UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Lauren Zima, supervisor for autism services at Chambersburg Area School District, has attended the National Autism Conference for six years and, while the conference spans just four days, she knows its resources are just a click away.
In an effort to provide the conference’s content to a greater audience, more than 20 full video sessions are available online for free. The National Autism Conference was held Aug. 4-7 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.
“The online sessions are incredibly useful on an ongoing basis,” said Zima. “We offer professional development for our staff who now have access to world-renowned professionals and specific content.”
Mike Miklos, a behavior analyst and Pennsylvania certified school psychologist who works as an educational consultant for the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN), views the sessions as an invaluable resource for parents and educators.
“There’s a full series of sessions that addresses what works with students with autism and it’s focused on interventions that have empirical evidence,” said Miklos. “The sessions are pertinent to teachers and parents who have school-aged children and cover issues including best practices for instruction.”
The National Autism Conference welcomes nearly 1,500 presenters, parents, educators and service providers each year to provide updates on autism research and to promote evidence-based interventions for school-based services. In 2014, attendees from 28 states and four countries, including Canada, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, were represented at the four-day conference.
Noteworthy online sessions include "Speech Basics for Children with Autism" (Session 32), "Teaching Generalized Multiply Controlled Verbal Behavior to Children with Autism" (44), "An Introduction to the Analysis of Verbal Behavior and Autism Interventions" (53) and "Anxiety in Persons on the Spectrum: The Psychological Equivalent of Fever" (72).
Additionally, Zima referenced the closing keynote from Amiris Dipuglia, mother of two with autism and a PaTTAN collaborator, as particularly impactful.
“Listening to Amiris renewed my commitment to the students I work with and increased my understanding of the challenges parents face every day,” said Zima. “It’s crucial that children with autism receive the support they need.”
Sessions are rated as beginner, intermediate and advanced, and are targeted for parents, administrators, educational professionals and related service providers (psychologists, physical therapists, speech therapists, and speech and language pathologists).
“The videos are a great resource for both educators and families,” added Zima. “One of the advantages is for parents who just received an autism diagnosis for a child. It gives them a good understanding for the support and services needed. It’s critical for those families.”
Archived sessions from the National Autism Conference are available at wpsu.org/live/Autism2014.