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

• Audio
• Recorded Presentation

This workshop is suitable for parents, family members and caregivers of children with disabilities from toddler age to adult. The workshop is helpful to teachers and staff, and specialists such as speech and language pathologists and behaviorists. Individuals with disabilities may also increase self-awareness and find guidance for personal goals from the presentation.

The workshop contributes to best practice and advances the field of autism spectrum disorders by promoting awareness of potential problems, helping parents, staff and individuals prioritize key skills for safety and inclusion, and by providing strategies for teaching. The workshop enables all segments of the population (team members) to collaborate proactively. Adults with disabilities who attend have the opportunity to raise awareness of the behaviors that reduce risk and increase safety in the community.

The content of the material includes a description of each of the ten skills, and real-life examples and teaching strategies for each. Here are details of the main ideas and supporting points.

1. Eliminate behaviors that are dangerous or potentially dangerous to self or others. • Identify dangerous situations and teach replacement behaviors. • Identify potentially dangerous behaviors that are not harmful now but may be is the person is older, larger, or unattended.

2. Help the person to learn complete care of his or her own body to the maximum extent possible. • A question of social acceptance. • A personal safety issue.

3. Know who s/he can access, hug, touch, continue to talk to or follow • Use the “circle of friends” to teach about relationships and affections. • Teach what to do when unsure about who should touch and who to touch.

4. Know the limits of touching or using the property of others and how to ask first • Teach the difference between mine and not mine, OK to touch and not OK to touch. • Teach who to ask, and how to ask to access the property of others.

5. Know two different responses for Yes and No • Take NO for an answer. • Handle it when the answer is not what he or she wants.

6. Knowing to ask for help: who, when and how to ask • How to realize when help is needed. • Have a way to ask. • Identify “helpers” in many environments. • Make rules to follow in asking for help.

7. Learn to identify internal states (feelings and sensations) and express them. • Understand own level of arousal. • Know bothersome stimuli. • Make avoidance plans. • Use coping strategies. • Be able to tell others. • Use emotion words to name feelings as they occur

8. Learning Empathy • Understanding the feelings of others to react and respond appropriately. • Helps us to be socially competent, a good co-worker, friend and family member. • Empathy is an endearing quality.

9. Giving Negative Feedback • How to handle things s/he doesn't like or want (and avoid meltdowns). • Teach how to recognize aversion. • Name the feelings. • Plan and practice options. • Use language that does not offend.

10. Making PLAN B: Repair strategies • Help the person anticipate and plan for “the unexpected.” • Learn to recognize when “the unexpected” is happening. • Plan options for solving the problem. • Stop, think and choose!