Country: Managua, Nicaragua
School/ Organizations/Center: Lincoln International Academy, Managua, Nicaragua
By Taveesha Guyton, Social Worker & soon-to-be CAS
I am a social work professional whose expertise is working with the intellectually-disabled and population of individuals with autism. I really love my job and who I work for. My sole purpose in my position is to provide resources, education and advocacy for this steady growing population, which affects 1 in 68 births in the United States.
1. Listen to you clients. What I want for my clients is very different from what they want for themselves. Many times in the field, professionals who work with clients look at the end result versus looking at the here and now. I have learned to listen what is being said and sometimes what is not being said.
2. Provide Choices. Providing choices. It is important to exercise the ability to choose. Providing options are the best way for people to find out what they like and do not like and it also helps create more conversation about many other things. Choice making is a skill I feel is not exercised enough with this population. (Check out great visual support ideas here.)
3. Ensure proper supports are in place. What is needed for this individual with autism to maintain a ” normal” life is usually the question asked and how do we as a professionally supportive community help create this world for this individual? Will the individual need vocational rehabilitation because their goal is to earn competitive wages? If the individual’s goal is to live alone, will this person need the assistance of a Supported Living Coach? Will this individual need guidance for activities of daily living such as medication management, making doctor’s appointments, meal preparation and grocery shopping? What about socialization and community-based outings? Will the individual need someone to help integrate them into the community?
In assisting in the coordination and maintenance of services for the individual with special needs or autism, social workers are able to make the lives of individuals with autism a little better.
By Anita Lesko, BSN, RN, MS, CRNA
Imagine going the first fifty years of your life with an invisible disorder that you don’t know you have. It affects every move you make, every word you speak, and simply everything you do. You realize you are different than other people and never fit in, only you don’t understand why. As a child, other children run away from you. You try and make friends only no one wants to be your friend. You have all kinds of sensory issues that others don’t seem to have. Your sense of taste, smell, touch, hearing, and vision are amplified as if you live in IMAX 24/7, 365 days a year. Every social interaction seems to end up as a negative one. When you attempt to join in on conversations at work, everyone ignores you as if you are invisible. You are a target of bullying and harassment, not only throughout your school years, but at your workplace as well. You spend fifty years feeling like you are on the outside of life looking in. As if there’s a glass shield keeping you away from joining in with others. You see people together out in restaurants, in malls, everywhere you go, you see them laughing, talking, having fun. Yet there you are, alone. You try and get used to it, but deep inside you long for even just one friend. The feeling of loneliness at times totally consumes you. Holidays are the worst, as you are aware that others are gathering for big celebrations, as you are home alone yet again. Sadly, this is all common to individuals on the autism spectrum.
Throughout her life, Lily had been marvelous with her hands. She loved creating beautiful knitted sweaters, delicate embroidery and award-winning recipes. As she aged, Lily’s eyesight began to fade, and those wonderful hands became idle and chilled. The Twiddle gave Lily’s inquisitive hands something to keep them active, engaged and warm. Lily was also reminded of how much she was loved, even when her daughter, the creator of Twiddle, couldn’t be with her.
Meet Twiddle, a new Certified Autism Resource that was created as a sensory tool for individuals with autism, dementia and other sensory conditions. Twiddles are playful comfort aids that assist people of all ages with a range of sensory-related conditions. Providing comfort or activity as needed,Twiddles assist in organizing tactile, visual and auditory input. They are also a way of expanding someone’s personal space, and with more than 25,000 sold since 1997, Twiddles provide an affordable, drug-free therapeutic alternative.
Written by Rachel Wise (article republished with permission)
In this article you will find 15 supportive behavior strategies for children on the autism spectrum (some strategies can be used with adults as well). Many of the strategies can also be used to help children without autism who have challenging behaviors.When caring for or working with a child with autism, a parent, teacher, or other adult may become frustrated with the child’s behavior. Behaviors can come on suddenly, last for hours, be hard to control, or make the adult scared or embarrassed.
Contributed by Awake Labs
At Awake Labs we are developing a tool to empower autistic individuals and their caregivers to better understand anxiety with the goal of preventing behaviour meltdowns. This tool is called Reveal. It’s a wearable device (it looks a bit like a fitbit) and app that measures and tracks anxiety in real time. I’m new to the team and the first couple of months have been eye opening. So far, these have been my main takeaways.
We offer a variety of continuing education courses for clinicians and educators working with children and adults in the areas of learning, communication, therapeutic intervention, wellness, and brain performance.
The primary objective of all training is to provide innovative clinical tools and strategies that can be immediately applied upon course completion in clinics, hospitals, schools, and homes.
With the demand for autism experts and autism therapists on the rise, it is more important than ever for teachers and health professionals to have some form of ASD training. At IBCCES, we are committed to providing professional development training through our Autism Certification.
Classroom 360 is dynamic and intensive 4 day training series for teachers supporting students with autism in a classroom setting. Strategies and procedures covered in the Classroom 360 training are supported by research addressing critical areas of instruction for students with autism.
Participants gain knowledge to assist in providing quality services to their students on the autism spectrum. A wide range of teaching materials to support students in the classroom is provided.
The 360 trainers bring a multitude of years of training and experience in the areas of ABA, Structured Teaching, Communication, Positive Behavior Supports, andacademic/cognitive supports.
The focus of Classroom 360 training is to address the needs of students with moderate to severe autism receiving instruction in elementary classrooms.
Participants earn 24 CPE hours of continuing education experience.
With the demand for autism experts and autism therapists on the rise, it is more important than ever for teachers and health professionals to have some form of ASD training. At IBCCES, we are committed to providing professional development training through our Autism Certification.
Since 1965, the Autism Society has embraced its mission to make a better world for all with autism. Shortly after its founding, the Autism Society held an inaugural national conference to discuss the state of children with ASD in America. This meeting brought together parents of children with ASD to share resources, experiences and develop strategies to be effective advocates for their children.
Today, the Autism Society’s annual conference represents one of the largest gathering of autism families, service providers, educators, policymakers and key allies in the disability community. We have an exciting list of speakers this year which include:
John Donvan and Caren Zucker, authors of In a Different Key – The Story of Autism Opening Keynote Speakers
Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes, Closing Keynote Speaker
Alycia Halladay, Chief Science Officer, Autism Science Foundation, General Session Speaker
Dr. Jim Ball, Keynote Speaker
With the demand for autism experts and autism therapists on the rise, it is more important than ever for teachers and health professionals to have some form of ASD training. At IBCCES, we are committed to providing professional development training through our Autism Certification.
October 26th – Rebecca Moyes, M.Ed.
Practical Strategies to Address Executive Functioning Skills in the Student with Autism
Executive functions are the cognitive tasks that allow us to plan, organize, initiate, attend to task, and regulate and monitor behavior. They are the key building blocks to learning! Until recently, not much has been known about how to address executive function disorder in children and adolescents with autism. Many times, the child’s problems were considered to be ‘just poor behavior,’ but we do know that kids with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and certain types of learning disabilities (including nonverbal learning disability) can all be impacted from executive function deficits. If your student or child has any of the following concerns, he may be struggling with executive function deficits:
Come and learn practical strategies for school and home that will empower your student to succeed, while capitalizing on his/her strengths.
October 27th – Jed Baker, Ph.D
All Kids Can Succeed: Effective Interventions for Behavioral and Social Challenges
Students on the autism spectrum and those with behavioral challenges often present with difficulty regulating their feelings and interacting socially. This workshop describes how to handle meltdowns and design effective behavior plans to prevent these moments and reduce frustration and anxiety. The second part of the presentation details strategies to motivate students to learn, ways to teach social skills, how to generalize skills into the natural setting and increase acceptance and tolerance from peers. Information will be imparted though lecture, interactive exercises, and video clips.
