stands for social and communication, ER – stands for emotional regulation, and TS – stands for transactional support. The SCERTS program encourages student independence and active engagement in classroom environments.
Will my child be receiving SCERTS?
When conducting a true experimental study participants must be randomized into different groups. In this study there are two conditions, the AET condition, which stands for Autism Education Training, and the SCERTS condition. The AET condition is the condition in which teachers are not implementing the SCERTS curriculum. These teachers are conducting their classrooms as they usually would without coaching or instruction, and therefore students in these classrooms will not be working within a SCERTS framework. The SCERTS condition means teachers will attend training where they will learn strategies for implementing SCERTS in their classrooms and with their students.
How do I learn more about SCERTS?
To learn more about SCERTS, the FSU Autism Institute offers a 3-day training on the SCERTS curriculum with Amy Laurent and/or Emily Rubin. This training opportunity is offered to participating teachers and families at the beginning of the school year. For more information on attending our training, please contact project coordinator, Jennifer Ramos, jennifer.ramos@med.fsu.edu. You can also visit the SCERTS website at http://www.scerts.com for more information.