High-Functioning Autism: Proven & Practical Interventions for Challenging Behaviors in Children, Adolescents & Young Adults – Heather Dukes-Murray

This intensive, full day seminar provides proven intervention strategies, essential treatment tools, and behavioral techniques to help you analyze behaviors and actions, identify consequences for behaviors, and teach new skills to children, adolescents and young adults with high-functioning autism (HFA). Walk away with practical intervention techniques for social success, behavior changes and overcoming challenging co-occurring behaviors that deliver success through adulthood. The challenging co-occurring issues to be addressed are:

• Social and communication
• Sensory
• Anxiety/Rigidity/Non-compliance
• ADHD/ADD
• OCD
• Psychotropic medications

Gain valuable insight into common psychotropic medications, including both the helpful effects and potentially problematic side effects, that these individuals are prescribed. We will explore the advantage of pro-social punishment as a new idea to target and help make changes to difficult behaviors.

You will receive the tools necessary to gain effective collaboration between clinicians, educators and parents. Through case studies, video clips and class participation you will leave this seminar with the confidence to identify actions that cause impediments in change, utilize more successful consequences for behaviors, and teach new skills to children, adolescents, and young adults with HFA. Don’t just manage these individuals; provide interventions that can lead to successful independence into their adult years!

1. Implement interventions to teach children/adolescents diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism (HFA) the skills to independently manage their own regulation, anxiety and fears.
2. Design effective strategies to approach transitions and routine life challenges for children/adolescents diagnosed with HFA.
3. Utilize specific interventions to improve long-term social-emotional success for children/adolescents diagnosed with HFA.
4. Suggest specific sensory-based calming techniques to reduce anxiety for children/adolescents diagnosed with HFA.
5. Recognize the potential side effects of psychotropic medication that can mimic or cause behavioral issues related to HFA.
6. Design specific behavioral interventions to reduce frequency, intensity and duration of difficult behaviors in children/adolescents with HFA.

DSM-5® Changes & Autism

• DSM-IV® and DSM-5®criteria comparisons
• Social (pragmatic) communication disorder
• Impact on service delivery (school/community)
• Successfully link the home, school and therapist
• IEP/504/Do they qualify for school services?
• Co-morbid disorders: Why the difference is important

Social Skills Interventions

• Improve social skill deficits “Kid Cop” behaviors and why other kids get angry How to get peers to recognize them in positive ways Group activities Early intervention programs that can deliver long-term success

Communication Interventions

• Ways to work out conflicts that are effective in multiple settings
• Help peers, siblings and parents relate
• Verbal interventions that overload processing

Sensory Interventions

• Self-stimulation (appropriate & inappropriate)
• Sensory strategies to avoid
• Coping/calming techniques that reduce melt downs
• Sensory Diet

Anxiety Interventions

• Anxiety reducing activities
• How anxiety impacts rigidity
• Help them “self-regulate”
• Successful transitions

ADHD Interventions

• ADHD vs. hyper-focus
• Commonly prescribed medications and possible benefits and side effects
• Specific triggers and what fuels the rage
• Reduce aggressive and disruptive behaviors
• Mistakes that escalate defiant behaviors
• Overcome refusals to comply with even simple requests

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Interventions

• What to do when they become stuck on high interest areas
• Specific medication interventions
• Impact on socialization and behaviors

Interventions for Specific Difficult Behaviors

• Reduce Internet and electronic addictions
• Changes in technology, school systems and mental health delivery

Psychopharmacological Interventions

• Differentiate among common medications
• Medications that mimic difficult behaviors
• Side effects and off label use
• Impact of eating, sleeping and hormones on medication effectiveness

Case Studies, Demonstrations & Activities

• Case studies that demonstrate specific interventions for aggressive and non-complaint behaviors
• “Reminder video” technique: A way to facilitate behavioral rehearsal
• iPad® apps for social success, behavioral changes and speech and language
• Staff training techniques to experience what an individual on the spectrum might