LAUSR

ABSTRACT There is growing awareness of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the Czech Republic. As a result, there has been an increasing number of diagnoses, more services have become available, and legislation has been developed with regard to practices for children with ASD. In the past, families seeking services to support the needs of children with ASD had limited options. Teaching methodology based on applied behaviour analysis (ABA) for children with ASD was not available prior to 2016. Even though ABA has now reached the Czech Republic, the full extent of its prevalence in the region is unclear. There has been a lack of information regarding the accessibility of services, the details of practitioners, the characteristics of clients, facets of services, its integration with other practices, and challenges associated with its usage. Therefore, the aim of this study was to survey all self-identified ABA practitioners within the region (N = 40) in order to better understand the current state of ABA provision in the Czech Republic. The results show that although there has been a movement towards the increased availability of ABA support for children with ASD, more needs to be done in terms of training and support.