Programs & Services

“Addressing Challenging Behaviors Using Visual Supports”
Susan Stokes, presenter
August 14 - 15, 2006

Description:
This training will provide participants with the necessary foundation or knowledge base for being able to effectively program for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Participants will learn how to reframe their thinking in addressing challenging behaviors exhibited by a person with ASD by understanding the behavior as a feature or characteristic of the person’s neurobiological disability of ASD. Research supports what has become fairly common knowledge amongst the autism community that people with autism spectrum disorder tend to learn and understand best when given information through their visual processing channel. Therefore, the use of visual support strategies has become a “best practice” approach for teaching people with autism spectrum disorder skills in all areas of functioning and, in helping them better understand environmental expectations thus increasing their independent functioning. This training will present numerous “proven to work” visual support strategies to address the unique learning needs of our folks with autism spectrum disorder. Most importantly, utilizing these instructional strategies addresses challenging behaviors in a proactive manner by reducing the stress, anxiety and frustration that may be experienced by people with ASD. Many “easy-to-make” visual support strategies for immediate use with folks with ASD will be shared throughout this workshop,, as well as ways to engineer the physical environment to provide the visual structure needed by learners with ASD to increase their comprehension and understanding.

Learner Outcomes:

• Develop an understanding of why challenging behaviors occur in people with autism spectrum disorder in relation to the features and characteristics of their disability.
• Develop an understanding of the importance of using visual support strategies with people with autism spectrum disorder, particularly to address challenging behaviors.
• Learn how to use numerous visual support strategies to teach various skills to people with autism spectrum disorder.
• Learn how to use numerous visual support strategies to increase understanding of environmental expectations for people with autism spectrum disorder

Schedule

August 14h

8:30-11:30
Part 1: What is autism spectrum disorder?

• Neurological foundation and causation.
• What labels or diagnoses fall under the autism spectrum disorder category?
• Medical terminology versus educational terminology.
• How is ASD diagno sed?
• Why are we seeing so many more students with ASD in schools?

12:30-4:00
Part 2: Understanding autism spectrum disorder from a behavioral perspective

• How the features and characteristics of ASD can present in a “behavioral” manner.
• Understanding the “iceberg” an alogy for addressing challenging behaviors: How to look at the challenging behavior in relation to the features and characteristics of the child’ s ASD.
• Team-based programming using a uniquely designed team planning guide for addressing challenging behavior s.
• The benefits of proactive support strategies versus reactive strategies.
• Common errors that occur in address challenging behaviors in students with ASD.
• The unique learning and processing styles of students with ASD.

4 - 4:30
University credit assignment

August 15

8 - 8:30
University credit assignment

8:30-11:30
Part 3: Instructional Support Strategies

• Instructional strategies specifically designed to address the features and characteristics of ASD to teach skills, modify curriculum and classroom activities, and increase independent functioning in all areas.
• Numerous “tools”, ideas and strategies to address the following areas:
• Overall comprehension / understanding
• Focused attention / shifting attention
• Organizational skills
• Multi-tasking / executive function skills
• Imitation
• Generalizing
• Decrease rigid, inflexible thinking
• Accommodate or modify re stricted, repetitive and perseverative patterns of behavior
• Expressive communication skills
• Social relations
• Sensory processing / self-regulation

12:30-4:30
Part 4: Engineering the physical environment to provide the visual structure needed by learners with ASD to increase their comprehension and understanding.

• Classroom
• Independent work areas
• Calming areas for self-regulation
• Playground
• Hallways
• Lockers
• Cafeteria
• Gym
• Bus

4-4:30
University credit assignment

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