Spurwink Autism Spectrum Disorder Professional Development Day

Spurwink is pleased to offer this free workshop opportunity to support Autism awareness. The workshop will consist of three presentations and participants will be given certificates of attendance for six contact hours.

Presentation One: What Does It Take To Regulate? Practical Strategies to Support Emotional Regulation

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder face unique challenges in learning to regulate emotions and behaviors.  Challenges with emotional regulation can affect an individual’s relationships, learning and ability to access varied activities and environments.  Through this presentation, we hope to provide families, professionals, and caregivers with a better understanding of the concept of emotional regulation as well as practical strategies to help an individual with ASD develop regulation skills.   We will explore levels of emotional dysregulation and help participants to create an individualized tool kit of language and behavioral intervention strategies.   Given that emotional regulation and dysregulation can look differently across individuals, we will take care to offer participants interventions that can be adapted to meet the needs of a variety of age and skill levels.

Presentation Two: Mrs. White Has a Sense of Humor, Mr. Brown Doesn’t!  Social Nuances in the Classroom and the Hidden Curriculum

 Are you working with a student that just doesn’t seem to fit in socially?  This training will encourage participants to examine challenging social situations that occur for some children with special needs in the school environment.  Participants will learn to identify related social nuances and develop strategies to teach new skills to promote positive social interactions.

Presentation Three: The ABC’s of FCT

Functional Communication will (hopefully) be de-mystified and together we can learn how to think about language through a functional lens…where the worlds of ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) merge.

Space is limited to 60 participants. In hopes of providing this opportunity to as many districts and providers as possible, we will be limiting the number of participants from one district or agency to three. For more information or to reserve your place in the training, please contact Eric Campbell at ecampbell@spurwink.org or (207) 871-1211 ext. 2155.

Presenters:

Eric Campbell has a Master’s Degree in Special Education and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Eric has worked with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families for 16 years in both the residential and school settings, including as a classroom teacher, program consultant, trainer, director of Spurwink’s therapeutic preschool program, and currently as Senior Program Director of Education.

Sheri Sastre has a Master’s Degree in Education and is a certified Special Education Teacher and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).  Sheri has worked with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ages birth to 21, and their families for 17 years in early intervention, preschool, day treatment and residential settings.  Sheri has worked at Spurwink for 15 years and has served as a teacher, consultant, administrator and Behavior Analyst in that time.  Sheri also has personal experience with Autism, as a parent of a 12-year-old daughter who was diagnosed at the age of 2.

Elizabeth (Betsey) Davis is an ASHA certified Speech and Language Pathologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).  Betsey has worked for Spurwink for over 15 years and prior to Spurwink, worked in Neurorehabilitation specializing in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).  Betsey has experience working with a variety of populations and ages from preschool to geriatrics.  Betsey currently works as a BCBA providing consultative services to local agencies and schools.