Changes in legislation have led to an increased push for children with autism spectrum disorder to be educated in classrooms with typically developing peers. This systematic review of the literature between the years of 2005 and 2012 aimed to identify effective interventions to support the children with autism spectrum disorder in the inclusive preschool classroom. Single-subject studies concerning the improvement of social communication skills for children with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive preschools were identified through systematic searches of electronic databases using key terms, journal hand searches, and ancestral searches of identified articles. Data were extracted from the resulting 16 articles to (a) examine rigor of design, (b) evaluate intervention effectiveness using visual analysis and percentage nonoverlapping data (PND), and (c) determine evidence-based practices. Results suggest a range of effective interventions to improve the social communication skills for children with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive preschool classrooms. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

Given the continued changes in demographic diversity of students in the United States, it is important to ensure that participants included in special education research reflect the diversity of the classroom. We examined 16 years of intervention research across 12 special education journals to evaluate the extent to which diverse student populations (e.g., race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, English language learner status) were included in published intervention research. We analyzed 495 intervention articles (9.6%) out of 5,180 total articles. Results revealed that progress has been made in the inclusion of diverse participants in special education intervention research compared with previously conducted reviews, yet some racial and ethnic populations are still underrepresented. We discuss strategies for recruitment and retention of underrepresented diverse populations.

Implications for future research and replication of this pilot study are discussed.

Date Presented 4/17/2015 Fieldwork experience is one of the most important components of occupational therapy students’ education. In this study, we used a quasi-experimental design in which students completed a survey measuring their cultural competency and cultural awareness domestically and internationally.

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