presents

Teaching Communication
Skills for Independence

Presenter:
Anthony Castrogiovanni, Ph.D.
Pyramid Educational Consultants
Newark, Delaware


Tuesday
November 4, 2008

Registration 8:30am
Conference 9:00am-3:30pm

.5 CEUs offered
Level: Intermediate


Presenter:

Dr. Castrogiovanni began his career almost 25 years ago providing services to children and adults who were being discharged from The Willowbrook Developmental Center in New York. He developed one of the first token economy based agencies in New York and also developed a teaching curriculum. Since then he has specialized in the treatment of children with PDD and Autism Spectrum disorders as it impacts behavior and education, and has developed both site-based and in-home programs for children with autism. He has taught at SUNY at Stony Brook and has been published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and Research in Developmental Disabilities. He was the Director for the Bancroft Center for Autism Research and Educational Services. He has been a member of the Monitoring and Review Board for the Delaware Autistic Program. Dr. Castrogiovanni has been providing private consultation to families, schools and agencies since 1989.


Target Audience:


Overview

Individuals with complex communication needs must master certain critical communication skills if they are to function independently. One set of critical skills deals with expressive communication skills individuals need to convey important messages to others. Specific skills include requesting reinforcers, help or break; acceptance and rejection skills. These skills are crucial because if a person cannot communicate wants and needs they may demonstrate inappropriate behaviors. A second set of critical skills relates to receptive communication - a person's ability to understand messages from others. Skills include: waiting, following directions, schedule following and transitions. Failure to understand such messages may be dangerous. The focus of this workshop is the teaching of these nine critical skills. The strategies covered are relevant for anyone with complex communication needs regardless of their communication modality (e.g. Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), signing, speech). It is an important adjunct to training in PECS, but also stands alone for those who have not completed PECS training.

Time-Ordered Agenda

8:30 - 9:00 Registration (Continental Breakfast provided)

9:00 - 9:30 Defining functional communication objectives and building motivation to learn communication skills through effective use of reinforcement


9:30 - 9:45 Identifying functional communication objectives and building motivation to learn communication skills through effective use of reinforcement

9:45 - 10:00 Exploring the relationships between poor functional communication skills and contextually inappropriate behaviors

10:00 - 10:15 Break

10:15 - 11:00 Considerations in teaching communication skills: generalization, lesson formats, teaching strategies, error correction and data collection

11:00 - 11:30 Description of the Nine Critical Communication Skills, strategies to promote critical "speaker" skills (part 1)

11:30 - 12:30 Lunch (on your own)

12:30 - 2:00 Critical "speaker" skills (part 2)

2:00 - 2:15 Break (light refreshments provided)

2:15 - 3:30 Strategies to promote critical "listener" skills, additional important communication skills involving teachers, adults and peers

 

Learning Outcomes


As a result of this conference participants will be able to:

Right Click on Form below and hit "Print Picture"
Fill out form and mail to:
The Hagedorn Little Village School
750 Hicksville Rd. Seaford, NY 11783
(516) 520-6000

HLVS is approved by the Continuing Education Board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to provide continuing education activities in speech-language pathology and audiology. This program is offered for .5 CEUs (Intermediate level; Professional Area). ASHA CE Provider approval does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products, or clinical procedures.

Directions:

The Hagedorn Little Village School
750 Hicksville Rd. Seaford, NY 11783
(516) 520-6000


The School itself is not visible from the road. Look for a blue sign with gold letters stating The Hagedorn Little Village School marking the entrance to the school’s parking lot.

From the West: Southern State Parkway to Exit 29-107, Hicksville, Massapequa Exit. Go to end of ramp and at the light turn left onto 107N (which is Hicksville Road). Turn left immediately after the fire-house and before the Mobil gas station, into the parking lot.

From the East: Southern State Parkway to Exit 29N-107, Hicksville, Exit. You can only go right onto Hicksville Road (107N). Turn left immediately after the fire-house and before the Mobil gas station, into the parking lot.

From the LIE: to Exit 44 South-Route 135 S. Take 135 S to Exit 5 toward Massapequa. Turn left onto Hicksville Road/107 S. After you pass the third light, the entrance to the school and parking lot is on the right side, immediately after the Mobil gas station and before the fire house.

Public Transportation: Long Island Rail Road (Babylon Branch) to the Massapequa train station. It is a short taxicab ride from the train station to The Hagedorn Little Village School.


The Hagedorn Little Village School
750 Hicksville Road - Seaford, NY 11783
WWW.LITTLEVILLAGE.ORG - Information@littlevillage.org
(516) 520-6000 fax: (516) 520-6080