Autism Awareness Centre lines up some great speakers at their upcoming conference in Edmonton this March!
Click Here for more details and to find out about registration.
Kari Dunn Buron
When My Autism Gets Too Big! Addressing Social Cognition and Emotional Regulation using the Incredible 5-Point Scale
Autism Spectrum Disorders involve difficulties in the areas of Social Thinking, Relationship Building, and Emotional Regulation. This presentation will address these three areas of need as they impact a person’s ability to function in the highly social environment of school. Having a problem of social cognition impacts a person’s competence in almost all social situations.
These difficulties can lead to explosive behavior and even aggression. Kari will present a brief overview of the social thinking research, and autism learning theories emerging from the new field of educational neuroscience. She will then describe and illustrate 5 systematic approaches to teaching social information, and increasing a person’s ability to understand and regulate their emotional responses. The strategy discussion will focus on the use of the 5-Point Scale and also include Video Self Modeling, 5 Stars, relaxation, and direct teaching of relationship skills.
Kari Dunn Buron, MS worked in K-12 with students with autism for 30+ years. Kari developed an Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate program for educators at Hamline University and has done volunteer work specific to autism in Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Tanzania and Ghana. In 2003, Kari received a Self-designed Fellowship that allowed her to spend a year interviewing and working internationally with a number of therapists and researchers in the area of Social Cognition, Education and Autism. She is the co-author of The Incredible 5-Point Scale, and the author of When My Worries Get Too Big, A 5 Could Make Me Lose Control and A 5 is Against the Law! (2008 ASA literary award winner). Kari is also the co-editor of a textbook for educators titled Learners on the Autism Spectrum: Preparing Highly Qualified Educators (2009 ASA literary award winner) and is the creator of a social skills magazine called The Social Times (2010 Gold Winner, National Patenting Publications Award and Gold Medal 2011 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award). Kari recently completed a work of fiction titled Adalyn’s Clare, which was published in August of 2012.
Saturday, March 15
Catherine Faherty
From Asking for Help…to Self-Advocacy…to Self- Determination
Self-determination, the process by which a person makes his or her own decisions, is a popular subject in educational programs and in disability services. Professionals and families who value self-determination, wholeheartedly desire to have their students, children, and clients engage in making decisions for themselves. The problem is that most support people – usually being nonautistic, may not realize that they have unconscious assumptions about communication based on their non-autistic experiences of self-determination. These assumptions may not take into account the underlying communication uniqueness of autistic individuals. Features inherent in an autistic style of thinking and learning must be acknowledged and proactively planned for when expecting children and adults to speak up for themselves – to self-advocate – to become fully engaged in self-determination. It is so much more than simply giving a child the freedom to say what she wants – and expecting her to automatically respond in way that’s true for her; or routinely extending an invitation to a teenager to participate in his I.E.P. meeting; or waiting for an adult to express a particular need for a change in his life. This workshop will break down some of the basic skills needed for true self-determination, and evaluate them according to how to teach these skills to your ASD students over time, covering a wide range of functioning levels and ages. Catherine’s presentations are known for generous practical ideas and useful strategies.
Catherine Faherty, One of the pioneers in the University of North Carolina’s TEACCH Program, first created a model TEACCH classroom in the mid-1980’s, and has served individuals with autism, their families, and professionals, as a TEACCH autism specialist and teacher trainer from 1990 to 2012. She has written training manuals, including theTEACCH Structured Teaching Self- Assessment: Guides to Individualizing the Schedule and Work System. Catherine’s first groundbreaking book Asperger’s…What Does It Mean To Me? promotes self-understanding for children and youth, encouraging mutual understanding within their families, schools, and communities. Her book,Understanding Death and Illness and What They Teach About Life, was awarded The 2009 Book of the Year by the Autism Society of America, is an interactive guide for individuals with ASD and their loved ones. Her most recent book is Communication…What Does It Mean to Me? which offers the unique, user-friendly “Contract for Communication” featuring easy-to-follow “agreements” for both young people on the spectrum and the adults in their lives—parents, teachers, therapists—so they can better understand one another.