By the end of the first week of the course, I was feeling that the authors are thinking about ASD as a disease that needs to be cured (as opposed to the idea of neurodiversity). The shameless promo of the MIND institute at the end of week one made me do some research on them — and what do you know, at least two of co-founders are adepts of 'vaccines cause autism' religion, which kind of explains it all. As an adult diagnosed with ASD, I find this course extremely dangerous, misleading and offensive.

Short, superficial, and sometimes even condescending towards people with ASD.

It promotes ABA.

Me encantó. está muy bien hecho, es concreto, da una mirada general pero precisa del espectro, y creo que es muy útil para familias con niños con trastorno del espectro autista, o profesionales que traten con niños con autismo, como profesores, personal de la salud, cuidadores, etc. De verdad muchísimas gracias

Clear and factual course with well presented materials. I found the scope of the course to be very narrow though, lacking a diversity of perspective and no consideration given to the new directions that international autism research is taking. For example, the challenges to the role of theory of mind in autism deficits or the research being conducted by autistic academics. There are autistic individuals working in academia who are responsible for more than photocopying and making the tea! It is also somewhat telling that Autism speaks features prominently in the recommended reading, not to mention the implied ABA bias in the intervention module.

The course looks fine, but is slightly weird. Looks more like an advertisement for a while, but some of the data and affirmations are still slightly weird. So, I've checked the comments and it seemed this institution supports the link between autism and vaccines. It's nothing secret, you can find it in their webpage, but I think the course try to avoid the topic on pourpose.

Considering the lack of scientific evidence for this, I will not recommend this course.

Lightweight and marginally informative. While it is clearly aimed at a lay audience, a deeper presentation of the scientific foundations of the disorder is sorely needed. If you're interested in the etiology of autism, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Simplistic, not current on most recent developments and research, very little attention given to adults with ASD, and people with ASD very minimally represented.

Quite short videos. Mainly promoting their research rather than a thorough introduction of ASD.

Very interesting and informative. I taught children with special needs for 33 years. I think this course would be very helpful to new teachers and anyone interested in learning basic info on ASD.

Loved the videos, lots of good material. Wish there had been more discussion, but I was so busy, I might not have been able to participate very much. Overall helpful and useful in my profession.

This course provided an excellent review and knowledge of ASD. I think it is imperative that all staff in a school setting take this course to better become aware and familiar with the students

It is a good introduction couse, but I think it would be really helpfull if they provide further reading for each topic.

It was good but I didn’t get my certification I bought for it Please contact with me.

this class supports autism speak which is at its worst.

My 2-years old niece in China has just been diagnosed as a ASD child. I took this class to help the parents understand the disorder and take prompt steps to start intervention when she is still young. The class is concise and informative. The 5 week contents provide just enough information for parents who have ASD children that has just been diagnosed to briefly understand the challenge and solutions of having an ASD child. I find the videos that illustrates how ASD children behave and what the proper intervention needed from parents, friends, and teachers very useful. By participating the class, I understand what ASD disorder is and I will pass what I have learnt to our big family so everyone has a correct and positive perspective to ASD and offer help to alleviate the anxiety for the parents. This is a very good course.

I took this course about 3 years ago when I was first assigned to work with high functioning students with autism. Although I had many years of experience working with students in various learning environments, this position was my first time working specifically with autistic kids. This course was a real eye opener and helped me better understand how the mind of a person on the spectrum works. I gained a better understanding of Autism after taking this course and have used many of the strategies taught in this course with my students. If you are employed in the education system and will be working with students on the spectrum, I would highly recommend taking this course. The information you will discover about this disorder alone is worth investing the time.

Enjoyed the breakdown of the lessons from the core characteristics of ASD, to the DSMV diagnostic criteria, increasing rates and demographics, patterns of strengths and weaknesses, the explanation of Theory of Mind, and finally the evidence based practices and interventions. I am glad that massage therapy was listed as an emerging intervention. Massage has helped my son, and many other children on the spectrum, with sensory regulation and activation of the parasympathetic NS to help calm the fight or flight response, and tactile defensiveness. Would love to see UC Davis MIND institute do more research into this area, like that of the Touch Research Institute. Excited for more research and information!

This course has been very informative. Each lecture is very well organized and provides detailed descriptions of the many difficulties that many autistic children have to face and try to learn coping skills so that they can be in a world that may frighten or upset them. I did an internship at the League school in Brooklyn and much later saw a child with Aspergers Syndrome from the age of four to the age thirteen. This course described the many programs and the availability of information about Autism for teachers and parents. I learned about the wide variety of the symptoms of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I really enjoyed taking the course.

The course is quite amazing.. It improved my knowledge regarding behavioral changes and role of educators and therapist in this field.. I must appreciate the way of delivering lectures and the content.. I wish i could attend classes in UC Davis Mind institute as i found this spectrum quite interesting... I hope other classes would be conducted regarding Autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders with further content at coursera so that i could better understand the process of dealing with those suffering individuals.. Thankyou v. Much the instructors :)

Such an eye-opening course featuring a remarkable work of the experts at UCDavis Mind Institute. Thank you for sharing such valuable and practical lessons. I like the mini quizzes in between lectures as they help review the lessons in chunks. The videos and the variety of suggested activities are really helpful and make the learning dynamic and exciting, igniting my curiosity (from watching Temple Grandin movie, signing in to Autism Navigator to deepen our understanding to reading the reports on Evidence Based Practices). Thank you so much!

Hola, me encantó el curso. Evidencia una gran cantidad de prácticas basadas en evidencia útiles para el trabajo como profesional de educación. Asimismo permite identificar las principales fortalezas y debilidades que presentan los estudiantes con TEA en algunas áreas cognitivas y académicas y reconocer el trabajo a partir de las fortalezas e intereses de los niños, como también que muchas supuestas "debilidades" pueden ser utilizadas como oportunidades de aprendizaje. Excelente curso, muy claro !! Muchas gracias.

I work in a Verbal Behavior classroom for toddlers diagnosed with ASD, and i am also the mother of a little girl who has Angelman Syndrome (a severe neurodevelopmental disorder with many crossover symptoms of ASD). I found this to be an very well done introduction and overview of the basic aspects of Autism Spectrum Disorder. I was pleased to see that the sensory integration issue was addressed so nicely.

Thank you so much for this course. I hope it will be helpful to families and new staff alike.

An excellent overview of the developmental characteristics, academic implications and the emotional and behavioral challenges individuals diagnosed with ASD experience. It also provides some challenges families face when caring for a child with ASD. The importance of understanding evidence based practices and access to evidence based practices for individuals affected by ASD across the ages is paramount.

The course provided a great introduction to Autism for any level of learner. I have had prior experience with children on the spectrum but found this to still be helpful. Week 5 I think could have been a course by itself! I would recommend this course to others who interact with children on the spectrum in any form whether it is a friend of a family with a child on the spectrum or other roles.