ASA's 37th National Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders (July 13-15, 2006)

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Friday, July 14, 2006: 3:30 PM-4:45 PM
552 A-B
#2034- Navigating to Effective Inervention: An innovative Model Lights the Way Using parent Education, Coaching and Support
An innovative, effective model of intervention utilizing parent education, coaching and support will be outlined. The model is founded on the research and clinical practices that indicate the value of teaching parents to serve as active change agents in their child’s treatment. A comprehensive curriculum, based on the principles of applied behaviour analysis, targeting communication, social skills, daily living skills and behaviour management has been developed for each of these areas and is presented by a multidisciplinary team of professionals.

Presenters:Margaret Whelan, Geneva Centre For Autism, Executive Director - Ms. Whelan has provided leadership in the field of atuism by putting research into practice through clinical work with families and raising the bar of superior quality training and education on Autism Spectrum Disorders around the world. Ms. Whelan directed the development of the model of intervention being presented, ensuring that it meets the best practice standards exemplified by all Geneva Centre for Autism Services. Ms Whelan has been an invited speaker for numerous training conferences including: Autism Europe, Autism Society of America annual Conferences, Future Horizons Educational Conferences, Henry Ford Hospital Conferences, Canadian Fragile X Conference and many others.

Neil Walker, Geneva Centre For Autism, Program Director - Mr. Walker has worked in the field of autism for over 25 years designing, managing and implementing programs for individuals with autism of all ages. As Program Director, he oversees the services of all departments including preschoo, school-age and adult services and training and education programs. Mr. Walker developed, piloted and oversees the implementation of the model being presented. He has been an invited speaker at many events including World Congress on Autism, Autism Society of America Annual Conferences, Geneva Centre for Autism International Symposium on Autism, Future Horizons Educational Conferences, The Kuwait Autism Conference and many more.

 
Drawing on over 30 years of service provision, Geneva Centre for Autism has developed an innovative model of intervention based on comprehensive parent education and training, in-home parent coaching to facilitate the practical application of learned skills and follow-up support to enable ongoing skill development in their children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The model is founded on the research and clinical practice that indicate the value of teaching parents to serve as active change agents in their child's treatment. The curriculum targets the key areas in need of skill development identified by best practices in autism intervention: communication skills, social skills, daily living skills and behaviour management skills. A comprehensive curriculum, based on the principles of applied behaviour analysis, has been developed for each of these areas by a multidisciplinary team consisting of behaviour analysts, psychologists, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists and educators with autism expertise.

The parent education and training is delivered in a facilitated group format using discussion, demonstration, videos, group activities and home assignments. The coaching sessions are delivered individually to families. These individual sessions allow families to determine a specific focus for implementing the techniques they are learning thus providing greater flexibility to meet individual family needs. The model is specifically designed to increase the parents' self-confidence and self-efficacy in their ability to understand their child, manage their child's behaviour and build their child's skills using evidence-based approaches. Follow-up is provided in a clinic format to support parents in continuing the on-going task of skill building as their child grows up.

Learning outcomes: Participants in the session leave with a clear framework of a replicable, well designed parent education curriculum and model of service delivery with positive, researched outcomes.

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