Why attend our summer training program?

  • Continuing Education points for teachers and psychologists (Type II)
  • Our curriculum is consistent with the principles of RTI
  • The cost of training is subsidized by the Indiana DOE
  • Our training focus and delivery is unique within the state

The HANDS in Autism training is made available to school personnel who work with students with autism spectrum disorders. This training program has been accredited to issue continuing education credits for educators and psychologists (Type II). Since the HANDS in Autism training includes working hands-on with children on the autism spectrum, the training content of each week will vary slightly depending on the age range and abilities of the students in the training classroom that week. If you are unsure whether this training is appropriate for your needs, please contact us for more information.

Continuing Education Credits

We are approved to offer 40 points for Indiana teachers. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer ASHA credits for speech therapists or Category I CE credits for psychologists. However, our program does qualify for APA Category II credits.

**If you are a Butler, IUPUI, or University of Indianapolis Master's student in Special Education are you are interested in receiving course credit, please talk to your program counselor before registering for course credit.

Please contact us at (317) 944-8162, Option #0 or at hands@iupui.edu with any questions about the application materials, process, or training program.

Participant Goals

  • Increase the number of strategies based on Applied Behavior Analysis principles (e.g., Positive Behavior Supports, Pivotal Response Training, etc.) that school personnel have in their professional “toolbox”
  • Broaden perspective of school personnel in approaches used to communicate, interact, instruct, and program for individuals with autism and related disorders
  • Increase understanding of ways to approach team-based and systems-based collaboration
  • Emphasize a proactive approach to behavioral and educational intervention for children with autism and related disorders
  • Increase understanding of the importance of building curriculum and behavioral programming around evidence-based practices
  • Improve understanding of the importance of and the development process for implementing data-driven decision-making
  • Increase understanding of the educational and behavioral assessment process
  • Increase ability to differentiate between empirically supported practices and alternative practices

Cost of Training

The cost to provide this training experience is $1300 per participant. However, the generous grant funding from the Indiana Department of Education, Center for Exceptional Learners allows complete sponsorship to Indiana professionals employed in public or private schools and directly serving children along the autism spectrum at no charge.

Contact us at (317) 944-8162, Option #0 or at hands@iupui.edu with any questions about the application materials, process, or training program.


A unique training experience

We are committed to using evidence-based training practices and are continually evaluating and refining our training delivery. In an effort to ensure that our training is effective, participants will be asked to complete several evaluation measures (i.e., online surveys, student scenarios) both before and after the training session on the IUPUI campus. In order to make participation and completion of training as efficient as possible, all surveys will be completed online.

This week-long program focuses on providing hands-on experience and coaching in a training classroom environment. While the program includes traditional instructional methods such as lectures and discussion, the emphasis of training is the hands-on application of a variety of techniques and the process of implementing these techniques appropriately for each individual child, classroom, and intervention team.