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Most teachers report wanting more training and support to teach autistic students. Individual, autism-focused coaching is a promising approach for improving teacher self-efficacy and autistic student outcomes. Given the high workload demands of coaching, it must be feasible and acceptable. This study considers coaches', teachers', and autistic peoples' perspectives to identify key components integral to autism-focused coaching as well as strategies that enhance the feasibility and acceptability of each component. Interviews with seven K-2nd grade teachers, ten autistic adolescents and adults, and a focus group with six coaches were qualitatively examined using an inductive approach and incorporated grounded theory practices to develop an autism-focused coaching framework. This framework consists of four contextual elements that were identified as crucial to coaching within an autism-specific context, including the use of a neurodiversity-affirming lens and coaches' strong autism knowledge. This framework also comprises eight sequential coaching components informed by principles of adult learning theory (e.g. observation, feedback, self-reflection) that are generalizable to supporting teachers' work with autistic and neurodivergent students. These findings offer guidance to coaches and program developers regarding key components to implement when working with teachers supporting autistic students. We highlight specific recommendations within each component to maximize the feasibility and social validity of autism-specific coaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic students experience greater social difficulties and heightened internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety, depression, withdrawal) relative to their nonautistic peers, yet little is known about how these domains influence one another over time. This 1.5-year longitudinal study analyzed the associations between teacher-reported social skills and internalizing behaviors across three time points for 177 autistic students aged 4-7 years. Cross-lagged panel analyses indicated an association between earlier internalizing behaviors and later social skills for autistic students, whereby lower internalizing behaviors predicted greater growth in social skills from one school year to the next. These changes in social skills followed children across multiple teachers and classroom contexts. The opposite cross-lagged path was not supported as early social skills did not predict changes in internalizing behaviors over time. Internalizing behaviors showed similar associations with later social skills for autistic students regardless of cognitive ability, for those in general and special education classrooms, and for those whose teachers did and did not have autism-specific training. Findings suggest that promoting students' early emotional well-being and targeting internalizing behaviors may indirectly enable social development over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).