Free Family Art Class at YMCA Allegheny
Enjoy a day together making a keepsake Monoprint to take home. Great way for siblings to work together so bring the entire family! Support staff is welcomed also!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
1-2 p.m. for ages 5-9 year olds - Click HERE to register!
2-3 p.m. for ages 9 and up - Click HERE to register!
Registration is required!
Art Classes at
YMCA Allegheny 600 W. North Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa 15212
For additional information contact
ABOARD’s Autism Connection of PA at 412-781-4116
Click HERE for flyer!
Free FAMILY BOWLING DAY
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GET INTO SWIMMING!
SAFETY, FUN AND FITNESS!
Join the Allegheny YMCA & ABOARD’s Autism Connection of PA for FREE swim class lesson and tour of the facility!
Learn about how to use the Allegheny YMCA from sign in, to locker rooms, to pool and back! One person with autism and one caregiver, if needed, are welcome to register. To prevent overstimulation and provide a most positive experience, this will NOT be a “whole family” event. The Allegheny YMCA will offer future dates based upon demand; space is limited to provide quality experience for participants.
Sunday, September 16th
12:00 – 2:00 p.m Ages 8-12. Click HERE to Register
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Ages 8-12. CLOSED
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Ages 13-18. Click HERE to Register
Sunday, September 30th
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Ages 19-21. Click HERE to Register
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Adult Swim. Click HERE to Register
Registration is required!
Location:
Allegheny YMCA
600 W. North Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
For additional information contact
ABOARD’s Autism Connection of PA at 412-781-4116
or
The Allegheny YMCA, Kari Caldwell, Aquatics Director at 412-321-8594
Discovering the Possibilities with Visual Strategies
Meeting the Communication, Behavior &
Social Skill Challenges
in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Presenter: Linda Hodgdon, M.ED, CCC-SLP
Friday, October 26, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Four Points By Sheraton (Pittsburgh North)
910 Sheraton Drive - Mars, PA 16046
This program will demonstrate how and why to expand your use of visual supports. We will explore a number of strategies, including APPS and video, for use at school and home. The use of visual strategies is effective across skill levels, for students from early childhood through adult. Visual strategies work for verbal and nonverbal students. Children with high or low skills benefit from visual supports designed to match their capability. Numerous systems and strategies will be presented that have significantly improved both receptive and expressive communication, social interaction, educational participation and overall behavior.
Communication challenges are a defining feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders and many students with related learning needs. The difficulties with social skills and appropriate behavior that are common in these students are frequently related to the communication difficulties these students experience. Current thinking suggests that communication impairments transcend all aspects of the life of students with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. While it is common for educational programming to focus on the development of communication skills for these students, that focus tends to be directed toward developing the student’s expressive communication skills. Comparatively little attention is directed toward increasing the student’s ability to understand the communication in his life.For these children, their struggle with communication is far more complicated than just the development of verbal language. Understanding the communication of others, trying to figure out what is happening or not happening, handling changes and transitions, and interpreting cues and signals in the environment can all be areas of difficulty that result in frustration and behavior that is seen as disruptive.
At the same time, research demonstrates that most of these students display a relative strength in visual skills compared to their auditory abilities. Visual strategies capitalize on that strength. Using visual strategies to support communication helps students organize their lives, significantly reduces behavior problems and increases functional communication. This is accomplished in part by developing a system of visual tools and aids to increase comprehension. Schedules, aids to give directions, aids to give information, and aids to establish and communicate rules are some of the tools designed to increase the student’s understanding of what’s happening around him.
Visual tools and supports are not magic. They won’t fix every problem that students have, but they will provide a valuable framework to support their lives. Implementing a system of visual tools and supports significantly reduces various behavior problems and increases effective communication interactions for most students.
The principle of visually supported communication is simple; the impact on the functioning of most students with autism spectrum disorders and others with communication and behavior challenges, however, is profound. While many people use a few visual tools in their homes and education environments, few use this medium of communication support nearly as much as would be beneficial for these students.
Course Description
This program will demonstrate how and why to expand your use of visual supports. We will explore a number of strategies, including APPS and video, for use at school and home. The use of visual strategies is effective across skill levels, for students from early childhood through adult. Visual strategies work for verbal and nonverbal students. Children with high or low skills benefit from visual supports designed to match their capability. Numerous systems and strategies will be presented that have significantly improved both receptive and expressive communication, social interaction, educational participation and overall behavior.
Participant Objectives
At the conclusion of the program, participants should be able to:
• Identify significant factors in student learning and functioning style that affect communication.
• Informally assess the student’s communication strengths and challenges.
• Recognize situations where communication breakdowns can affect the student’s understanding, behavior and participation.
• Use the Guide for Assessing Behavior Situations to identify causes of behavior problems.
• Develop visual tools to support communication, behavior & social skills
• Use specific visual supports, including Apps and video, that have significantly improved student participation and behavior.
Continuing Education Credits
- AOTA OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
- PA EDUCATORS ACT 48
- SOCIAL WORKERS
- ASHA
- PSYCHOLOGIST
- COUNSELORS
GNC Liberty Mile Event
We’ve been “running around”
doing community autism events,
please run for us!
Runners take your mark!
GNC, Pittsburgh Three Rivers Marathon Launch
1st GNC Liberty Mile Event
August 17 at 7 p.m. on Liberty Avenue
Run from 17th street in the strip to 6th street downtown Pittsburgh
to an after party in Market Square.
Click HERE for more information.
Choose us for your charity running partner or!
Go to http://www.libertymile.org to register.
Select the GNC Live Well Liberty Mile enter
Giving Back Mile Registration -
Access Code: ABOARDMILE2012
and select ABOARD’s Autism Connection of PA
Help support our FREE activites such as:
Adult Autism night at Center for the Arts, Apple Store Apps Workshops, Learn to Row and Paddle with 3 Rivers Rowing, Autism Outdoors, The Outdoor Classroom Day, and 70 support groups in 44 Pennsylvania counties. We have also done county parent trainings, corporate Lunch n Learn sessions, preschool teacher training for 10 counties, and Disability Awareness night at PNC Park. All this plus we answer your calls every single day.
Providing Autism Support in Pennsylvania
412-781-4116 800-827-9385 support@AutismOfPA.org