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The ASA's 39th National Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders of ASAThe Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, AZ |
| For a complete author index with session numbers, please click here | |
| Friday, July 11, 2008: 3:30 PM-4:45 PM | |||
| Miami 2 | |||
| #3530- Autism Network for Individuals with Hearing and Visual Impairments Meeting on Communication | |||
| The Network, a special interest group with worldwide family and professional membership provides information across autism spectrum lifespan and sensory disabilities with opportunities for interaction with a professional panel. Special report: Teaching language and literacy to hearing and visually impaired students with autism using Structured Methods in Language Education: SMILE. Implemented in several Florida schools, preschool to high school, methods and changes are reported. The panel will address acceptance and adaptations of communication systems by family and community. | |||
| Presenters: | - Margaret P. Creedon, Ph.D., is Clinical Psychology Fellow based in Chicago, and international consultant for individuals with ASD. She is a member of the AS Panel of Professional Advisors, chaired annual meetings of this network and served as a professional contact for families.
- Dr. Schall is the director of the Virginia Autism Resource Center, helping teachers, families, and individuals with ASD. Her practice and research interests include the use of positive behavior support in place of higher risk interventions such as psychotropic medication use. - Colleen Shinn has worked as an interpreter for the deaf, staff in a school for students with autism and now serves as a Training Specialist For Chicago Area Easter Seal programs for persons with autism. - Dr. Schein has worked as a special education administrator, speech and language pathologist, researcher, currently an Adjunct Professor, with appointments on Florida School Boards for special populations. She has acheived national recognition as a major researcher for the Autism Research Unit-NY State Institute and Alberta Education Response Center. - Ms. Bachmann has her Master's Degree in Special Education and Early Childhood Education. She provides training, consultation and mentoring for students in Broward County schools. She is a national consultant for Nova Southeastern University. - Ms. Polys had been a SLP for 22 years. She previously worked with students with autism, hearing impairment and emotional handicaps in Collier County Florida schools. Currently, she is the SLP for the autism cluster at Liberty School in Margate FL. - Ms. Rogge has her Master's Degree in Specific Learning Disabilities. She provides training and follow-up to the MH cluster teachers implmenting the Association Method/SMILE Program. | ||
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The Network Meeting will begin with a review of the new association with the Autism Reseach Institute and website, www.autism.com. A special link to the Network's free membership form as well as special interest presentation links including previous meetings will be described. Updates on current issues specific to our members concerns in visual and hearing impairments as well as living with autism will include testing across sensory modalities, medications with secondary effects on different senses, education and employment opportunities. A followup on personal safety and access to a new website for professionals, police and community responders and educators will be discussed. Training on using this site's specific resource information is being extended from New York to three states, Illinois, Nevada and Florida. The Network maintains its formost concern that members do not feel isolated even among other families with individuals having autism. A formal presentation on a structured approach to teaching language and literacy to hearing and visually impaired students with autism: SMILE will be featured. This will include infomation from the developer of the program as well as individuals training others to implment the program in Flordia schools. It was originally designed to teach beginning speech and language to deaf children and was then adapted to meet the needs of individuals with autism and also visual impairments. SMILE focuses on individuals from preschool to high school who have the most severe disorders of language and literacy. Many students had no intelligble speech at program start. The presenters will demonstrate adaptations and present the scope and sequence of the program. Documentation will be provided demonstrating incremental changes and successes of the program across students as well as individual anecdotes. The presenters will also discuss issues in training and gaining cooperation with the program among teaching staff and families. The professional panel will continue ongoing concerns in helping families and community members recognize the need for specific communication alternatives as well as ways to augment communication. The issues of having language systems for learning as well as interacting are more complex when the community at large as well as extended family members may not have skills in sharing a specfic or idiosnycratic system. Emotional issues about differences in how both the student and the family member are seen sometimes impact the range and mobility an individual can have. The audience will be invited to add their comments and concerns. This is a difficult issue for professionals as well as parents/family members themselves with or without a visual or hearing impairment. |
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