NEST: Network for Education, Scholarship, and innovaTion in autism care
Transforming autism care: Community powered innovation in practice and education
Growing a network of students, educators, researchers, families, patients, and practitioners sharing knowledge and working towards bridging gaps in autism care.
Projects
Explore our up-to-date, evidence informed education, scholarship and innovative tools.
SLP Maps
Guidance for Speech Language Pathologists focusing on what matters, aligning values and building partnerships.
Sled-Vast
An interprofessional education program shaping the future of autism care through addressing service system gaps.
NeST EI Guide
An innovative guide integrating social and medical models to advance observation skills in practitioners for the early identification of Autism.
KaN
Foundational classroom activities for sharing concepts of neurodiversity, understanding feelings, and more.
Are efforts are motivated by three core concepts
Passion. Action. Change.
More about SLED-VAST:
Student Led Environments simultaneously (a) engage health professions students in projects that fill identified gaps in healthcare systems and (b) provide a unique interprofessional training experience to the next generation of clinicians. Perhaps unlike some other education models, SLEs are an invitation to leadership, truly encouraging and making space for learners to bring forward their curiosities and explore ideas that emerge for them, in the directions that are most exciting and impactful, informed by and in partnership with community partners, health professionals, and patient/family partners.
Integrating best practices from education science, clinical practice and research, and experiential knowledge (lived experiences), SLED-VAST provides learners with valuable, evidence-informed education that enables more compassionate, equitable, and collaborative care.
Learn more about SLED-VAST here.
Action
Innovation- New Early Identification
Observation Guide
What is it?
A strengths-based clinical observation tool and report that will increase confidence, knowledge, and skills so that clinicians can conduct observations and initiate conversations with families employing strengths-based approaches, making the autism early identification process more efficient and compassionate.
Why is this important?
Builds capacity in students and clinician workforce to identify early signs of autism and support families through the process of early detection and pursuance of an autism diagnosis, with the aim of reducing families’ overall wait-time to a diagnosis and thus access to OAP services.
How was it developed?
SLED-VAST clinical supervisor, education facilitators, patient partners, and clinician partners, SLED-VAST students co-developed the strengths-based clinical observation tool and report.
Co-creation of the guide involved understanding the current lived
experiences of northern community partner clinicians at George Jeffrey Children’s Centre through empathy interviews.
(Standford).
As the program continues...
Year 2 (Apr 1, 2023-Mar 31, 2024) is focused on piloting the tool with clinicians. This feedback will allow learners to continue evaluate and iterate the tool to ensure its useability and applicability. After piloting and incorporating changes, the observation tool will become freely accessible and launched on this website in March 2024. Further work will support scale up in implementation of the tool and training for learners and clinicians across Ontario. Please check back in March 2024.
Interested in piloting or partnering? Contact Amanda Binns & Farah Friesen at SLED-VAST@utoronto.ca
Innovation: Kids Appreciating
Neurodiversity
(KAN) Program
What is it?
The KAN Program will facilitate community building capacities of health profession students in partnership with educators to build understanding of neurodiversity within the classroom/school context.
Why is this important?
The KAN Program will facilitate community building capacities of health profession students in partnership with
educators to build understanding of neurodiversity within the classroom/school context.
Who will benefit? The program will be co-delivered by health profession students in collaboration with school teachers, adapting to each class’ unique context, over 4-5 weeks and to JK/SK/Grade 1 classes.
Year 1 (Jan 1, 2022-Mar 31, 2023) involved students understanding the current lived experiences of parents of children with autism and clinicians in northern Ontario and GTA
through empathy interviews (Stanford). Through these empathy interviews, the importance of
social inclusion was identified. This project will address the need for increased understanding of
autism within the community to promote socially inclusive environments for autistic children
(e.g., with peers)
The KAN program serves as a form of social intervention, thus transforming our tendency to locate the problem and burden of disability within individuals and instead examine how society and structures might be disabling. This provides SLED-VAST learners’ with interprofessional
and intersectoral
collaboration experiences.
As the program continues...
Year 2 (Apr 1, 2023-Mar 31, 2024) is focused on finalizing KAN Program content, working with a visual storyteller and graphic designer to create program materials, and pilot with school teachers. This feedback will allow learners to continue evaluate and iterate the KAN Program to ensure its useability and applicability for different school contexts across Ontario. After piloting
and incorporating changes, the KAN Program will become freely accessible and launched on this website in March 2024. Further work will support scale up in implementation of the tool and training for learners and clinicians across Ontario. Please check back in March 2024.
Interested in piloting or partnering? Contact Amanda Binns & Farah Friesen at SLED-VAST@utoronto.ca
Change
Knowledge Mobilization
Why is this important?
Engaging in knowledge mobilization is key to closing the gaps between research, practice and education, and to promoting meaningful change. SLED-VAST and its projects are examples of knowledge mobilization.
What is our approach? Together with our community, clinicians, families, and clients, we channel their insights to drive impactful research, education, and support initiatives.
Why does this matter?
- It helps important changes spread.
- It brings research, practice, and education closer together.
What are our goals?
- To create, and collaborate with the people who will use/be impacted by the outputs
- To promote/build in adoption, spread and scale of meaningful change
- To encourage/improve alignment between research, practice and education
Insights from our community partners, clinicians, family members, and clients guide the direction of our research, education, supports, and training.
More knowledge mobilization resources coming soon.
Research & Evaluation
Coming soon!
Education
Coming soon!
Supports
Coming soon!
Training
Coming soon!