What is ‘Step-In’?
Step-In is a teacher-led support program which has been developed to help autistic students, who are showing early signs of school refusal, remain engaged in school. School refusal occurs when a young person is unable to attend school due to reasons associated with emotional distress and is often characterised by the amount of school that a young person has missed. This support program is focused on providing early support for students to prevent the development of school refusal. The strategies outlined in this support program are designed to be implemented with students who are still attending school, although this may be on a somewhat inconsistent basis. Step-In is made up of seven core components or steps.
The first two steps consist of strategies to enable the collection of information from both families and the child which, at step three, is used to support the development of a hypothesis about the signs of school refusal that have been observed or the symptoms that have been reported. Steps four and five incorporate school-based strategies aimed at reducing some of the common barriers for autistic students. It is recommended that these strategies be individualised using the information gathered in step one and two. The final two core components are used to monitor and direct future efforts including referral on to additional supports or close monitoring of attendance data. As well as the seven core components, Step-In includes four additional components or steps to be implemented. The need to implement these is identified during the implementation of the core components, typically during steps one and two, however they may also be implemented in response to a reduction in attendance during the monitoring and evaluation stages.
Why ‘Step-In’?
The literature shows that once established, problems with school attendance such as school refusal can be challenging to overcome. A ‘wait-to-fail’ approach, in which a students’ attendance drops below a certain rate before supports are introduced, should be avoided. Step-In outlines a series of strategies that schools can implement quickly to respond to a students’ first signs of school refusal. As an acronym, Step-In represents Supports Towards Engagement, Prevention of school refusal and Inclusion of Neurodiverse students and many of the strategies included in the program are representative of good inclusive education practices. However, the more important message is that rather than waiting, school staff, in collaboration with parents, should be encouraged to step in to support ongoing attendance rather than seek to remedy established school refusal.
Is ‘Step-In’ evidence based?
The Step-In program has been developed based on a body of research literature across several disciplines including education, psychology and behaviour analysis. As of 2024, the Step-In program is in a pilot stage when feasibility of the program, practicality of the procedures within and the potential methods for further research are being investigated. The Step-In program incorporates data collection and evaluation stages which support teachers to build a body of evidence upon which to base their decisions regarding which strategies to implement.
For questions or more information about the ‘Step-In’ program, get in touch!
Taylor Behavioural 