Autism Now Spring 2011 volume 24, number 1 OF SERVICE 2011 OPENING DOORS FOR AUTISM GALA SPONSORS AUTISM SOCIETY OF EDMONTON AREA www.autismedmonton.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS AUTISM SOCIETY OF EDMONTON AREA AUTISM SOCIETY OF EDMONTON AREA EXECUTIVE #101, 11720 Kingsway Avenue Arif Khan Edmonton, AB T5G 0X5 Jean Ashmore 780-453-3971 / 780-447-4948 Dr. Shane Lynch email: [email protected] Omair Peracha website: www.autismedmonton.org MEMBERS AT LARGE PLEASE PHONE THE SOCIETY FOR AD Laura Dumas PLACEMENT AND RATES Chris Kish Design by Backstreet Communications Dr. David Nicholas Layout by Ulysses Cortez Tom Shand Printed by McCallum Printing Group Inc. Bonnie Stonehouse PM# 40020698 Alan Wagner EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Dr. Deborah Barrett Karen Phillips Articles, opinions and events in this publication do not necessarily imply the endorsement of the Autism Society of Edmonton Area and are printed for information only. The editors of Autism Now are Deborah Barrett and Roman Sokolowski. The Autism Society of Edmonton Area is a non-profit organization founded in 1971 by a concerned group of parents and professionals. The Autism Society of Edmonton Area helps families and communities embrace and support people on the autism spectrum throughout their lives. 2 AUTISM SOCIETY OF EDMONTON AREA www.autismedmonton.org President’s Message Arif Khan volunteers who run programs and information evenings, staff tables at conferences and resource fairs, organize smaller events, and help keep the office organized. Each one of you “You make a living by what you get. makes a valuable contribution which helps ASEA serve the You make a life by what you give.” autism community. We couldn’t do it without you! - Winston Churchill Passionate volunteers and staff with this type of dedication are hard to find. I hope you know how much all of us appreciate your amazing work. You are all truly making a difference in the In a day and age where everyone is overworked and trying to lives of the children, adults and families every day! find balance, I want to thank our volunteers and staff for all their hard work! The key to our success rests with individuals like you! Thank you for your endless hours of inspiring dedication to our Thank you for all the good you do! cause. “Love cannot remain by itself -- it has no meaning. As we gear up for our Gala, I particularly want to thank the Love has to be put into action, and that action is Gala team. We are so thankful to the caring people who make service.” our Gala one of the most well-attended events in our city. In particular, I would like to thank Gino Ferri. Gino’s dedication, hard work, and enthusiasm speak volumes. Gino, we are so - Mother Teresa appreciative of all the time that you have given and continue to give to the Autism Society of Edmonton Area. Our caring staff continues to work hard in supporting and delivering services to our families. Thank you Dr. Deborah Barrett, Karen Phillips, Lynn Hughes, Patricia Terrett, Simonne Lougheed and Yvette Prefontaine. We are so appreciative of the endless time that you dedicate to our efforts. Your hard work and passion make ASEA’s work possible. I would also like to thank our wonderful board. The executive members include Jean Ashmore, Dr. Shane Lynch and Omair Peracha. We also benefit from the talents of our other board members Laura Dumas, Chris Kish, Dr. David Nicholas, Tom Shand, Bonnie Stonehouse and Alan Wagner. I am so appreciative of your service to ASEA. But there are still so many other people working together with ASEA to serve our community. Thank you to all of the 3 Education Matters Karen Bain On February 1, Dr. Shane Lynch, Behaviour Analyst, presented Part 1: Teacher Information Nights an instructive session regarding the development of Positive Behaviour Supports for students having autism. Dr. Lynch is This column typically focuses on educational issues related to highly skilful at explaining the PBS model, and especially in students having autism. I had the opportunity, however, to attend leading participants to understand the relationships between two recent Teacher Information Nights, and I wanted to ensure challenging behaviour, what precedes that behaviour, and the all readers are aware of these informative, ongoing educational negative and positive consequences that maintain it. events sponsored by ASEA. A series of sessions is currently being planned for the next school year, and you are encouraged to Dr. Lynch led the audience through six questions to directly provide suggestions related to your own interests and professional apply the steps of a functional behaviour assessment to their own development needs. students. Dr. Lynch and the group discussed the importance of the history and motivation level of behaviour, understanding On January 11, Anita Homan, Sharlyne Cheung, and Jenni the various “triggers” to that behaviour, clearly articulating what Schwetz provided three practical small group topics, followed by the student does, how staff respond, and especially selecting the larger group discussion. The informative sessions were followed skills and replacement behaviours to be taught. The audience by the main event of the evening: a celebration of the outstanding had practical experience working with a Competing Behaviour contributions of Educational Assistants. Pathway, a useful, visual way to interpret behaviour and select appropriate teaching goals as well as effective strategies. Anita presented on the topic of technology, including a demonstration of several assistive technology tools as well as Dr. Lynch is currently providing a number of workshops and software. She provided a list of applications for iPod and iPad use, professional services throughout Alberta, and ASEA is fortunate pointing out many exciting future academic and communication to have his expertise to support teachers who are attempting to opportunities to be realized through the use of technology. interpret problem behaviours. Because he is very knowledgeable about autism, Dr. Lynch can match the positive behaviour support Jenni discussed a variety of issues related to student behaviour, model to the special requirements for teaching students having actively engaging her group in discussion. She reviewed the use autism, a process that requires extra awareness and experience. of social stories, a popular strategy effective for the identification, The audience was engaged and positive about the description and positive practice of social skills. Sharlyn reviewed session, and they levels and appropriate uses of prompting and shadowing, which is a critical skill for effective teaching, especially for students who require more structure to learn. She described negative outcomes of inappropriate uses of prompting, as well as how to use physical, verbal, visual, and gestural prompts efficiently. All three presenters are experienced educators who understand the complexity of teaching students who have autism. Audience participation was excellent, with many questions and contributions. Presenters also praised the excellent work Educational Assistants do to support students having Autism Spectrum Disorders. It was a very positive evening! 4 AUTISM SOCIETY OF EDMONTON AREA www.autismedmonton.org appreciated the focus on supporting students to acquire skills they need to be socially and academically successful in their school programs. teaching – have all been previously described in this column. Given the complexity of developing more effective inclusive Part 2: A Focus on Professional Development practices, therefore, perhaps it would be useful for staff teaching and supporting students with autism spectrum disorders in In addition to Teacher Information Nights, I have recently inclusive classrooms to focus on two strands of professional attended several district and provincial professional development development. One strand would address understanding autism sessions, and I have read a set of new articles and resources related in general, as well as a review of evidence-based practices for to “inclusion”. I have also observed a number of “included” teaching. This would include at least basic awareness of diagnostic students in typical classrooms over the past month, and I continue information and characteristics, Positive Behaviour Supports, to be intrigued with the complexity of helping various teachers and Discrete Trial Teaching techniques, functional communication educational assistants examine their own competencies with regard training, pragmatic social language, general procedures, and to building “inclusive practices”. It seems particularly challenging theoretical knowledge of Applied Behaviour Analysis. Perhaps the for schools to promote opportunities for academic and social use of Evidence-Based Practice and Autism in the Schools (National interaction between students having autism spectrum disorders Autism Center) or Book 9 of Programming for Students with Special and their classmates, a necessary step toward social independence. Needs, Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, could be used to select competencies and expectations regarding this strand Often, although school staff are increasingly aware of the need of staff development. to promote independence and social engagement, there is not sufficient structured teaching to ensure this actually happens. The other strand would focus more specifically on inclusive Furthermore, much of the recent focus on “inclusion” has practices and differentiated instruction. Teaching age-appropriate related