Options Autism has proudly partnered with the organisers of The Autism Show to offer four online learning sessions on Interventions and Therapies throughout July and the start of August.
Led by the Options Clinical Team, specialists within each field will cover different aspects of Interventions and Therapies via zoom webinars which will take place over four Saturdays, starting on 11th July 2020 and concluding on 1st August 2020.
Dr Carly Pointon, Clinical Lead and Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Options Higford will introduce the series at 10am on the 11th July by looking at the different interventions and therapies available and the key questions to be asked when making an informed decision. She will discuss what indicates a therapy might be beneficial for children or adults and what is meant by ‘evidence base’, as well as where to get reliable information and advice. The series will then move into the first session on Language and Communication.
Delivered by Emma Brassington-Owens and Ashleigh Moses, Speech and Language Therapists at Underley Garden, this webinar on Saturday 11th July from 10.30am to 12 midday will look at the role of Speech and Language Therapists in supporting the language and communication of children and adults with autism, as well as the main therapies used, before focussing particularly on PECS, Lego Therapy, Colourful Semantics and Talking Mats.
On Saturday 18th July, 10am-11.30am, Lucy Shortt, Consultant Specialist Speech and Language Therapist at Options Higford will deliver a webinar on Social and Emotional Development. She will talk about how Speech and Language Therapists assess basic functional ability, as well as the importance of building on foundation skills and working collaboratively with everyone involved in the daily lives of children and young adults with autism. She will then look at what we mean by social skills, including the non-linguistic elements of communication, before studying some of the tools and interventions that can be used.
Sensory Processing and Motor Difficulties will take place at 10am-11.30am on Saturday 25th July and will be delivered by Jennifer Heath, Lead Occupational Therapist and Organisational Practitioner for Health and Therapy at Underley Garden, Jemma Baker, Occupational, Physical and Sensory Therapies Lead at Acorn Park and Hanna Munro, Occupational Therapist at Underley Garden. This Zoom webinar will look at the role of Occupational Therapists in improving the quality of life for children and adults with autism, both at home and in a school setting. It will provide an insight into how Occupational Therapists work to introduce, maintain, and improve skills for individuals with autism, and in so doing, develop their independence. The webinar will address the principle Occupational Therapy approaches and explore, in depth, sensory processing difficulties and Ayres’ Sensory Integration®.
The final session will take place on Saturday 1st August, 10am – 11.30am, on Patterns of Behaviour, led by Dr Freya Spicer-White, Clinical Lead and Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Options Autism North Wales Children’s and Adult’s Services. This webinar will look at the role of the Clinical Psychologist within a holistic multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach. Dr Freya Spicer-White will talk about the psychology of the ABC’s of behaviour – Antecedent, Behaviour, Consequence – and some of the strategies that are commonly used, such as ABC Charts and how to use the strategies correctly. Finally, she will give an overview of common distress tolerance skills, looking at a few of the helpful strategies in detail, discussing how they work and how to use them in creative ways.
The full series can be booked for just £29.99 for parents and carers, or £49.99 for Professionals. For more information on the speakers, the session content or to book a ticket, please visit: www.autismlearns.co.uk