During the last twenty-five years I’ve been part, as a parent and/or a bookseller, of more than a thousand conferences on disabilities. They have been pretty much all over the map, both geographically and in terms of their subjects. I can remember one—only one—that I would just as soon have missed. And now that I think about it, I learned something valuable even there. All the rest offered nuggets of information, friendships and adventures that made them stand out in my memory as somewhere between “Wonderful” and “Well worth going!”

From time to time SpecialNeeds.com will feature particular meetings we believe you would want to know about. In the meantime, email me at Editor@SpecialNeeds.com with events you’d like to share.

Next week the Autism Institute of the University of San Diego holds its annual Summer conference.

The Institute was developed in 2005 through the vision of Dr. Anne M. Donnellan. Dr. Donnellan has been a pioneer in the field of autism since the 1970’s when she began her career in San Diego by opening the first pre-school for children with autism. This is not a conference about diet, legislation, or even, strictly speaking, about “awareness.” It is about understanding the condition, in particular from the point of view of those who have it.

The Monday keynote is by the extraordinary Paula Kluth. On Tuesday, Kate McGinnity and Nan Negri discuss Kate’s new book/DVD about video modeling, Lights! Camera! Autism! followed by a booksigning. With a roster of speakers you may not have heard before, the program emphasizes communication and technology—highly appropriate in the Age of the iPad!

The program is below. For more information and to register, http://www.sandiego.edu/soles/centers/autism_institute/conferences/index.php

–Hod Gray, Editor

Autism Institute Summer 2011 Conference

Curriculum, Communication and Community: Full Inclusion, Participation and Supported Living for All

June 27th – June 29th, 2011

Session 1: Where to Begin

Anne M. Donnellan, Ph.D. and Marthy Leary

Where to Begin . . .

For many years we naively believed that we understood the experiences of children labeled with autism. We can be forgiven for this assumption, as many learned folks also believed that we understood and praised us for how our insights matched the descriptions found in the professional literature. We believed what we were prepared to believe.

Our session covers some ground on commonly accepted assumptions and takes us on a rocky journey to examine the theory of the Least Dangerous Assumption and the notion that people might behave in unusual ways because that is the way their bodies are organized.

Session 2: “We Thought You’d Never Ask”: Voices From the Spectrum

Paula Kluth

In this presentation, Dr. Kluth explores the gap between the dominant discourse in autism and the stories of people on the spectrum themselves. She will share excerpts from her documentary film on the voices of people with autism and discuss what the messages from people with autism and Asperger syndrome mean for our daily work in schools and communities.

Session 3: “A Land We Can Share”: 10 Ways to Support Literacy Learning in the Inclusive Classroom

Paula Kluth

Come and learn about how we can give all students- including those with significant disabilities-access to the literate community. Participants will also learn specific strategies for including and supporting students with disabilities in reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities. Ideas for enhancing skills in comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary will be highlighted.

Session 4: Sorting out Speech: Understanding multiple methods of communication for people with autism

Christi Kasa

For many people with autism speech can be an tangled for of communication; at times clear with intent and meaning and at other times seemingly out of context, repetitive, and difficult to follow. During this presentation participants will learn about multiple forms us reliable and unreliable communication. Through the use of video clips and activities participants will learn many strategies to support useful speech in the classroom and the community.

Session 5: Just Give Him the Whale: Using Passions, Areas of Expertise, and Strengths to Support Students with Autism

Paula Kluth

Too often, the passions or favorites of students with autism are seen as problematic. In this presentation, Dr. Kluth will explore how honoring fascinations and using them as tools can help teachers calm, comfort, teach, inspire, and connect with their students with autism labels.

Session 6: The Past and Future of Autism Advocacy

Ari Ne’eman

Over the course of the last twenty years, there has been an unprecedented amount of public attention to the autism spectrum, ranging from star-studded fundraisers to “very special episodes” to congressional hearings and multi-part news specials. Yet, despite this unprecedented rise in public attention there has been very little practical progress in the community inclusion of Autistic adults. This lecture, given by the President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and the first openly Autistic presidential appointee, will explore the reasons behind these challenges and identify potential solutions to help improve the relevance of our national conversation on autism to the lives of Autistic people and their families.

Breakout Sessions:

IMPROV Your Communication

JD Walsh (Part 1)

This session will use the art of Improv/Comedy to develop and enhance your communication skills when living or working with individuals with severe communication impairments. Communication is a two way street and we usually spend a great deal of time writing goals for the individual with the needs. This session will help us look at ourselves as communication partners. As communication partners we can and do influence the conversation. Come and learn how to expand your skills as a communication partner, and expand the communication skills of those you live and work with. This will be fun and different that we can guarantee!

The “Why” of Inclusion

Diana Pastora Carson

Explore many reasons why inclusion is critical. What is the impact of inclusion on overall life quality? What is the impact of not facilitating inclusion? Learn from the life experience of one man, Joaquin Carson, who was not included as a child, and has lived in institutions twice as an adult. If you strive for inclusion, but have ever lost sight of why you are putting forth the effort, or simply want a refresher, this session will offer you solid grounding in the “why.”

Sensitivity and Awareness

Nan Negri and Kate McGinnity

Participants will have the opportunity to hear, through video tape, from writings and directly, firsthand accounts of the experience of autism. They will also have the opportunity to experience and explore activities designed to simulate the experience of being on the autism spectrum. They will learn how to use these activities in their own settings and will learn a process for developing activities that are specific to their settings and students/children.

Supported Communication

Martha Leary, Anne Donnellan

Many people with communication differences struggle to fit in and find ways to understand and be understood by others. At the same time, supporters have struggled with how to assist a person to use a communication system that can be understood by others; how to accommodate for a variety of social situations, personal needs, behavior expectations and cultural prejudices. Our session considers aspects of communication such as: the reasons why people communicate; interpreting and responding to a person’s own communication methods; ways to consider content for an augmentative system; and ways for supporting communication while promoting a presumption of competence for others to share.

Making your Technology Communicative

Darlene Hanson, MA, CCC

We often find ourselves with technology that we don’t know how to use ourselves or are overwhelmed with as we start to use it. In most situations the communication partner has to be comfortable with the needs that come with technology as well as the communicator. This session will discuss programming design, goal writing, and creating natural opportunities to use the technology we have today for communication.

Mac OS X and Apple’s iOS for Special Education and Accessibility

Sandy Brenner

Apple products reach all learners by including accessibility in their design from the ground up. Whether it’s the latest revision of Apple’s iOS for mobile devices, or Mac OS X, the operating systems include voice over, closed captioning, zoom, mono audio and supports hundreds of apps to assist special needs learners. Learn about Apple’s unique products to engage special needs learners and help those who work with them.

“Freedom at the Keyboard”: Strategies for Typing Independently to Communicate

Christi Kasa

This presentation will describe the best practice strategies used to teach people with autism to point and eventually type independently to communicate. Systematic strategies of providing communicative, physical, and emotional support will be demonstrated through the use of video analysis. Steps getting started and practicing will be shared.

Breakout Sessions:

IMPROV Your Communication

JD Walsh

This session will use the art of Improv/Comedy to develop and enhance your communication skills when living or working with individuals with severe communication impairments. Communication is a two way street and we usually spend a great deal of time writing goals for the individual with the needs. This session will help us look at ourselves as communication partners. As communication partners we can and do influence the conversation. Come and learn how to expand your skills as a communication partner, and expand the communication skills of those you live and work with. This will be fun and different that we can guarantee!

Let’s Create! Inclusion through Song and Dance

Diana Pastora Carson

Bring curricular standards, concepts, ideas, and vocabulary for this make-it, take-it style session. Together we will collaborate, share, and create songs, chants, poems, and kinesthetic activities geared toward your students’ learning styles. Bring laptops, flash drives, note paper, and cameras to help you preserve ideas.

Let’s Have a Conversation: Learning to Listen to Autistic Voices

Bev Harp

This presentation, by a self-advocate on the autism spectrum, will focus on the value of immediate and delayed echolalia, metaphorical speech, gesturing, and other often ignored or misunderstood forms of communication. Practical strategies for listening will be offered, and time will be allotted for questions and discussion. Discussion points will be taken from Square 8 blog posts, as well as from new material. Squawk!

Clinic for Making AAC an Attractive and Useful Option for People who Have Communication Differences

Darlene Hanson, Martha Leary, Nan Negri and Kate McGinnity

This session provides opportunities for hands-on use of the iPad and iPod Touch with communication programming as examples of practical, functional communication on common and affordable Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC devices). This session will have a flexible format tailored to the needs of participants.

Customized Support Services: The Ingredients for a Life Worth Living

Beth Gallagher

This session will take a look at strategies and tools that will help the participants to understand that it is possible to support all people in the community successfully. Through methods such as Person Centered Planning and creative strategies to design support teams, the presenter will demonstrate the possibilities. This presenter will share ideas and case stories of how thinking outside of the box is imperative to well developed supports.

Session 7: Lights! Camera! Autism! Using video technology to promote competence and enhance lives

Nan Negri and Kate McGinnity

Video modeling! Video social stories! Power Point Social Stories! Power Point Portfolios! Movie clips to teach social skills! Video Practice sequences as memory support! Video Relaxation support! Applications for electronic devices such as iPad, IPod Touch, Droids, MP3 Players, etc! There is no end to the creative support that can be provided through the use of video technology. This presentation, based on the soon to be released book of the same name, will review the research support for this technology and then introduce ways of using video technology to address skill development, maintenance of skill, transition planning, employment, support staff training, and self advocacy, all with an emphasis on supporting
independence.

Session 8: Marching to the Beat of Your Own Drum: Rhythmic Accommodations for Movement and Independence

Michelle Hardy

This session will look at rhythm as an accommodation for movement differences in individuals on the autism spectrum. It will address movement differences in autism based on a model of cerebellar dysfunction, specific movement disturbances identified in autism research, and a theoretical and clinical understanding of the influence of rhythm on movement. Practical application and hands-on experiences will be integrated in the session.

Breakout Sessions:

Self-Advocate Priorities in Public Policy

Ari Ne’eman

As Congress considers significant changes in disability programs relating to education, employment, long term services and supports and other areas, it is important to consider: what do people with disabilities think about these issues? Although many of the loudest voices in the disability advocacy world come from the parent and provider community, increased efforts on the part of groups run by people with disabilities from a wide variety of different backgrounds have helped to diversify the disability policy conversation in Washington, DC. This presentation will unpack some of the issues that have emerged in these discussions.

Let’s Create! Inclusion through Song and Dance

Diana Pastora Carson

Bring curricular standards, concepts, ideas, and vocabulary for this make-it, take-it style session. Together we will collaborate, share, and create songs, chants, poems, and kinesthetic activities geared toward your students’ learning styles. Bring laptops, flash drives, note paper, and cameras to help you preserve ideas.

The Hidden Curriculum: Social Understanding, Social Skills, and Belonging in K-12 Settings

Jodi Robledo and Stephen Hinkle

This session will focus on the importance of inclusion, social skills, friendships, and relationships for individuals with autism. Stephen Hinkle, an individual with autism, will highlight his personal experiences in this session. Strategies and discussion will focus on how as we can build social supports for individuals with autism in K-12 settings.

Yoga, Regulation & Relaxation

Nan Negri and Kate McGinnity

Stress in any of our lives can impact how we feel, how we relate, and how we perform. Given the additional levels of stress often reported by individuals with autism, it is helpful to consider
relaxation, regulation and coping strategies. In this session participants will be able to see
how yoga, regulation and a variety of relaxation strategies can positively impact the individuals we support, and ourselves! Come dressed comfortably for practice!

We Belong in the Community!

Colleen Harmon, Judee Chambliss and Shirley Hesche

This session will focus on the importance of people with disabilities to be actively involved and included in their community. We will demonstrate a model program for young adults (18-22) that is completely community based and serves all individuals with personalized supports. Session will also include young adults with autism and other disabilities who will share their story.

Customized Support Services: The Ingredients for a Life Worth Living

Beth Gallagher

This session will take a look at strategies and tools that will help the participants to understand that it is possible to support all people in the community successfully. Through methods such as Person Centered Planning and creative strategies to design support teams, the presenter will demonstrate the possibilities. This presenter will share ideas and case stories of how thinking outside of the box is imperative to well developed supports.

Neurologic Music Therapy: The Application of Rhythm in Autism

Michelle Hardy

This session will provide an overview of Neurologic Music Therapy and the use of rhythm in therapy for persons with autism, specifically looking at movement differences. Video examples and live demonstrations will be incorporated as well as opportunities for individual problem solving.