ASHA

Program Description:

​We can see first hand the impact of a child’s problematic social behaviors on learning and on getting along with others. In particular, readiness to learn appropriate social skills can be an area of real challenge for children with Autism. This program will introduce the Socially Speaking® Program. It is designed to foster social communication skills by teaching self regulation, shaping specific play skills such as Cause & Effect play schemas, and facilitating verbal reasoning and rejecting skills. This course is designed to teach attendees to use play as a portal to developing self regulation and pragmatic skills, and preliteracy skills as a portal for academic and vocational success. Problematic behaviors arise from a child’s disconnect with his/her environment and those in it. Inappropriate social behaviors serve a purpose for children, and that purpose needs to be explored. Learn how to explore the purpose of the inappropriate behavior. Learn to identify behavioral triggers, starting points for remediation, and ways to bridge the gap between readiness to learn and actual performance. Learn to shift from a crisis intervention paradigm to one that proactively and consistently improves the child’s self regulation and social communication. More consistent, preventive behavior management fosters better anchoring to the environment i.e. orientation to person/place/time. More concrete, sequential, and practical strategies involving Whole Body Learning emphasizing the visual modality, can truly facilitate social communication skills; especially Body Awareness, Expressing Feelings, and Problem Solving. Attendees will develop indirect and direct clinical methods of intervention, involving preliteracy language concepts and understanding and using humor. Attendees will also gain insight into decreasing “situation specific” and “splintered” acquisition of skills, increasing consistency of performance and Theory of Mind, and understanding readiness indicators for assessment and treatment.

Target Audience:

• ​Speech Pathologists
  
• Psychologists
  
• Special Educators
  

Time-Ordered Agenda:

8:00-8:30      Registration and Sign-in
8:30-9:45      Introduction to Self-Regulation Issues in Children with Autism
                      ❖ The Roots of Problematic Behaviors; Cognitive Symptomology
                      ❖ Preventive Measures to Counteract “Crisis Intervention”
                      ❖ Behavior Management Using Indirect Clinical Intervention
                      ❖ An Overview of FBA and the ABC Chart
                      ❖ Clinical Considerations for Remediation
9:45-10:00    Fifteen Minute Break
10:00-11:45  Behavior Management Using Direct Clinical Intervention with Visual Supports
                      ❖ Visual Strategies™ Technique
                      ❖ Social Stories™ Technique
                      ❖ REPLAYS™ Technique
11:45-12:45  Lunch On Your Own (it is recommended to bring lunch due to parking)
12:34-2:00    A Developmental Framework for Assessing Social Communication Skills
                      ❖ The Importance of Play
                      ❖ The Socially Speaking™ Play Stages Formula for Assessment & Intervention
                      ❖ The Socially Speaking™ Social Skills Assessment Protocol
                      ❖ The Importance of Pre-Literacy Skills and the Pre-Reading Readiness Hierarchy
                     Humor: The Missing Puzzle Piece of a Social Skills Curriculum
                      ❖ Two Types of Humor and Developmental Considerations
                      ❖ Clinical Implications for Remediation
2:00-22:15    Fifteen Minute Break
2:15-3:30      A Suggested Framework for Treating Social Skills Challenges
                      ❖ The Socially Speaking™ “Social Skills Kits”: Suggestions for Verbal Rejection, Greetings, Turn Taking,                                          Respecting Boundaries, Problem Solving, and more!
                      ❖ Case Studies
                      ❖ Group Collaboration Activity to Internalize the Subject Matter
3:30-4:00      Conclusion/Closing Remarks
                      ❖ Q & A
                      ❖ Quick Look At Suggested Resources

Learning Objectives:

Following this program, attendees will be able to:

• List the developmental prerequisite skills children need before developing better social communication skills.
• Describe the role of Causality and humor in facilitating later problem solving skills.
  
• List indirect and direct clinical intervention methods to foster-compliance, to bridge the gap between readiness to learn and actual performance.
  
• List treatment strategies to promote targeted social skills.
  

Presenter:
Penina Rybak, MA/CCC-SLP, TSHH is a practicing, pediatric speech language pathologist and educational technology consultant, who earned her master’s degree from New York University.

She has been practicing for two decades, and has specialized in the treatment of young children with Autism/special needs, in home-based early intervention, cen-ter-based preschool intervention, self- contained school-age classrooms, and private practice. Penina participated in the 1995-2000 NY TRAID Project, in conjunction with the Westchester Institute of Human Development, which worked to integrate Apple™ technology into special education classrooms. She also spearheaded The Boardmaker™ Initiative, from 2008-2010, which worked on customizing curriculum needs and implementing behavior management strategies at a charter school in New York. It resulted in her launch of her Socially Speaking® Program, seminars, iPad® App, and textbook; Autism Intervention in the iEra.

Penina has lectured since 2010 about customizing social communication strategies, the developmental integration of iOS Apps into treatment, and early childhood play based assessment and intervention. She advocates the use of an eclectic, multi-sensory treatment approach, using customized lesson plans involving toys and tech. 

Speakers Financial & Non-Financial Disclosures: 

Financial: Penina Rybak receives both intellectual property rights and royal-ties from Apple™ Inc. for the sale of the Socially Speaking™ iPad® App in iTunes. Penina received honorarium for this event from The Hagedorn Little Village School.

Nonfinancial: Penina Rybak is a current member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and has been a stateside advisor to the CLASP International Autism Clinic in Zambia, Africa, for which she consults probono.

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Fee Schedule:

Registration by April 7, 2017 -  $175.00

Group Registration by April 7, 2017 (5 or more) - $165.00

Student (with Student ID) by April 7, 2017 - $140.00

Registration after April 7, 2017 - $190.00

.6 CEUs offered
Level: Intermediate ▪ Professional Area

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For Further Information, please contact Kimberly Neary or

Jessica Resnick 516-520-6076 or email at ashace@littlevillage.org
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