The Comprehensive Autism Planning System (CAPS) for Individuals with Autism and Related Disabilities: Integrating Evidence-Based Practices Throughout the Student's Day

The Comprehensive Autism Planning System for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Related Disabilities (CAPS) is a tool to help teachers and educational teams to plan and implement a student’s program across the school. This includes planning for the implementation of the Individualized Education Program, and the curriculum relevant to the student. It takes the team through the process of planning out the goals/objectives to be targeted in each activity of the day, the modifications and accommodations that should be provided to support the student in each activity, the sensory supports to help the student stay engaged, and the communication and social supports that the student needs to be successful.  

In addition, it identifies the type of data that should be collected for each area and the reinforcers that have been chosen for use for success. As with many tools, while this system was developed for use with individuals on the autism spectrum, it can be an essential tool for any student regardless of the types of supports and needs they have. There are various forms of this system that focus on targeting specific skills for each activity and identifying the communication, sensory, and reinforcement supports that will be needed for each situation.

There are also vocational and transitional formats that are available for students making the transition to work. The system is helpful in sharing information across the education team, in helping families to see how programs are being implemented, and is greatly helpful in setting up classroom environments that meet the individual needs of the students.

Shawn A. Henry is executive director at the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), where he concentrates on developing statewide change efforts in promoting advances in the training of professionals serving students with autism and providing supports for families. He was previously the program director of training and evaluation at the Kentucky Autism Training Center, University of Louisville (KATC), where he coordinated targeted professional development throughout the state. These experiences, as well as serving as an elementary special education teacher, primarily teaching students with autism, led Shawn to develop the Comprehensive Autism Planning System (CAPS).

Brenda Smith Myles, PhD is a consultant with the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), the Ziggurat Group, and the Education and Treatment Services Project for Military Dependent Children with Autism. She is the recipient of the Autism Society of America’s Outstanding Professional Award, the Princeton Fellowship Award, and the Council for Exceptional Children, Division on Developmental Disabilities Burton Blatt Humanitarian Award. Dr. Myles has made over 500 presentations all over the world and written more than 150 articles and books on ASD. In addition, she served as the co-chair of the National ASD Teacher Standards Committee; was on the National Institute of Mental Health’s Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s Strategic Planning Consortium; collaborated with the National Professional Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, National Autism Center, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to identify evidence-based practices for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Further, in the latest survey conducted by the University of Texas, she was acknowledged as the second most productive applied researcher in ASD in the world.