WORKSHOPS FOR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS - 300 SERIES
SEMINAR DESCRIPTIONS FOR WORKSHOPS PROVIDED BY THE WNY REGIONAL CENTER FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS
WORKSHOP 301
View Schedule and Register for WorkshopsUnderstanding Autism Spectrum Disorders: Strategies for Managing Maladaptive Behaviors
Seminar Description: This two-hour training is geared towards providing caregivers of children/adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders with empirically supported information regarding understanding and addressing challenging behaviors. The focus is to have participants recognize the factors contributing to the manifestation of maladaptive behaviors and to learn a series of strategies for reducing challenging behaviors in the home and community. Attention will be given to the importance of utilizing systematic approaches to shape and develop adaptive alternative behaviors.
Learning Objectives:
1. To gain an understanding of the function and the precipitating and maintaining causes of challenging behaviors.
2. To learn environmental and behavioral strategies to avoid/reduce the manifestation of challenging behaviors.
3. To become familiar with strategies to develop and foster the use of adaptive alternative behaviors.
4. To recognize the need to evaluate the individual effectiveness of used strategies.
Target Audience: Parents/Guardians/Caregivers.
WORKSHOP 302
View Schedule and Register for WorkshopsStriving for Independence: Teaching Self-Help Skills to People with Autism
Workshop Description: This six-hour training will provide caregivers of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders with empirically supported information regarding teaching critical self-help skills. The workshop begins with a focus on determining which self-help skills to teach and an additional focus on developing teaching and measurement systems. Specific self-help skill areas will be addressed in detail. Participants will have the opportunity to identify self-help skills and develop a teaching plan with the support of the instructor.
Learning Objectives:
1. To determine which self-help skills to teach and when to teach them.
2. To learn about and develop tools for teaching and measuring progress on self-help skills.
3. To demonstrate effective prompting techniques for teaching self-help skills.
4. To develop an action plan for teaching self-help skills in the home and community.
Target Audience: Parents/Guardians/Caregivers.
WORKSHOP 303
View Schedule and Register for WorkshopsActivity Schedules: Promoting Independence
Workshop Description: This 3-part workshop is designed to teach parents / caregivers how to develop and use activity schedules to promote greater independence in individuals with autism. An activity schedule is a set of pictures or words that cues someone to engage in a sequence of activities. Parents / caregivers will have the opportunity to develop an activity schedule, test it with their child, evaluate and receive feedback from instructors with extensive experience.
Learning Objectives:
1. To understand the goals of using an activity schedule.
2. To learn to create and teach a child to use an activity schedule
3. To understand to evaluate progress and problem-solve
4. To learn to extend the use of an activity schedule once the basic concept is mastered
Target Audience: Parents/Guardians/Caregivers.
WORKSHOP 304
View Schedule and Register for WorkshopsUnderstanding Autism Spectrum Disorders and Evidence-Based Practice
Workshop Description: Families who have a child diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are faced with an overwhelming amount of information when trying to determine what to do next to support their son/daughter. For example, a search on the internet for “autism treatments” yields more than 1 million results. This two-hour seminar is designed to provide parents/caregivers with a framework to evaluate treatment claims and to facilitate their decision-making process in determining the most effective intervention(s) for their child. Attention will be given to reviewing the evidence for appropriate and popular intervention methods, as well as helping families become informed and critical consumers.
Learning Objectives:
1. To understand the meaning of evidence-based practice.
2. To become aware of indicators of non-evidence based treatments.
3. To be able to differentiate between evidence- and non evidence- based interventions, in order to promote the use of strategies and intervention techniques that have proven to be effective.
4. To recognize the need to evaluate the individual effectiveness of presently used intervention strategies.
Target Audience: Parents/Guardians/Caregivers with a child who has been identified as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
WORKSHOP 305
View Schedule and Register for WorkshopsDeveloping and Fostering Social Development for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Workshop Description: A review of typically-used social strategies suggests that we are falling short in facilitating the social development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). This two-hour seminar highlights and explains the social interaction difficulties children with ASD commonly experience and provides participants with an evidence-based framework to enhance the social development of their son/daughter.
Learning Objectives:
1. To understand the social interaction difficulties commonly experienced by children with an ASD.
2. To gain an appreciation of the shortcomings of many approaches for building social skills and to recognize the need to foster social development through a targeted, systematic, and comprehensive approach.
3. To become familiar with evidence-based approaches for enhancing the social development of children with an ASD.
Target Audience: Parents/Guardians/Caregivers.
WORKSHOP 306
View Schedule and Register for WorkshopsUnderstanding Autism Spectrum Disorders: Critical Considerations for Fostering Independence
Workshop Description: This seminar is geared toward parents and caregivers to ensure their understanding of ASDs and the risk of promoting dependence. Concentration will be placed on the provision of assistance (or “aiding”), to emphasize the important role of building skills rather than doing skills for their children. Participants will leave with a framework for fostering independence that includes attending to and tracking prompts, developing and implementing individualized independence plans, and establishing means to monitor progress
Learning Objectives:
1. To become aware of the risk of promoting dependence and to recognize the critical considerations necessary to foster independence.
2. To conceptualize a method for monitoring prompts.
3. To gain knowledge of means to reduce prompts and build independence.
4. To recognize the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of used strategies.
Target Audience: Parents/Guardians/Caregivers.
