Symposia
Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disorders
Amanda R. Johnson, None
University of California, Los Angeles
Culver City, California
An-Chuen Cho, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
UC Davis
Sacramento, California
Kashia Rosenau, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
UCLA
Los Angeles, California
Although CBT practices for children with autism are promising, there is a significant science-practice gap in the implementation of these practices in community clinic settings. The Modular EBPs for Youth with Autism (MEYA) internet-based clinician training program offers clinicians free self-instruction resources that were developed based upon a contemporary model of clinician training (McLeod et al., 2018). Key features include just-in-time pushout of brief training elements personalized to a specific client’s current clinical needs and integrated weekly symptom tracking personalized to each client. Although the MEYA website was designed with end-user input, it is crucial to evaluate the acceptability, adoption, and feasibility of the completed website from the end-user’s perspective in refining and improving this training resource.
Method: The 7 community therapists who had participated in a multiple-baseline study of therapist fidelity in MEYA techniques also participated in a post-program semi-structured interview to discuss their experiences. Data from the interviews were analyzed using directed content analysis, evaluated emerging patterns and themes related to usability, value, use of CBT strategies, barriers, and usefulness of content while concurrently making meaning of the experiences of clinicians using MEYA.
Results: The 7 participants responded positively to the program's system quality and content. Participants indicated feeling satisfied with the training program and expressed interest in sharing the platform with colleagues. MEYA handouts and videos, which demonstrated various EBPs, were seen as the most helpful content for addressing clinical problems targeted in treatment. Participants provided suggestions for improvement, including improved visibility of features, search functionality, increased orientation to the session selector, and inclusion of materials (i.e., cartoons) that therapists could adapt and alter. Further, the results indicated a need for improved user control, error prevention, and flexibility of use. Therapists with more established clinical practice procedures reported slightly more difficulty changing their standard of practice and implementing MEYA with its modular structure than therapists with less clinical experience.
Conclusion: Therapists found MEYA to be beneficial in their clinical practice, and felt that it allowed them to provide personalized support aligned with the individual patient's needs.