IEP Goals for Autism in Massachusetts: Examples Across Communication, Behavior, and Social Skills

Autism is now the fastest-growing disability category in Massachusetts public schools — diagnoses of autism and complex neurological profiles have seen triple-digit percentage increases over the past two decades, and the 2024–2025 DESE IEP form was specifically redesigned to better accommodate the complex, multi-domain profiles that autistic students often present.

That redesign matters for goal-writing. The new form allows Teams to document multiple disability designations simultaneously, separates performance data across four domains (Academics, Behavior/Social/Emotional, Communication, and Additional Areas), and embeds transition planning directly into the IEP structure beginning at age 14. If your child's Team is still thinking about goals the way they did three years ago, the structure of the law has changed around them.

Here's what well-written IEP goals for autistic students look like across each domain — and what to watch for when reviewing the Team's proposals.

What Makes an Autism IEP Goal Adequate in Massachusetts

Every IEP goal under 603 CMR 28.05 must be measurable. For autistic students, "measurable" is especially important because so many of the goals that districts propose — particularly in social and communication domains — default to subjective language.

"Maya will improve her social skills" is not a goal. "Maya will increase spontaneous peer greetings to three per school day in 4 out of 5 data collection days, as measured by teacher observation tally, by June 2026" is a goal.

Every goal should contain:

• A current baseline with documented data
• A specific, observable skill or behavior
• A measurable success criterion (percentage, frequency, duration, independence level)
• A data collection method
• A timeline (typically the annual IEP period)

If the Team cannot describe how they will measure a goal before you sign the IEP, it is not ready.

Communication Goals for Autistic Students

Communication is frequently the primary domain of need for autistic students. Massachusetts recognizes Communication Impairment as a separate disability category, and many autistic students in Massachusetts are designated under both Autism Spectrum Disorder and Communication Impairment in the new 2024 IEP form.

Functional communication for minimally verbal students: "Using his AAC device with a vocabulary of 200+ words, Ethan will make spontaneous requests for preferred items or activities in 4 out of 5 opportunities across at least 3 different communicative partners, without prompting beyond a 5-second expectant pause, as measured by SLP session data, by June 2026. Baseline: uses 3-word combinations with moderate prompting in 2 out of 5 opportunities (October 2025)."

Requesting and protesting (pragmatics): "During structured classroom activities, Nadia will use words or her AAC device to protest or request a break in 3 out of 4 opportunities instead of engaging in non-verbal protest behaviors (such as pushing materials away or leaving her seat), as measured by teacher behavior log, by June 2026. Baseline: verbal/AAC protest in 1 out of 4 opportunities (September 2025)."

Conversational reciprocity: "During a 5-minute structured conversation with a peer or adult, James will take at least 4 conversational turns (responding and initiating) related to the same topic, in 3 out of 4 sessions, as measured by SLP observation data, by June 2026. Baseline: takes 1-2 conversational turns before shifting topic or disengaging (October 2025)."

Narrative language: "Given a 5-picture sequence, Lila will orally retell a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end that includes at least one reference to a character's mental state or emotion, with 75% accuracy in 3 out of 4 trials, as measured by SLP rubric scoring, by June 2026. Baseline: retells beginning and end without middle sequence or mental state reference (November 2025)."

The 2024 Massachusetts IEP form requires Teams to document assistive technology explicitly. If your child uses AAC, the service delivery grid must identify who is responsible for training, what vocabulary will be targeted, and how the device will be made available across settings. Vague AT language ("will have access to his device") is not sufficient — push for specificity.

Behavior and Social-Emotional Goals

Behavior and social-emotional development is now a distinct domain in the Massachusetts IEP. For autistic students, this section is often where the most important and most contested goals live.

Self-regulation: "When transitioning between preferred and non-preferred activities, Sofia will use a visual schedule and transition cue to move independently to the next activity without engaging in protest behaviors (crying for more than 2 minutes, hitting, or elopement) in 4 out of 5 observed transitions, as measured by teacher data log, by June 2026. Baseline: requires adult physical redirection in 3 out of 5 transitions (September 2025)."

Flexibility and tolerance of change: "When given 5-minute advance notice of a schedule change, Owen will verbally acknowledge the change and transition to the modified schedule without disruptive behavior in 3 out of 4 opportunities, as measured by teacher observation log, by June 2026. Baseline: engages in protest behavior in 4 out of 5 unexpected transitions (October 2025)."

Peer interaction: "During unstructured recess, Marcus will initiate a play interaction with a familiar peer at least twice per 20-minute recess period across 3 out of 5 days per week, as measured by playground aide data collection sheet, by June 2026. Baseline: engages with peers only when approached first, 1 out of 5 days (October 2025)."

Emotional identification: "When shown images or video clips depicting characters in various situations, Amara will identify the character's emotion using words from a feelings vocabulary list with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 sessions, as measured by SLP or special education teacher assessment, by June 2026. Baseline: correctly identifies 3 basic emotions (happy, sad, angry) with 60% accuracy (September 2025)."

Academic Goals for Autistic Students

Academic goals for autistic students follow the same structure as any other IEP goal but should reflect the student's individual educational profile — particularly the interaction between cognitive strengths and language/executive function challenges.

Reading comprehension with inferencing: "Given a third-grade level narrative text, Zoe will correctly answer 3 out of 4 inferential questions (as opposed to literal recall) after re-reading the text with teacher guidance, in 3 out of 4 sessions, as measured by teacher data, by June 2026. Baseline: correctly answers 1 out of 4 inferential questions independently (October 2025)."

Written expression for students with significant expressive challenges: "Using a dictation tool (speech-to-text software or scribe), Noah will compose a 5-sentence paragraph that includes a stated main idea and two supporting details with 80% accuracy in 3 out of 4 writing samples, as measured by rubric scoring, by June 2026. Baseline: produces a main idea statement with no supporting details without dictation support (November 2025)."

Transition Goals for Autistic Students (Age 14+)

Massachusetts law requires transition planning to begin at age 14 — two years earlier than the federal IDEA mandate. The 2024 DESE IEP form integrates transition planning directly into the main IEP structure rather than relegating it to a separate Transition Planning Form.

Transition goals must be based on age-appropriate transition assessments (vocational interest inventories, adaptive behavior scales, community-based work samples) and must address post-secondary education, vocational training, employment, and independent living.

Vocational goal example: "By June 2026, Eli will complete a community-based vocational experience of at least 6 hours per week in a supported work setting, with a job coach providing graduated prompt fading, and will demonstrate appropriate workplace behaviors (arriving on time, following two-step directions, taking breaks at designated times) in 4 out of 5 observed shifts, as measured by job coach data log."

Independent living goal example: "Using a visual task analysis, David will independently complete a 5-step morning routine (get dressed, eat breakfast, pack his backpack, brush teeth, take medication) without adult prompting in 4 out of 5 school mornings, as tracked by parent daily log, by June 2026. Baseline: completes 2-3 steps with adult prompting (September 2025)."

For autistic students who may remain in special education until age 22 in Massachusetts — the state extends services two years beyond the federal age-21 cutoff for students who have not earned a regular high school diploma — transition planning at 14 is not abstract. It is the beginning of a real, time-sensitive plan.

What to Challenge When Reviewing Autism IEP Goals

When the Team presents proposed goals for your autistic child, ask:

• What evaluation data establishes this baseline? (If the Team cannot point to a specific assessment, the baseline is fabricated)
• Who will collect data on this goal, how often, and what does a data point look like?
• If my child does not make progress by the midpoint, how will the Team respond — and is that response documented anywhere?
• Is the level of independence in this goal appropriate, or is the Team setting targets that are too easy to meet?
• For communication goals involving AAC: is the device and vocabulary access documented in the service delivery grid?

The Massachusetts IEP & 504 Blueprint includes an autism-specific goal review checklist for the 2024 DESE IEP form, with domain-by-domain prompts covering communication, behavior, academics, and transition — organized to walk you through the IEP section by section before you respond to the district's proposal.

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