The presentation will begin with a brief discussion of the challenges that parents face. A discussion of common approaches that parents use to address their child’s needs and the pitfalls encountered. An emphasis will be placed on designing more effective interventions by learning to identify and comprehensively address aspects of autism that underlie social and behavioral challenges. Simple tools that will help parents to understand their child’s strengths and needs will be introduced. Approaches to sharing this information with school staff and other professionals, while maintaining positive working relationships, will be discussed. Presenters will then introduce a process for planning and implementing comprehensive interventions in the home and school settings known as Ziggurat and CAPS.
The Ziggurat Model contains five-levels in a hierarchal structure that must be included in a comprehensive intervention plan. These areas are: Sensory and Biological; Reinforcement; Structure and Visual/Tactile Supports, Task Demands, and Skills to Teach. Each level represents an area that must be addressed in order for an intervention plan to be comprehensive. Interventions at each level are selected to address the individual’s true needs to ensure that “the autism” is addressed. Thus, interventions are meaningful – meeting underlying needs instead of masking them. The presentation will outline evidenced-based interventions on each of the five levels of the Ziggurat.
The Comprehensive Autism Planning System (CAPS) assists in the implementation of an intervention plan. The CAPS was originally designed to be used in the school setting. It provides an overview of a student’s daily schedule by time and activity as well as the supports that are needed during each period of the day. An adaptation of this approach to help parents address their child’s needs will be presented. CAPS may be used in the home setting as a guide to interventions and supports required during different activities at home (e.g., mealtime, bedtime, homework time). The CAPS allows professionals and parents to answer the all-important question: What supports does the child or adolescent need in order to be successful in home and community activities? The CAPS may be used to list the daily tasks and activities, the times they occur, along with the delineation of supports needed to ensure success. In addition, the CAPS includes a plan for determining how skills are to be generalized to other settings.
Through use of these approaches, parents will learn the importance of designing and implementing targeted interventions to address autism. Case scenarios demonstrating the intervention design process and research based strategies will be included.
Participants will be able to:
· Recognize common intervention pitfalls
· Identify the relationship of underlying characteristics of ASD with observable behavior
· List five areas required for a comprehensive intervention
· Describe a process for successfully implementing an intervention plan at home
· Describe strategies for communicating with school and other professionals
· Describe research validated strategies for intervention
Brenda Smith Myles, Ph.D.
Brenda Smith Myles, Ph.D., is the recipient of the 2004 Autism Society of America’s Outstanding Professional Award and the 2006 Princeton Fellowship Award. Myles is on executive boards of several organizations and was recently acknowledged as the second most productive researcher in ASD in the world from 1997 to 2004.
Kristi Sakai
KRISTI SAKAI: Mother of three children with ASD, author of ASA award winner: Finding Our Way. She is currently pursuing her MS in Applied Ecopsychology. Kristi has presented at: ASA 2005-2008; NATTAP 2007-2008; NASD, VTTAC 2008; KATC, ASA IL. 2007; NASD, OCALI, OSU 2006
Ruth Aspy, Ph.D.
RUTH ASPY, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and author. She specializes in assessment and intervention for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Aspy is co creator of the Ziggurat Model and speaks internationally on this and other topics. She has experience in both the clinic and school settings.
Barry G. Grossman, Ph.D.
BARRY G. GROSSMAN, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist who specializes in assessment and intervention for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. He provides assessment and consultation services. He is an author and speaks internationally. He co-created the Ziggurat Model-winner of the 2008 ASA award.
Shawn A. Henry
Executive Director at the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI) where he concentrates on statewide change efforts to promote advances in the training of professionals serving students with autism and providing supports for families. Mr. Henry is the author of Comprehensive Autism Planning System (CAPS).