The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Even very verbal students with ASD struggle with information processing. Processing difficulties vary and oftentimes are not reflected on standardized testing. This video illustrated presentation will demonstrate practical strategies for identifying each individual’s unique processing style and share how to use this information to adapt educational, behavioral and therapeutic interventions. The information processing style  of children and adolescents with ASD can vary widely. The uniqueness of each individual's processing style may not be well understood or supported in the context of educational programming and therapeutic interventions. This video illustrated session will demonstrate how psychologists and other professionals can use informal assessment strategies to obtain information related to information processing. This session will also demonstrate how to adapt the presentation of the curriculum and modify behavior supports as well as treatment strategies to respond to an individual's processing strengths and challenges.

Information processing deficits are frequently reflected in behaviors that are perceived as non-compliant. The presentation will open with a series of video vignettes  portraying children and adolescents demonstrating a range of challenging behaviors. The next slides will demonstrate how interventions were structured to engage the individual's cooperation and explore the processing differences that contributed to the behaviors. The presentation will then provide practical strategies for supporting comprehension and cooperation.

Although there are some standardized non-verbal tests, most  psychologists rely on language when conducting assessments and when providing treatments. This presentation will provide psychologists and other professionals with a repertoire of informal assessment strategies that provide information beyond what can be obtained via standardized verbal and non-verbal test protocols. The content of the session also provides the participants with educational, behavioral, and therapeutic supports that capitalize on the information that is gathered by the informal assessment techniques. 

When individuals are highly verbal, it is often assumed that they can understand what they can express. This session demonstrates how the ability to memorize and recite information oftentimes far surpasses comprehension. Consistent with the title of this session, the visual aspect of the presentation provides a powerful illustration of the many options for enhancing comprehension and supporting development when words are not enough.

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