Use this site to access recordings and presentations from National Conferences
Autism Society records most keynote and concurrent sessions at their annual conferences. You can see and hear those recordings by purchasing full online access, or individual recordings.
4167
Respite Provider Training Curriculum: A Collaboration Between Autism and Older Adult Service Agencies
Saturday, July 25, 2009: 10:45 AM-12:00 PM
St. Charles Ballroom III (Pheasant Run Resort and Conference Center)
Quality respite service continues to be an unmet need for many families. Many baby boomers are leaving the workforce with a desire to contribute meaningfully to their community. Providing respite services is a truly meaningful contribution. This session will describe how Easter Seals partnered with several social service agencies working with older adults and the Autism Society of America to design and implement a curriculum designed to train older adult volunteers to provide respite services to children with autism.
The need for respite services is significant. Many families share and research supports that having adequate respite services contributes greatly to family stability and wellness. The provision of respite services has many barriers including finding quality respite providers and locating adequate funding to support respite programs. Utilizing a volunteer model decreases some of these barriers. Baby boomers, in large numbers, are exiting the workforce. Many of these “boomers” want to contribute meaningfully to their community. This session will describe how a curriculum was developed and implemented to train these “boomers” to meet the respite needs in a volunteer capacity.
Six training modules (overview of autism, family, behavior, communication, socialization and community instruction) were developed via a collaborative process. Older adult service agencies including Generations United, Senior Corp, National Association for Area Agencies on Aging, National Council on Aging and organizations serving the autism community including Easter Seals, the Watson Institute and the Autism Society of America worked together to ensure these modules would meet the needs of both the older adult community and the autism community. The modules include highly visual PowerPoint presentations, a script, a pre-post knowledge and attitude assessment and take-away tools for the volunteers participating in the training.
This session will describe the process of how these organizations worked together to design the curriculum and the results of the pilot testing of the curriculum within active respite programs. Information about how to obtain the curriculum will be provided.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will increase their knowledge of the core components of a training curriculum designed to train older adult volunteer respite providers.
- Participants will increase their understanding of how social service agencies serving the older adult community can partner with the autism community to jointly meet their missions.
Content Area: Family and Sibling Support
Presenters:
Patricia Wright, Ph.D., MPH
National Director, Autism Services, Easter Seals
Easter Seals
Patricia Wright has a passion for education and advocacy and has dedicated her career to ensuring that individuals with autism are fully-included in society. Her personal mission is to offer the support that makes it possible for people with autism lead meaningful, happy and productive lives. As Easter Seals National Director of Autism Services, Wright leads autism programs for Easter Seals, one of the nation’s largest provider of services for individuals with autism across the life span.
Ruth Elaine Hane, B.S., Reiki, Master/Teacher
Practitioner
Chi Field Healthcare
Ruth Elaine Hane is the founder of the Aspie Get-Together social group and contributing author to Ask & Tell, a book on self-advocacy. Diagnosed as an adult, she understands and facilitates energy balancing through Chi Field Integration. She is the creator of a system for face processing/non-verbal communication, Face Windows. She advocates for people on the spectrum and serves on the ASA Board.