A Remarkable Number of Individuals with ASD are Diagnosed with Other Disorders 

There are two things that just about every educator and parent knows about Autism.  The first is that the numbers are still increasing; over 1000 qualify under Vermont special education rules, up from 250 in 2000.  The second thing is that every person on the autism spectrum is very different. To emphasize that complexity is perhaps the lesser known fact that a remarkable number of individuals with ASD have been diagnosed with other disorders as well. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression are more commonly diagnosed in individuals with ASD than in the general population. Other individuals with ASD show cognitive or social/emotional differences that do not meet full criteria for separate diagnoses but add significantly to their complexity.

We are fortunate to have Teresa Boick Phd coming to Montpelier, VT on December 4th to shed some light on this challenge. In her workshop Dr. Bolick will describe the co-existence of ASD and other disorders as well as challenges that may not be recognized as separate diagnoses (such as anxiety or inefficient executive functions).  Teresa will focus upon practical assessment and intervention strategies for school, home, and community helping participants to:

• Identify and describe the co-existing conditions that are most common in children and adolescents with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders;
• Describe a systematic approach to understanding the cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral challenges of individuals with co-existing disorders;
• Identify evidence-based educational, psychosocial, and behavioral interventions for co-existing challenges.

Dr. Bolick is a licensed psychologist and board certified behavior analyst with a special focus on autism spectrum disorders. She has provided evaluation and treatment to children, adolescents, and their families for many years. An enthusiastic speaker, Dr. Bolick presents workshops for parents, paraprofessionals, and professionals across North America. In addition, she  teaches in the Rivier University graduate program for ASD and in the NH LEND program. Dr. Bolick is the author of Asperger Syndrome and Adolescence: Helping Preteens and Teens Get Ready for the Real World and Asperger Syndrome and Young Children: Building Skills for the Real World as well as numerous articles and book chapters.

For more information on this exciting learning opportunity see: https://www.vthec.org/documents/2015/08/asd-all-the-other-ds.pdf

VT-HEC Announces New Learning Opportunities

The number of applications and computer programs that address specific learning issues and target particular skills has exploded over the past few years.  These new learning tools have greatly increased the options for helping struggling learners practice and apply the specific skills that they need and to become more independent and effective learners. There are so many choices and the quality of programs ranges so dramatically, however, that it can be very challenging to find the best programs and to know how to use them in an effective manner.

In the coming months the VT Higher Education Collaborative will be offering exciting new opportunities to explore the use of these new learning tools to support students with various learning challenges, from mild organizational issues to significant disabilities such as Autism.  These workshops are part of the VT-HEC’s continuing focus on helping to ensure that students who have barriers to their learning receive the most effective and appropriate learning opportunities and supports.

First, is a 2-part workshop series focused on how technology can be used with students who have a wide variety of challenges to their learning. Chris CichoskiKelly will explore this topic in depth and give participants time to address the needs of their own students. Chris will share a process to help choose which technology learning tool to try and how to collect the right data to evaluate its impact on student learning. Chris will also share his knowledge of effective programs to support students in reading, writing, note taking and others areas. Participants will have the opportunity to try out programs with students between the two workshops and receive direct feedback and support from Chris. This will be a great opportunity to get practical support in using technology to address learning challenges from an accomplished expert in the field. https://www.vthec.org/documents/2013/11/technology-updated.pdf

Next, is a workshop that will focus on using tablets (Ipads, Ipods, etc.) when working with students who have Learning Disabilities (LD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or other moderate to severe developmental disabilities. Kathryn Whitaker will be leading the morning session targeted on helping students with Learning Disabilities to practice and learn new skills and become more independent learners.  In the afternoon, Kathryn will focus on ASD and other developmental disabilities. She will show how tablets can be used in areas such as scheduling and self-management.  Kathryn will also share how tablets can be used for increasing learning for students who are more concrete learners. Kathryn serves as consultant and trainer for children with autism spectrum and other neuro-developmental disorders in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. She is also a trainer for Structured Teaching as well as being an instructor and presenter for the VT-HEC.

To find out more about these exciting learning opportunities see: https://www.vthec.org/documents/2013/10/autism.pdf  and https://www.vthec.org/documents/2013/11/technology-updated.pdf.

ASAP  – Approaching the Solution to the Autism Puzzle

The Vermont Interagency White Paper on Autism Spectrum Disorders of 2006 confirmed what all school districts in Vermont have been experiencing: a dramatic increase in students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) over an extended period of time.  Among the things the White Paper identified as being critical to address this growth was a significant increase in professional development to expand the capacity of case managers and staff to meet the needs of these students. Unfortunately, research has shown that most inservice training never results in the new skills and knowledge being consistently applied to benefit students.

VT-HEC’s new program, ASAP, aims to change that by developing a sustained, comprehensive and coordinated professional learning program on ASD that includes graduate courses, embedded professional development and workshop series that provide multiple year-round options for effective professional learning on ASD.  ASAP graduate courses can lead to VT-HEC’s Autism Specialist Certificate and include two courses to be offered this spring, ABA I starting in January, and ASD: Issues in Assessment & Intervention taught by the distinguished Dr. Particia Prelock of UVM. (If you have not taken a course from Patty you are missing a great opportunity to learn from an extremely knowledgeable and accomplished educator)

To help ensure professional development actually results in changes for students ASAP is providing a coordinated program of sustained and embedded inter-disciplinary professional development and supports for schools working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The ASAP team of experts takes the best interventions and assessments from multiple perspectives and delivers training and coaching to the school team to help them work together to apply the new skills to the students they are working with. Ultimately, it is the goal that these local school teams will be able to act as supports for other members of their school community in addressing the needs of all their students with ASD. ASAP has been piloting this program in Barre City and is now ready to accept new school districts in the program.

To compliment this work, the ASAP program is also offering a series of three workshops this spring focused on increasing learning opportunities for young children with ASD as well as a special workshop focusing on using iPads with students with ASD.  Chris Knippenberg, OT, will be the lead presenter for the series of workshops that will have participants actively engaged in developing the kind of appropriate tasks and materials for pre-school and early elementary-aged students with ASD that will result in increasing their engagement, independence and learning.

Kathryn Whitaker will be leading the workshop that will show how iPads can be used effectively and creatively for students with SLD in a morning session and ASD in the afternoon.   To find out more about these exciting learning opportunities see: https://www.vthec.org/documents/2013/10/autism.pdf  and https://www.vthec.org/documents/2013/11/technology-updated.pdf.

If you are particularly interested in how technology can be used with students who have challenges to their learning, the VT-HEC is offering another interesting option: two workshops with Chris CichoskiKelly that will explore this topic in depth and give you the opportunity to try out programs with students in between the two workshops https://www.vthec.org/documents/2013/11/technology-updated.pdf

For more information on ASAP and VT-HEC’s other related offerings contact Joy Wilcox, ASAP Coordinator  ([email protected])

Struggling Learners: Helping Students on the Autism Spectrum Meet Common Core ELA Standards

This is a summary of an article which explores the challenges that students, who may be quite bright but are on the autism spectrum, may have meeting the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. The authors believe this process will go more smoothly if educators and parents have a good understanding of three important psychological theories and develop classroom strategies to support students with these deficits.  The theories covered here are: Theory of Mind, Central Coherence and Executive Function. (more…)