A survey was sent to classroom teachers in Central Florida educating students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to investigate: 1) intervention practices currently used in the classroom for students with ASD; 2) if the interventions being used are evidence-based, and; 3) if there a difference in use of evidence-based interventions between teachers with the Florida Autism Endorsement and teachers without the Endorsement. A nonprobability purposive study was conducted via an email-based survey. The survey was designed using the tailored design method and was created in Qualtrics.com, an online survey software program. The survey was divided into three major sections: an intervention section which included a variety of evidence and non-evidenced-based practices drawn from the current research literature; a section focused on how teachers select the interventions they use in their classrooms; and, a demographic section. The survey was sent via email to classroom teachers registered with University of Central Florida Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. Participant inclusion criteria included: 1) currently a classroom teacher in a Central Florida, and 2) at least one student with ASD in the classroom. Forty surveys were completed for a ten percent response rate. Results indicated that a variety of evidence- based and non-evidence-based interventions were being used in classrooms. The top three reported interventions were Visual Supports (95 %), Computer Program Applications (93%), and Social Stories (73 %). Based on current empirical evidence, these top three interventions have insufficient evidence regarding their efficacy for use with students with ASD. In addition, two of the interventions reported to be used have a negative evidence base suggesting they may be harmful for some students with ASD. There were no significant differences between teachers with the Florida ASD Endorsement and teachers without

Introdução: A Organização Mundial da Saúde lançou recentemente o "Aconselhamento em alimentação infantil: um curso integrado" (CI), destinado à capacitação de profissionais de saúde e aconselhadores leigos. Objetivos: Estudar os fatores associados com a amamentação plena de crianças do PSF e avaliar a efetividade do CI junto aos profissionais de saúde. Métodos: A tese é apresentada no formato de três artigos: 1. Ensaio sobre as evidências científicas em amamentação; 2. Estudo sobre fatores associados à amamentação plena de 241 crianças até 6 meses de idade, por meio de regressão múltipla hierarquizada; 3. Análise do incremento nos conhecimentos de profissionais dos grupos intervenção (n=39) e controle (n=24), por meio de regressão linear múltipla ajustada por variáveis de confundimento. Resultados: 2. A amamentação plena mostrou associação estatisticamente significante com: morar com companheiro, não ter dificuldade para amamentar, deixar a criança largar o peito quando satisfeita e dar nota mais baixa às consultas; 3. Após a intervenção houve um incremento estatisticamente significante, porém modesto, nos conhecimentos do grupo intervenção em relação ao controle (p<0,05). Conclusão: A amamentação plena é praticada por cerca de metade das mães de crianças até 6 meses e mostrou-se associada a fatores maternos e da família. O CI foi efetivo em aumentar os conhecimentos dos participantes, embora os resultados sejam modestos. Sua operacionalização junto às equipes de PSF mostrou-se difícil na população estudada. / Background: The World Health Organization launched recently the "Integrated Infant Feeding Counselling: a training course" (IC), in order to train both health professionals and lay counselors. Objectives: To study the factors associated to full breastfeeding of infants assisted by PSF and to assess the IC effectiveness among health professionals. Methods: The dissertation comprehends three papers - 1st. Essay about scientific evidence for breastfeeding; 2nd. A survey about factors associated to full breastfeeding through hierarchical logistic regression analysis of data from 241 infants under 6 months old; 3rd. Analysis of the knowledge provided by the IC to an intervention group (n=39) compared to a control group (n=24), using multiple linear regression analysis adjusted by confounding variables. Results: 2nd paper: Full breastfeeding has shown significant association with: presence of the partner, having no difficulty to breastfeed, spontaneous release of the breast when baby is satisfied, and mothers giving lower scores to consultations; 3rd paper: After intervention, there has been a statistically significant but little improved knowledge of the intervention group compared to control (p<0.05). Conclusion: Full breastfeeding (exclusive plus predominant) is practiced by around 50% of the mothers of infants under the 6 months. It has shown associated to the mother and family determinants. The IC was effective in enhancing knowledge of the participants, although showing modest results. One of the challenges is to organize IC for PSF workers in our circumstances.

Introdução: A Organização Mundial da Saúde lançou recentemente o "Aconselhamento em alimentação infantil: um curso integrado" (CI), destinado à capacitação de profissionais de saúde e aconselhadores leigos. Objetivos: Estudar os fatores associados com a amamentação plena de crianças do PSF e avaliar a efetividade do CI junto aos profissionais de saúde. Métodos: A tese é apresentada no formato de três artigos: 1. Ensaio sobre as evidências científicas em amamentação; 2. Estudo sobre fatores associados à amamentação plena de 241 crianças até 6 meses de idade, por meio de regressão múltipla hierarquizada; 3. Análise do incremento nos conhecimentos de profissionais dos grupos intervenção (n=39) e controle (n=24), por meio de regressão linear múltipla ajustada por variáveis de confundimento. Resultados: 2. A amamentação plena mostrou associação estatisticamente significante com: morar com companheiro, não ter dificuldade para amamentar, deixar a criança largar o peito quando satisfeita e dar nota mais baixa às consultas; 3. Após a intervenção houve um incremento estatisticamente significante, porém modesto, nos conhecimentos do grupo intervenção em relação ao controle (p<0,05). Conclusão: A amamentação plena é praticada por cerca de metade das mães de crianças até 6 meses e mostrou-se associada a fatores maternos e da família. O CI foi efetivo em aumentar os conhecimentos dos participantes, embora os resultados sejam modestos. Sua operacionalização junto às equipes de PSF mostrou-se difícil na população estudada. / Background: The World Health Organization launched recently the "Integrated Infant Feeding Counselling: a training course" (IC), in order to train both health professionals and lay counselors. Objectives: To study the factors associated to full breastfeeding of infants assisted by PSF and to assess the IC effectiveness among health professionals. Methods: The dissertation comprehends three papers - 1st. Essay about scientific evidence for breastfeeding; 2nd. A survey about factors associated to full breastfeeding through hierarchical logistic regression analysis of data from 241 infants under 6 months old; 3rd. Analysis of the knowledge provided by the IC to an intervention group (n=39) compared to a control group (n=24), using multiple linear regression analysis adjusted by confounding variables. Results: 2nd paper: Full breastfeeding has shown significant association with: presence of the partner, having no difficulty to breastfeed, spontaneous release of the breast when baby is satisfied, and mothers giving lower scores to consultations; 3rd paper: After intervention, there has been a statistically significant but little improved knowledge of the intervention group compared to control (p<0.05). Conclusion: Full breastfeeding (exclusive plus predominant) is practiced by around 50% of the mothers of infants under the 6 months. It has shown associated to the mother and family determinants. The IC was effective in enhancing knowledge of the participants, although showing modest results. One of the challenges is to organize IC for PSF workers in our circumstances.