Presenter: Ann England, MA.  CCC-SLP-L

Ann England, MA., CCC-SLP-L, is the Co-Coordinator of California’s statewide initiative on ASD, known as CAPTAIN (California Autism Training and Information Network) and the Assistant Director of the Diagnostic Center, Northern California, California Department of Education.  Ann has been appointed as the Chairperson of the task force on ASD that will develop CSHA’s Position Paper and Resource Guide: Roles and Responsibilities of SLPs with Respect to ASD in California. Ann received the CSHA District 4, 2015, Outstanding Achievement Award and is the Legislative Liaison for CSHA District 4.  Ann is also on the leadership team of the Positive Environments, Network of Trainers (PENT), California’s statewide initiative on positive behavioral supports and strategies.  Ann provides professional development throughout California and nationally on the topic of ASD.  She has served on the California Legislative Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism: Task Force on Education and Professional Development.  Ann is the author of the online resource, Ask A Specialist-ASD at www.askaspecialist.ca.gov, and oversees and maintains the CAPTAIN website at the Diagnostic Center, Northern California, at www.captain.ca.gov

Course Overview

There are now 110,486 students with ASD in our California schools, who are eligible for special education services.  With the increasing rates of students with ASD on the SLP’s caseload, the need for accurate information has become paramount.  This course will ensure the school-based SLP is knowledgeable about the most current research and resources in the area of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for ASD.  The SLP will learn about the patterns of strength and weakness that are common among those on the autism spectrum.  The patterns will help the SLP understand how and why certain focused intervention approaches have been developed which may work well for certain learners.  Specific strategies to address improvements in social interaction and social communication that affect the student’s ability to develop friendships, function effectively, achieve in school, and actively participate in everyday life will be described.  Emphasis will be placed on how to provide curriculum relevant speech/language/communication therapy and ways to collaborate with teachers to ensure student achievement and success in school.  Case studies, video demonstrations, collaboration tools and strategies, and opportunities to discuss, select and practice implementing EPBs will be incorporated.

As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to:

•  Define the evidence-based practices (EBPs) for ASD as determined by the critical review of research conducted by the National Professional Development Center on ASD and the National Autism Center’s National Standards Project, Phase 2 Report (NSP2).
•  Explain how implementation of EBPs with fidelity is a critical component of intervention and how the AFIRM (Autism Focused Intervention and Resource Modules) is an important tool to support fidelity of implementation of these focused interventions. 
•  Describe the statewide ASD initiative in California, known as CAPTAIN, as a premier resource of evidence-based/research-based information on ASD that supports the dissemination and implementation of EBPs with fidelity. 
•  Explain how social communication skills are integrated within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and explain why school is challenging for most students with ASD.  The workshop will include a discussion of executive function deficits, theory of mind, and weak central coherence, and how EBPs can be used by the SLP to support successful participation of the student with ASD in the classroom.
•   Discuss how a collaborative approach is efficacious to improve outcomes and effectiveness of EBPs for school-age individuals with ASD.  Explain how the Activity Matrix is a tool that can facilitate collaboration with the student’s teacher and other teaching team members to infuse social communication skills intervention throughout the student’s day.
•  Identify and apply those EBPs for ASD that especially apply to the role of the SLP, such as Social Narratives, Social Scripts, Modeling/Video Modeling, Social Skills Training, Pivotal Response Training, Functional Communication Training, Visual Supports, Peer-Mediated Instruction and Intervention, and the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).
•  Analyze a video of a real-life classroom, note the challenges the student with ASD might have and determine how to select appropriate EBPs to support the student.
•  Develop a curriculum-relevant intervention activity, incorporating EBPs, that supports the social communication skills of the student with ASD.