The EPSD Autistic Support Program provides services for students whose needs are primarily in the areas of communication, social skills, or behaviors consistent with those of autism spectrum disorders. The IEP for these students must address needs as identified by the team which may include the verbal and nonverbal communication needs of the child, social interaction skills and proficiencies, the child’s response to sensory experiences and changes in the environment, daily routine and schedules, and the need for positive behavior supports or behavioral interventions. 

EPSD Autistic Support classrooms utilize principles of Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA. Components include: structured schedule, reduction of external stimuli, opportunities for individual and small group instruction, errorless teaching procedures, support of functional communication, individualized educational materials, individualized daily schedules, instruction in generalization of skills and practice of known skills, reinforcers individualized to the student based on reinforcer surveys, and Community Based Instruction (i.e. opportunity to go out into the community to practice IEP and life skills as a class during the school day). Staff collect ongoing behavioral data to make instructional and behavioral decisions and utilize specific strategies according to each student's plan when students demonstrate challenging behaviors. Procedures are employed to reduce undesired behavior and promote adaptive replacement behavior. Direct instruction of content and skills, repeated practice opportunities to acquire and maintain skills with high levels of reinforcement, and various prompting methods along the prompting hierarchy are used throughout each day. Generalization of material is explicitly instructed upon and supported within the natural environment as well as throughout the classroom.

In accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, all students in the EPSD Autistic Support program are educated in their least restrictive environment. For each student, this environment can change with age, subject, school, or even season. IEP teams within the Autistic Support Program are tasked with frequently considering and reconsidering how to include their students to the greatest extent possible with peers in the general education setting and within the general education curriculum. As determined appropriate on an individual basis through assessment, students may have access to replacement or additional curricula for math, reading, health, and functional life skills.