Rigorously designed trials to develop and expand training

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the future work and stated research gap and stated challenges and future-work section of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 1985 and 2026, spanning 3 journals.

Supporting evidence — 6 representative gaps

• Autism Training Programs for Providers Supporting Autistic Adults: A Scoping Review (2026) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  The results and limitations of this review position future studies to address several remaining questions. How can we expand the scope of evidence-based training for providers to benefit autistic adults? How can we provide generic training on the care of autistic adults for a wide range of providers? How can we assess the training available in autism advocacy organizations and companies so that they can be included in the research literature? Future research may be conducted through community-based participatory research (CBPR), a partnership approach in which researchers and community stakeholders engage equitably, ultimately working towards positive 1 3Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorderssocial change through increased knowledge. This approach is especially applicable given how underserved autistic adults have been as a community; integrating the expertise of autistic adults would contribute to better training programs/interventions while also respecting them as primary stakeholders. Demonstrating the success of this approach in facilitating better care for autistic adults, the AHAT by Nicolaidis et al. and the DIVERSE curriculum by Zhao et al. were developed and evaluated through CBPR (Nicolaidis et al., 2016; Zhao et al., 2025). To feasibly improve outcome measures — specifically, to provide a measure of change in provider behavior — researchers may survey providers several months post-training to ask whether they have changed their behavior. This approach is most feasible when a specific behavior is the target of a training program; otherwise, when the behavior goals are more specific, such as offering alternative communication modalities or asking about sensory sensitivities, measuring the training’s efficacy in improving the quality of care provided is much more straightforward. Alternatively, for more general training programs, even a simple “Yes or No” response with optional open-text feedback from providers on whether their behavior toward autistic adults several months post-training has changed can be valuable in assessing training efficacy. Additionally, the dramatic rise in telehealth following the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to leverage videoconferencing to create accessible training for providers and to reach a wider range of neurodiverse patients who may have difficulty accessing transportation. Along with several other virtual training programs, the ECHO programs used videoconferencing and telehealth to adapt autism training. They offered a didactic environment for experts and healthcare providers to engage in community learning (Dreiling et al., 2022; Mazurek et al. 2020; Malow et al., 2023; Thakur et al., 2021; Cardon et al. 2023).

  generalfuture workevidence 5/5
  Keywords: training autistic adults behavior approach several providers care autism community programs review future based provide
• First Responders’ Knowledge of and Training Needs in Autism: An Integration of Key Perspectives and Evidence-Based Practice (2026) · Community Mental Health Journal · doi

  Declarations Future research is needed to evaluate the implementa- tion and outcomes of the protocol developed through this study. The implementation of the Autism Response Proto- col and related training should be evaluated to determine if they are realistic and generate a meaningful impact on FRs’ understanding, skills, and confidence in supporting autistic people. Prospective empirical evaluations of the Autism Response Protocol and related training guidelines will also be necessary to establish best practices around FR training in autism. Further, though the themes and recom- mendations were reviewed by members of both the autistic and FR communities, this study and the resulting products were created primarily by non-autistic researchers. Thus, future research on this important topic should adopt a true community-based participatory research framework to refine and strengthen recommendations. Finally, education and training are needed for professionals who encounter autistic people after they transition from a crisis scene to a hospital for stabilization or jail for legal consequences. For example, one survey of 40 autistic adults without intellec- tual disability rated interactions with emergency room staff as less favorably than those with police officers (Tint et al., 2019). In the current study, caregiver participants’ concerns over the quality of treatment their children would receive in hospitals and jails underscores the critical need to extend education beyond FRs to broader medical, legal, and crimi- nal justice professionals. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 0 5 9 7 - 0 2 6 - 0 1 6 8 9 - 4 . Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of the participating individuals, families, and first responders for their valuable contribu- tions to this study. We also thank Isabel Huerta and Elizabeth Maquera who assisted with data collection and analysis on this project. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adap- tation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit h t t p : / / c r e a t i v e c o m m o n s . o r g / l i c e n s e s / b y / 4 . 0 / .

  generalfuture workevidence 5/5
  Keywords: autistic training material article creative commons licence autism future needed protocol response related people education
• Autism Training Programs for Providers Supporting Autistic Adults: A Scoping Review (2026) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  There is a lack of rigorously designed trials to develop and expand training for providers of autistic adults. There is a need for more research on the effectiveness of autism-related training for providers of autistic adults. There is a gap in the literature on the specific training needs of providers who support autistic adults.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: there lack rigorously designed trials develop expand training
• Autism Training Programs for Providers Supporting Autistic Adults: A Scoping Review (2026) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  Autistic adults face unique challenges and barriers to receiving care, including atypical social communication, repetitive behaviors, and sensory sensitivities. Providers may not have the necessary training or expertise to support autistic adults. Support services may not be designed to address the specific needs of autistic adults.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: autistic adults face unique challenges barriers receiving care
• The Training and Generalization of Social Interaction during Breaktime at Two Job Sites in the Natural Environment (1985) · Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities · doi

  There is a lack of research on training autistic students in natural, community-based settings. Prior studies have focused on teaching social skills in simulated or classroom settings, which may not generalize to real-life situations. There is a need for studies that investigate the effectiveness of different training packages and strategies for promoting social interaction in autistic students.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: there lack research training autistic students natural community-based
• The Training and Generalization of Social Interaction during Breaktime at Two Job Sites in the Natural Environment (1985) · Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities · doi

  Future studies should investigate the long-term maintenance of acquired social behaviors. Future research should compare the effectiveness of different training packages and strategies. Future studies should also explore the feasibility of training autistic students in other community-based settings, such as apartment residences or recreational centers.

  generalfuture-work sectionevidence 4/5
  Keywords: future studies investigate long-term maintenance acquired social behaviors

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