Archive for the ‘SCERTS’ Category

Finding Balance

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

On the Autism Speaks website there is a community section called “In their Own Words” where you can read and share personal experiences about autism.

Here is a link to a thoughtful article about Finding Balance by Barry M. Prizant, Ph.D.

Posted in General, SCERTS | No Comments »

SCERTS in Inclusive Classroom Settings

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

Here is a great issue of The Inclusion Notebook from the University of Connecticut Center for Excellence in Disabilities that discusses the use of the SCERTS Model in inclusive classroom settings.

While reading through the issue, I was pleased to learn that the staff at Great Neck School, Waterford, CT, has recognized that one of the great features of the SCERTS Model is that it has a flexible framework, one that can incorporate a contemporary ABA approach into a model that is based on the most current research in child development.

In other words:

“If your multidisciplinary TEAM follows the SCERTS Model, you can be assured that a child’s needs are being addressed in a developmentally appropriate manner.”

Posted in ABA, Behavior, Emotional Regulation, Inclusion, LRE, Mainstreaming, SCERTS, Social Communication, Special Education | No Comments »

SCERTS authors Amy Wetherby (chair) and Emily Rubin serve on ASHA’s ASD Committee

Friday, March 9th, 2007

ASHA announced the availability of four new ASHA documents related to the role of the speech-language pathologist with respect to autism spectrum disorders. The documents were developed by ASHA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Members of the committee were Amy Wetherby (chair), Sylvia Diehl, Emily Rubin, Adriana Schuler, Linda Watson, Jane Wegner, and Ann-Mari Pierotti (ex officio). Celia Hooper, vice president for professional practices in speech-language pathology, 2003–2005, served as the monitoring officer.

Guidelines for Speech-Language Pathologists in Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders Across the Life Span (PDF)

Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists in Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders Across the Life Span: Position Statement (PDF)

Principles for Speech-Language Pathologists in Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders Across the Life Span: Technical Report (PDF)

Knowledge and Skills Needed by Speech-Language Pathologists for Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders Across the Life Span (PDF)

Posted in Reference, SCERTS, Social Communication | No Comments »

Emotions and Autism

Wednesday, January 31st, 2007

I recently gave a presentation at the Central Valley Regional Center that contained a section about visual supports. During that presentation I presented some examples of visuals that could be used for a variety of purposes related to emotional regulation. Below is a link to an article entitled “Teaching Children with ASD about Emotions” which was the bases for many of the examples I provided. It is made available courtesy of a collaborative effort between the Autism Resources website of the Tulare County Selpa and Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-SLP who is the director of Communication Crossroads and a co-author of the SCERTS Model.

Posted in Emotional Regulation, SCERTS, Visual Supports | No Comments »

Recap of 2005 – 2006

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007

September 2005 – I found myself speaking at Fresno Pacific University about the use of video and computer technology for assessment and training in special education.

November 2005 – Was a very exciting month for the group as we enjoyed a Question and Answer Session with:

Daniel Openden, Ph.D.
Autism Research & Training Center
Gevirtz Graduate School of Education
University of California Santa Barbara

This was an open forum, question and answer session to discuss Pivotal Response Treatment & Procedures for Including Children with Autism in School and in the Community.

click here to see the flyer

Many thanks to all those who supported this event and a special thank you to the following cosponsors:

The Central Valley Regional Center and the The Tulare County/District Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA)

January 2006 – The first month of 2006 brought together the collaborative efforts of so many people as the Autism Resources website was launched by The Tulare County/District Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA).

February 2006 – The Tulare County SELPA’s Autism Resources website was shared with the Directors of Special Education Committee.

Another exciting guest lecturer honored our group as we inviting you to attend an evening with:

Amy Laurent, Ed.M., OTR/L
is a pediatric occupational therapist who holds a Master’s in Special Education. Currently in private practice, she is a New England affiliate of Communication Crossroads and of Childhood Communication Services. Amy specializes in the education of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and related developmental disabilities. She is a co-author of the clinical manual for the SCERTS Model, a comprehensive educational approach for children with autism spectrum disorders and lectures internationally on topics related to therapeutic and educational intervention for children with ASD. She also serves
as an instructor for the Communication Disorders Department at the University of Rhode Island and for the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at Emerson College in Boston, MA.

Topic: Behavior and Emotional Regulation

click here to see the flyer

Many thanks to all those who supported this event and a special thank you to the following cosponsors:

The Central Valley Regional Center and the The Tulare County/District Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA)

May 2006 – I was surprised to receive a special award from the Community Advisory Committee here in Tulare County. The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) includes several parents of students with special needs and is appointed by Tulare County school districts and the Tulare County Board of Education. Although I received this award for the development of an on-line resource for parents and teachers of children with autism, this award really represents the efforts and contributions of each and everyone one of you. I simple could not have accomplished it without all of you.

August 2006 – Many of the collaborative efforts here in Tulare County to implement family-centered educational intervention programs for children with autism were demonstrated at the 1st SCERTS Institute in Providence, RI.

November 2006 – Additional opportunities for families and professionals in our area to see the positive impact that their work has on the lives of others were provided as many of the accomplishments were used to train the 280 attendees at the SCERTS Institute in San Jose. The SCERTS collaborators expressed their appreciation to the Tulare County Office of Education & College of the Sequoias Child Development Center and I was invited up on stage to provide a parent perspective during the Q & A portion.

December 2006 – We packed a lot into the final month of 2006. As a guest presenter at Tulare County’s Directors of Special Education Committee meeting I presented parent concerns related to ASD programming within the districts. Much of the information that was presented in that meeting will be made available on this web site in the near future. December also brought about our first training meeting designed to focus on the importance of using visuals supports when interacting with children with autism. The class went over very well. Our goal was to keep the group size small in order to truly support and teach each family how to use various tools and software programs such as Boardmaker. To insure that each family left the group with supports to take home, we had 1 support person available for each family. We will continue offering this class and plan to introduce a more advanced one as well.

Posted in Behavior, Boardmaker, Emotional Regulation, General, Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), SCERTS, Special Education, Visual Supports | No Comments »