Reviewed by Stephanie Kurtts, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, on 12/6/2016.
Comprehensive Individualized Curriculum and Instructional Design: Curriculum and Instruction for Students with Developmental Disabilities/Autism … read more
Comprehensiveness rating: 5 read less
Comprehensive Individualized Curriculum and Instructional Design: Curriculum and Instruction for Students with Developmental Disabilities/Autism Spectrum Disorders is a practical text that is grounded in theory and provides a wealth of examples of instructional and behavioral strategies to support students with complex and involved disabilities within a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. While targeting curriculum design and effective instruction for students with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, the extensive and comprehensive collection of strategies and approaches for student-centered services, effective communication, behavior management, and use of technology, including AAC, can be applied to a diverse group of students with learning and behavioral challenges. The text contains numerous examples of tools for observation of student behavior and performance, including data collection and progress monitoring. These sample data collection tools are able to be immediately applied to practical use in the classroom and with families and other professionals serving individuals with complex and involved disabilities. iOS8 accessibility, with numerous visuals depicting features and how to use the features as support for effective learning with mobile devices using this technology, is very beneficial as Apple products are used by many school systems.
Accuracy rating: 5
The content of the text is well-supported with current research from the field. There appears to be no errors and the extensive research and evidence-based practices throughout the text that are clearly referenced support this. There is no bias, although there is the chapter on accessibility of Apple products by an Apple Distinguished Educator.
Relevance/Longevity rating: 5
This text is highly relevant as the number of students identified with ASD continues to increase and educational professionals are constantly challenged to effectively meet the instructional and behavioral needs of these students in the classroom and in community settings. The arrangement of the text would certainly ensure that updates can be implemented easily. This is important, as factors such as changing legislation can impact service delivery options and accountability for this group of students.
Clarity rating: 4
The text is well-written and free of educational jargon. The reader needs to be familiar with the categories of disabilities addressed, ASD and developmental disabilities, as there is little actual description, definitions, or characteristics of these areas of disability. There is extensive description of the instructional strategies and behavioral interventions, along with data collection methods, that provide excellent examples of materials and resources for implementation.
Consistency rating: 4
The text is consistent in professional terms and conceptual framework addressing effective and inclusive instructional practices and behavioral instruction for students with complex and involved disabilities. Professional terms are defined with ample examples. Some chapters end with a "conclusion" and some chapters end with a "summary" although that doesn't detract from a review of the main ideas of the chapter.
Modularity rating: 5
In reference to the modularity of the text, the content can be assigned at different points in a course. While the chapters do complement one another (see Organization/Flow/Structure) any one of the six chapters could serve as an excellent resource for the topic addressed, such as guiding principles for comprehensive instruction for students with complex and involved disabilities and learning and behavioral challenges, AAC, applied behavioral analysis (ABA), functional interventions and assessment (FBA) and effective us of technology tools.
Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4
The content of text is structured clearly and logically. The chapters are written to complement one another. There is no table of contents at the beginning of the text and that does lead to the reader needing to scan through the entire text to find relevant information within the topics. With frequent use of the text, the reader would eventually be familiar enough with the content to know in which chapters certain information is presented, but a table of contents would help.
Interface rating: 4
While the text is free of any major interface issues, a few of the website links would not open. Another issue, while not too distracting or cumbersome, is that several charts are in the "landscape" page orientation, but sideways, so the reader must turn the computer to the side to read the charts or tables. Videos all appeared to work and provide specific information and examples to support skills and concepts addressed.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5
There are no grammatical errors.
Cultural Relevance rating: 4
The text is highly relevant to understanding the most effective research-based strategies and interventions to support students with ASD or with developmental disabilities thus is sensitive to the nature of the disability. Students with complex and involved disabilities will come from diverse racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds and having a strong foundation in the most appropriate and effective strategies and interventions to serve these students will greatly assist with service delivery models.
Comments
This is a very practical text that provides many examples of how to implement and collect data on the use of evidence and research based strategies and intervention to support instruction and behavior management with students with complex and involved disabilities within an inclusive context.
Reviewed by Roger Ideishi, Associate Professor, Temple University, on 8/22/2016.
The textbook provides a good overview of instructional strategies for students with autism and special needs. The chapters provide nice overviews of … read more
Comprehensiveness rating: 4 read less
The textbook provides a good overview of instructional strategies for students with autism and special needs. The chapters provide nice overviews of each areas. The chapters on technology are particularly comprehensive with clear descriptions and examples of application. The chapters on behavioral strategies are adequate and not as clear as the technology chapters. Many links in the chapters were not accessible or were no longer available online. The section on UDL was particularly good. The video instruction and lecture was excellent. There are many good resources for the student to use to extend learning and generalize to a variety of settings.
Accuracy rating: 4
The content was accurate and straight forward. The references in some of the chapters could use updating with more current literature and evidence particularly the chapters on behavioral strategies. The technology chapters were up to date.
Relevance/Longevity rating: 3
As stated above, many links were not usable or unavailable. The references in some of the chapters could use updating with more current literature and evidence particularly the chapters on behavioral strategies. The technology chapters were up to date.
Clarity rating: 4
The chapters were clear and straight forward. At some points in the behavioral strategies, further descriptions and bullet summaries might be helpful to reinforce overall concepts. There were many sample blank templates which were good. Some of the templates had completed samples, others did not.
Consistency rating: 4
The text covers the current state of practice and instruction for students with autism with consistent language and models that a practitioner would be exposed to.
Modularity rating: 5
The chapter lengths were perfect so the textbook did not seem overwhelming. The various links (the ones that worked) were very helpful to elucidate concepts, provide examples, and extend learning to a variety of contexts.
Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4
Each chapter was organized well with basic introduction of concepts, specific descriptions of major aspects of concepts, rationale and evidence for concepts /models, examples and resources. In addition to the concluding paragraphs, a summary using a bullet, outline format may help to reinforce particular areas for the reader.
Interface rating: 3
Some resource links were not usable or unavailable.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5
No significant areas noted.
Cultural Relevance rating: 5
The text was respectful of diversity language in both culture and ability.
Comments
Reviewed by Brittany Joseph, Adjunct Instructor, The University of Toledo, on 8/22/2016.
The comprehensiveness of this textbook addresses a variety of areas within the study of Autism Spectrum Disorders. While the book does not include … read more
Comprehensiveness rating: 3 read less
The comprehensiveness of this textbook addresses a variety of areas within the study of Autism Spectrum Disorders. While the book does not include an index or glossary, the chapters all relate to the title of the textbook.
Accuracy rating: 5
The content is accurate, error-free and unbiased.
Relevance/Longevity rating: 5
Content in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorders changes due to the increased prevalence of the disorder each year but the authors included relevant statistics and facts. If updates were made, it would be easy to implement those changes.
Clarity rating: 5
The textbook is clear and concise. It does include technical terminology related to Autism Spectrum Disorders and interventions utilized to support individuals but it is done so in a way that is understandable to professionals working in the field.
Consistency rating: 3
The consistency of the textbook could be improved in terms of the framework. For example, the textbook covers a wide range of specific topics related to Autism Spectrum Disorders in Curriculum and Instruction but it does not address all areas. The chapters on Applied Behavior Analysis and Augmentative Alternative Communication are well written but maybe too specific of topics to cover in a textbook related to Curriculum and Instruction. It would take extensive training to implement both Applied Behavior Analysis and Augmentative Alternative Communication, neither of which could be learned from simply reading this textbook.
Modularity rating: 5
The modularity of this textbook is good as I can assign smaller reading sections at different points within the course to my students. The chapters are of an appropriate length and provide a good overview of the content covered.
Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5
The topics are addressed in a logical, clear manner. The content flows well and is organized for the reader. The benefit of the textbook is the accessibility for readers to complete their reading on a variety of devices and using screen reader technology.
Interface rating: 5
The interface of the textbook is appropriate and there are no issues with navigation, distortion of images or charts. Everything within the book appears clearly and without distraction.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5
The textbook contains no grammatical errors.
Cultural Relevance rating: 5
The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It describes individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other disabilities in an appropriate way.
Comments
This book will be an appropriate textbook to assign in small chapters for my students to read in an online Understanding Autism course at The University of Toledo.