The ASA's 39th National Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders of ASA

The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, AZ

http://www.autism-society.org/
For a complete author index with session numbers, please click here
Thursday, July 10, 2008: 12:30 PM-1:45 PM
Sarasota 2
#3220- The Importance of Social Pragmatic Communication to Life Success
The concepts of Theory of Mind, Executive Functions, Central Coherence, and Emotional Intelligence can explain why many individuals with Asperger Syndrome act as they do. Developing goals and interventions using this theory as a foundation for intervention enables practitioners to achieve better positive results. This presentation will describe how these theories relate to Asperger Syndrome and will provide participants with an understanding of why many individuals with Asperger Syndrome fail to perform at their potential academic and employable levels.

Presenter:Timothy Kowalski, M.A., C.C.C., Professional Communication Services, Inc, Speech-Language Pathologist - Timothy Kowalski is nationally known for his work with Asperger’s. He is the author of The Source for Asperger’s Syndrome and Assessing Social Communication in AS: an Introduction to the Conversational Effectiveness Profile. He holds the “TEAMS 2000 Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year” for working with autism in metropolitan Orlando.
 
This presentation will provide participants with a full understanding of the definition of Theory of Mind, Executive Functions, Central Coherence, and Emotional Intelligence as they relate to social pragmatic communication. These concepts can help explain why many individuals with Asperger's Syndrome act as they do and fail to achieve the potential of which they are cognitively capable. Participants will be provided with an understanding of how these theories impact how individuals with Asperger's Syndrome think and believe. It will describe the difficulty these individuals have in attributing mental states in context and help participants understand why prompts are critical for positive change if social behavior is to occur. It will stress why the need for social pragmatic communication is critical to life success.

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