Parents of autistic children find training and support through online OASIS program

LAWRENCE—When her 2-year-old daughter was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, Wyandotte County, Kan., resident Veronica Fernandez tried to take in the information and project normalcy. But on the inside, she was scared and overwhelmed with questions about her daughter, Valeria Hinojosa. 

Fernandez wondered if there was more she could have done. Would her daughter ever speak, or say more than just “mom"? How would Hinojosa live after her mother was gone?

Thinking back to the day her daughter was diagnosed, Fernandez said, “As a parent, when you go out of that room with that hard feeling of the diagnosis, you don't know what to do, but you're trying to help your child much as you can.” 

The need to help her daughter led Fernandez to a University of Kansas research and training program that she credits with her daughter's growth: Online and Applied System for Intervention Skills, or OASIS. OASIS aims to help families and caregivers learn evidence-based strategies founded on behavioral science, such as Applied Behavior Analysis. With limited training options available to those caring for autistic children, OASIS is a bridge between diagnosis and intervention.

Jay Buzhardt, research professor at the KU Life Span Institute’s Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, and Linda Heitzman-Powell, professor of pediatrics at the KU Medical Center, lead OASIS. Buzhardt said the gap between a child’s diagnosis and access to intervention services can last months or even years.

“Since we know that early intervention is key to improving language and social-communication outcomes, OASIS is one way to help fill that gap,” Buzhardt said. 

Since 2007, the OASIS project has been developed and tested with federal grant support, helping it expand to serve a national audience. In addition to federal funding, it has received support from the State of Kansas to address the needs of Kansas families, particularly in rural areas. 

Now with new support from a 2025 grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), OASIS will develop resources to expand the program’s reach to more parents and caregivers like Fernandez, who may struggle to know where to start when they see differences in how their child is developing compared to others. 

Fernandez said she spent the months between diagnosis and starting OASIS fraught with worry for her child.

“But that was before I got to know these strategies and that there was this program,” Fernandez said. “They really give you hope.” 

Importantly for Fernandez, the program provides materials and training in Spanish and English, and she worked with a bilingual, Latino coach. That made the program more accessible and culturally relevant for Fernandez, for whom English is a second language. 

“After the training, Valeria was seeing me more, at my eyes,” Fernandez said. “She was more aware of her surroundings. Today, she’s doing great.” 

Heitzman-Powell emphasized that the program empowers families.

"OASIS was built upon the adage ‘Give a man a fish you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for life,’” said Heitzman-Powell. “That is what OASIS does for these families: it teaches them these fundamental strategies for behavior change that they can take with them anywhere, enabling them to continue to foster learning in their child over time.” 

While geographic constraints can decrease access to treatment and effective parent and caregiver training services, virtual OASIS sessions can connect to families wherever they are — even internationally. The training includes a set of modules, each of which has online tutorials followed by telehealth sessions with a certified OASIS coach. Caregivers receive one-on-one feedback about the use of the strategies they learned in the tutorials. The training lasts about 16 – 24 weeks, depending on families’ schedules and whether or not they need additional training in a specific area.

Since its start, OASIS has been delivered to 517 families with 177 certified trainers across the country.

Fernandez said she recommends OASIS to every parent of a child with autism. 

“Now we have this 10-year-old girl (who is) very fluent,” Fernandez said. “She can speak. She can do a lot of things that she wasn't able to. This program opened my mind about what really ABA is about. Having that training, you will be able to help your own child.” 

View the video above to learn more about OASIS Parent Training, presented by the Kansas Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities.