Abstract
The rate of young children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) continues to climb. Interventions vary greatly among the diverse population of individuals with ASD, as one size does not fit all. For preschool-aged children with ASD or other social learning differences, who may have typical cognitive or language skills and who require less adaptive support, but who struggle with the more nuanced, complex world of the “why” behind social interactions and behaviors, Hendrix, Palmer, Tarshis, and Winner’s The Incredible Flexible You™ is a popular curriculum for early childhood special education programs. This is due in part to the curriculum’s solid foundation in evidence-based practices and research-proven theories and concepts (Winner, 2007; Hendrix et al., 2013; Crooke, Hendrix, & Rachman, 2007; Koning, Magill-Evans, Volden, & Dick, 2008). However, this curriculum lacks tools and strategies for measuring student progress in an objective manner and making data-driven decisions for students’ goals and objectives. The purpose of this project was to create observation-based data collection tools and a corresponding progress monitoring system for educators implementing this curriculum. To create the data collection and progress monitoring tools, The Incredible Flexible You™ (Vol. 1) was analyzed to determine observable behaviors for educators to measure, which could then be applied to student progress rubrics supplied within the curriculum. This project includes data collection tools for each of the five concepts in The Incredible Flexible You™ (Vol. 1) (i.e., Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings, The Group Plan, Thinking With Your Eyes, Body in the Group, and Whole Body Listening) for both verbal and nonverbal behavior, corresponding progress monitoring rubrics adapted from the curriculum’s manual, and a mastery sheet to measure individual student progress across time. The hope is that this set of tools for teachers will support educators as they implement this curriculum, providing insight into the progress and growth their students are making in the world of social learning, and could even be used to help determine the efficacy of this curriculum in future research.