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Does Oregon require autism training for school staff? What Oregon law asks, and where outside training fits

The short answer

In the Oregon statutes and education rules we reviewed, we found no autism-specific training requirement that applies to all school staff. Oregon law does require school districts to give adequate training to every employee assigned to carry out a student's individualized education program (IEP), 504 Plan, behavior intervention plan or medical support protocol, so the employee can safely carry out those duties. Separately, personnel of a public education program who use restraint or seclusion must be trained through a program approved by the Oregon Department of Education, unless trained personnel are not immediately available because of the unforeseeable nature of an emergency.

What we found

On October 29, 2026, we searched the Oregon Revised Statutes chapters on school safety and discipline (339), teachers and school personnel (342) and special education (343), and the Oregon Department of Education's rules on special education, school governance and student conduct, school standards, professional development and instructional assistants. We searched for the terms autism, positive behavior, behavior support, de-escalation and training. Our search of the sources listed above found no autism-specific training requirement that applies to all school staff. Autism appears in the special education rules as an eligibility category, with its own evaluation rules, not as a training topic.

Related training rules for Oregon school staff

### Training for staff who carry out a student's plan ORS 343.068(3):

"All school district employees assigned to work with a student with specialized needs to carry out duties related to the implementation of an individualized education program, 504 Plan, behavior intervention plan or medical support protocol must be provided by the school district with adequate training to safely carry out each of the specialized duties assigned to the school district employee."

The same section defines "school district employee" to include "all school district employees, including classified and licensed employees regardless of job title or position description." "Students with specialized needs" includes students who have an IEP, a 504 Plan or a behavior intervention plan, or who otherwise have specialized educational needs. The section does not set hours, topics or a schedule for this training.

### Training for instructional assistants OAR 581-037-0025:

"Districts employing instructional assistants in any capacity shall provide or arrange for suitable training to prepare them to perform such functions as they may be assigned."

### Restraint and seclusion training If restraint or seclusion is used on a student, ORS 339.291(3)(b) requires it to be imposed by personnel who are:

"(A) Trained to use restraint or seclusion through programs described in ORS 339.300; or (B) Otherwise available in the case of an emergency circumstance when personnel described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph are not immediately available due to the unforeseeable nature of the emergency circumstance"

ORS 339.300 says the Oregon Department of Education "shall approve training programs in restraint and seclusion." Under OAR 581-021-0566, "a Public Education Program may only use training programs on restraint and seclusion that are approved by the Department of Education under OAR 581-021-0563." If the personnel who administered restraint or seclusion had not received training under ORS 339.300, the public education program's administrator must ensure that the student's parent or guardian and the district superintendent receive written notification of the lack of training and the reason untrained personnel administered the restraint or seclusion (ORS 339.294(3)). Our course does not teach restraint or crisis intervention, and it is not an approved restraint and seclusion program.

Source: ORS chapter 343, § 343.068; ORS chapter 339, §§ 339.291, 339.294 and 339.300; OAR 581-021-0566; OAR 581-037-0025.

Where outside training fits

ORS 343.068(3) and OAR 581-037-0025 put the duty on the school district to provide or arrange training. Neither names a provider, sets hours or explains how an outside course would be accepted. Restraint and seclusion training is different: it must come from a program the Oregon Department of Education has approved. Before buying outside training for any of these purposes, ask your district what training it provides and how it evaluates outside courses. We offer this course as introductory ABA training. We do not claim that it satisfies ORS 343.068, OAR 581-037-0025 or any other Oregon requirement, and we do not claim a number of training hours for it.

What our Intro to ABA Level 1 course covers

The Intro to ABA Level 1 course teaches methods and techniques of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for parents and caregivers, teachers, paraprofessionals and behavior technicians who work with a child every day. Topics include what autism is, what ABA is, pairing, errorless teaching and prompting, and active student responding. Complete the course and pass its 40-question final exam with a score of at least 80%. Completing this course earns a Special Learning certificate of completion. That certificate is not a continuing education (CE) certificate. It is basic training in ABA methods for daily practice, not a professional credential. We do not claim Oregon state approval or continuing education credit for this course.

A paraprofessional who took it wrote: "I want to learn everything I can to help my student succeed in the public school system. I found Special Learning's ABA level 1 course so fascinating and inspiring."

Two ways to start

Last reviewed: October 29, 2026.

See every state's school autism-training rules