ASI TRAINING STANDARDS
The pathway to expertise in ASI supports therapists worldwide in building the expertise needed to provide ASI® with fidelity, effectiveness, and integrity as well as organizations offering or developing an ASI Certificate Program.
PATHWAY TO EXPERTISE IN ASI FROM 2017
ICE-ASI published their Pathways to Expertise in ASI in AOTA's journal OT Practice in 2017. The 4-level pathway was a result of the SI organizations' critical concern about how to maintain the integrity of the body of work of Dr Ayres's SI, and how to support best practice in occupational therapy using ASI (OT-ASI).
After 7 years, these standards require a review and update.
Under Review
Currently, ICE-ASI's Minimal Standards for Education in ASI® are currently under review and will be published in 2025. The Education and Program Accreditation Committees together with our Director of Leadership will develop a draft of a modern competency and practice-based framework that describes a progressive process of professional development in ASI, rooted in competency-based education and grounded in clinical, academic, and research excellence. The proposal will then be adopted by the ICE-ASI Council.
When to Expect the New Standards
The new ICE-ASI Pathway to Expertise in ASI and the Minimal Standards for Education (MSE) are expected to be published in 2025.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE NEW ICE-ASI PATHWAY TO EXPERTISE IN ASI
ICE-ASI's Pathway to Expertise is the basis for the Minimal Standards in Education (MSE) that serve as the bar for accredited ASI Certificate Programs. In line with current best practices in higher and professional education, the ICE-ASI framework will likely integrate:
1. Competencies
Each level outlines core competencies—integrated knowledge, skills, and attitudes—aligned with evidence-based practice in sensory integration and occupational therapy. These competencies define what the learner is expected to demonstrate consistently across clinical, academic, and advocacy contexts.
2. Learning Outcomes
At each pathway level, learning outcomes will describe the broad capabilities learners are expected to achieve. These outcomes articulate the professional identity, reasoning, and scope of responsibility appropriate to that stage of development.
3. Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)
ICE-ASI will integrate EPAs to make learning highly practical and observable. EPAs are real-world tasks—such as conducting an ASI assessment, writing a fidelity-based intervention plan, or communicating ASI findings to parents—that a practitioner is entrusted to perform independently once competence has been demonstrated.
- EPAs translate theoretical knowledge into tangible responsibility and reflect the trust that supervisors, institutions, and clients place in a trained ASI practitioner.
4. Micro-Credentials and Digital Badges
Recommendation to support flexible, modular learning and international recognition (e.g., “ASI-Fidelity-Based Intervention Planner,” “ASI Assessment Synthesizer”) at specific points in their training journey. These badges:
- Represent verified competence in defined areas,
- Make it clear that only the full certification leads to full competencies to use ASI in all areas of clinical practice (e.g., assessment, intervention, consultation, psycho-education),
- Support lifelong learning and specialization,
- Are stackable toward full ASI certification.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM ICE-ASI's NEW MINIMAL STANDARDS FOR ASI CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
The Minimal Standards for ASI Certificate Programs will likely contain the following sections:
FORMAL STANDARDS
These define how a program is structured, governed, assessed, and credentialed.
Example:
The formal standard requires that programs include this methodological content.
It also requires that learners demonstrate their ability to apply these methodologies, i.e., they don’t just know about fidelity—they must show that they can practice it.
Thus, formal standards don’t detail the method itself—but they ensure that:
- The method is taught,
- The method is practiced,
- And competency is verified.
CONTENT STANDARDS
These define the essential domains of knowledge, reasoning, and action that underpin fidelity-based ASI® practice. Each domain aligns with learning outcomes, competencies, and entrustable professional activities (EPAs). Together, they form the backbone of a practice-ready, evidence-informed ASI professional.
Example:
The content standard requires an EPA for gathering, interpreting, family-centered reporting, and linking goals. participants need to integrate comprehensive standardized and informal assessments, follow a conclusive, data-driven process, conduct differential analysis, and write a report for the caregivers
The recommended Micro-credential is “ASI Assessment & Communication”
INSTRUCTOR QUALIFICATIONS
Cornerstones of the ICE-ASI Instructor Qualification Framework include
- DEEP HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE
- PERSONAL CLINICAL PRACTICE WITH ORIGINAL ASI INTERVENTION
- MINIMUM CLINICAL EXPERIENCE OF 7–10 YEARS
- ONGOING ENGAGEMENT WITH ASI RESEARCH AND THEORY
- ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE GLOBAL ASI COMMUNITY
- EDUCATIONAL AND TEACHING SKILLS
- MENTORSHIP LINEAGE OR CERTIFICATION
Programs may develop their own train-the-trainer pathway to formalize this progression. Assistants or tutors have lower requirements.