Developing a university-based interprofessional education diagnostic team to identify children with possible autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Upon entering the workplace, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are required to work on interprofessional teams, yet many of these professionals have not received adequate preservice instruction on how to collaborate. Furthermore, collaborating to provide services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been found to improve developmental outcomes; however, many SLPs are not prepared to engage in this type of collaborative practice. Based on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) recommendation that university programs include interprofessoinal education (IPE) into Communication Sciences and Disorders programs, coupled with the need to prepare students to provide interprofessional services for children with ASD, Wichita State University developed a field-based interprofessional diagnostic team for SLP students. The process used to develop this team followed Pickering and Embry's recommended steps for cultivating interprofessional collaboration within a university environment. The purpose of this article is to describe the procedures used to develop the team and activities used to target competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice.