Using Free or Low Cost Technology to Facilitate Autism Screening and Diagnostic
Tools
Trainings
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Shannon M. Haworth, MA, Donna Gilles, Ed.D., Deana Buck, MA, Parthy Dinora, Ph.D., Dana Yarbrough, MA
Author/Contributor Information
Organization Information
Partnership for People with Disabilities
RATIONALE
METHODS
RESULTS
Non profit organizations must continue grant and
project activities that include the process of
facilitating trainings and meeting, even in the times
of ever tightening state and federal budgets (U.S.
Office of Personnel Management, n.d.).
There are many ways to accomplish project goals
with low expenditures, while maintaining the
quality of activities by using free or low cost
technology.
A review of the literature revealed that organizations
rank productivity and cost reduction as their main
concerns (Luftmand and Derksen, 2012).
Team members of the ASD Early STEP project used
low and no-cost technologies to facilitate autism
screening and diagnostic tools trainings, meetings,
and collaboration while maintaining the quality of
project activities, and meeting project goals and
objectives. Tools used:
•
Doodle and Meeting Wizard – free tools
used for scheduling meetings with
stakeholders and team members
•
Google Drive – a free tool used for
collaboration, and file sharing
•
Google Voice – a free tool used for making
phone calls, and participating in conference
call
•
Google Sites and Google Groups – a free tool
to create websites, and discussion boards.
Used to create a temporary project website,
with an integrated Google calendar and
discussion board
•
WebEx Meetings – tool used for virtual
meetings. The premium plan is $49 a month
•
Event Brite – a free tool used for training
registration, promotion, and disseminate
training information
•
Evite – a free tool used for inviting
stakeholders to meetings
•
Survey monkey – a free survey tool that was
used to send training evaluations to
participants
•
Facebook and LinkedIn – free social media
tools that were used to promote trainings
and disseminate information
By the use of free or low cost technology solutions
the project team was able to facilitate autism
screening and diagnostic tools trainings, collaborate,
and meet virtually with diverse stakeholders, while
adding little or no expense to the budget.
INTRODUCTION
Children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders
and other developmental disabilities (ASD/DD) in
Virginia and their families face significant challenges
in accessing family focused, culturally competent,
affordable coordinated health care, early
intervention, and education. Some reasons include:
•
too few professionals trained in the use of
evidence-based practices in screening and
diagnosis;
•
too many gaps in availability and quality of
screening, diagnosis, and intervention
services for children with ASD/DD and their
families;
The Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and
Diagnosis: Early Systematic Training in Effective
Practices (ASD Early STEP) addresses this issue by
creating a model for systemic change that includes
training on valid screening, and diagnostic tools for
professionals, as well as providing resources and
supports for families.
Throughout the use of facilitating these trainings,
the use of free or low cost technologies were used
to disseminate information, facilitate trainings, and
collaborate with community partners.
• Google Drive
• Google Sites
• Google Groups
• EventBrite
• Survey Monkey
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Doodle
• Meeting Wizard
• Evite
• Google Voice
• WebEx Meetings
Collaboration
Trainings
Meetings
CONCLUSION
Using free or low cost technology is a way to meet
project goals, and maintain quality of activities
without adding substantial cost to tight state and
federal budgets.
These technologies can be used to facilitate virtual,
an in person meetings, facilitate and plan training
events, and collaborate with community partners.
Virtual meetings significantly lower travel costs, and
productivity time, while still allowing teams to
collaborate and achieve project goals.
REFERENCES
Luftman, J., and Derksen, B. (2012). Key issues for IT executives 2012:
Doing more with less. MIS Quarterly Executive, 11(4), 207-218
Office of Personnel Management (OPM). (n.d.). Training and development
policy wiki- low cost training options. Retrieved from:
http://www.opm.gov/wiki/training/Low-Cost-Training-Options.ashx
Contact: Shannon Haworth [email protected]
2014