2018 Conference
Schedule

Stereotypic behaviour is commonly displayed by individuals with developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).  Engagement in stereotypy can be disruptive, impact learning, and may be viewed as socially stigmatizing.  Response interruption and redirection (RIRD) is a procedure whereby a sequence of demands is delivered contingent on stereotypy, and has been shown to be effective in reducing this behaviour.  A parametric analysis was conducted to compare the effectiveness of RIRD using a 3 demand procedure, to RIRD with 1 demand, with a 5-year old child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).  The intervention phase included the implementation of the RIRD-1 procedure, in addition to modelling appropriate play with toys.  Levels of motor stereotypy fell below 10% after implementation, in addition to an increase in functional play skills.

Children and adolescents with ASD frequently experience high levels of anxiety.  “Facing your Fears” is a group CBT anxiety treatment program designed for children ages 8-14 who have ASD and average to above-average intellectual functioning. A brief overview of the “Facing your Fears” program will be given. Preliminary results of a 5-year program evaluation project based out of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Hospital in collaboration with partner agencies in Toronto, Ontario will also be presented.

This Case Study will be presented from the perspective of each individual participant on the team. The entire team consisting of ASD Consultant, School Board Consultant, Parent, OAP Senior Therapist, School Teacher and the Educational Assistant. All of the members on the team will talk about their role on the Connections For Students (CFS) team and how the team worked together to support the successful transition of a student from a clinical program to a school environment.

This collection of studies aims to explore the utility of precision teaching in the learning of complex behavioural chains in children with autism. Three cases are presented that target different activities of daily living which often require extensive training due to the complexities of the tasks. With each of the participants, problematic component skills were taught to fluency prior to being included in the chain. Two of the studies used a forward chaining approach while the other used a backward chaining approach. All data was charted on the SCC and daily decisions made based on learner progress

Organizations overseeing multiple clinical teams doing similar work have the challenge of creating an environment of consistent, high quality clinical work across those teams. Kinark developed an internal clinical audit system for all Direct Service Intensive Behavioural Intervention teams in the Central East region of Ontario providing services to children with autism. This system defined the behavioural expectations of staff, created resources and a structure for monitoring those behaviours, and provided a mechanism for performance feedback and process improvements. This presentation will walk participants through development process for this system, steps taken to make this type of monitoring and feedback more acceptable to staff, and the impact of this system on clinical services.

Through client case studies and videos this workshop will demonstrate ways to mesh PECS and P2G training with a core vocabulary approach. Participants will learn effective partner strategies and be provided with resources and tools to build a client’s functional and independent communication.

This study used administrative data to compare health profiles in young adults with ASD (18–24 years of age) to same age peers with other developmental disabilities and those without developmental disabilities. Results showed that health and health service use patterns for young adults with ASD was unique compared to the other study groups. Young adults with ASD were more likely to have almost all the examined clinical health issues and health service use indicators compared to peers without developmental disability. They were more likely to have at least one psychiatric diagnosis, and visit the family physician, pediatrician, psychiatrist, and emergency department for psychiatric reasons, compared to peers with other developmental disability. Planning for the mental health care of transition age adults with ASD is an important priority for health policy.

This session aims to support clinical practitioners in understanding the long-term impact of treatment goals established in an IBI setting. As students transition to the classroom through the Connections for Students process, IBI goals and the transferring of mastered skills is an important consideration for teachers. The discussion will include the development of IEP goals, relevant data collection practices and assessment tools that can be effectively implemented in classroom settings. A case study will be explored as an example of the ways in which IBI goals evolve between clinical and classroom environments. This session will be facilitated by teacher-consultants from the TDSB’s Autism Services Team and one of their partners from Surrey Place’s School Support Program.

Within the new Ontario Autism Program, families have access to more training and support opportunities than ever before. We will start with a brief review of the literature on effective parent education methods. We will then present an overview of Family Services and Training in Toronto Autism Services by following real families on their journey through the service pathway. The range of services available to families will be reviewed, including outcome measures. We will also discuss brand new service offerings for families, including brief behavioral consultations and one-to-one follow up sessions that are available after attending group workshops. Some preliminary data on these new services will be examined. Videos, feedback , and written testimonials from families will be presented so they can describe their experiences in their own words.

Children with Autism learn through various strategies based on principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). Educational settings would benefit from incorporating ABA strategies in the classroom. That is, these methods and principles, when combined effective curriculum increases the likelihood that learning or behavior change takes place (Lindblad, 2006). Some of the strategies which have been combined in the classroom include prompting and fading, reinforcement, modelling, natural environment teaching and strategies to promote observational learning. When teachers and instructors have a background in the principles of ABA, they can use any combination of strategies necessary to help a child reach their individual goals. This presentation will demonstrate how to arrange a classroom to promote independent skills. Participants will learn how to create opportunities to promote observational learning and classroom routines.

Developed over a 25 year period by Vicci Tucci, the Competent Learner Model (CLM) integrates what is commonly considered “best practices” in both regular and special education settings. These empirically-validated practices include Applied Behavior Analysis, Direct Instruction, and Precision Teaching. CLM focuses on developing repertoires, rather than individual skills or at times disconnected skills, that are essential for our learners to be able “to act effectively in novel circumstances… and continue to learn in new life situations” (Tucci and Hursh, 1991, p. 350). Tucci (1991) identified seven repertoires that contribute to a learner’s ability to act effectively in numerous day to day contexts: talker, listener, participator, problem solver, observer, reader, and writer. Through a careful study of the Competent Learner Model, educators are well positioned to formulate, deliver, and monitor their instructional efforts and engineer effective learning environments for both teacher and learner success. This data and video-based presentation will highlight some of the critical features and benefits of the Competent Learner Model for both teacher and learner.

Connections for Students(CFS) is a joint Ministry initiative between the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the Ministry of Education. Surrey Place Centre and the TDSB work collaboratively to support children as they transition from Autism Intervention Programs (AIP) in to the school system. This presentation will describe some of the different classroom settings teacher/student ratios, program expectations by board, and process for placement) a student may transition to during the CFS process. Since an important component of Connections for Students includes generalizing mastered skills across environments, this presentation will also explore common skills and protocols that are transferred to classrooms. The aim of this presentation is to provide more information about a student’s next steps to help inform current programming and support future success.

Parent training is an integral part in the treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Lovaas, Koegel, Simmons and Long (1973) published one of the early journal articles citing the importance of training parents in order to support their child’s learning and maintain their treatment goals. In addition, effective parent training increases the quality of life for the family. While parent training occurs in our intensive programs, the training tends to be informal and focuses on generalization step of a particular skill acquisition program. The parent training model implemented on our team focused on some key components: parent-selected goals/targets; systematic simple instructions; and practice of the target skill with coaching and feedback. This presentation will focus on some of the effective strategies implemented by the team and a discussion on future strategies that may assist in further collaboration between the clinical team and parents.

In this presentation the process of introducing a functional communication system (i.e., Picture Exchange Communication System) for a pre-teen client in a group home setting will be discussed. Discussion will include a review of the mediator model with respect to teaching group home staff how to implement the communication system and disseminate the information to untrained staff. Incorporation of the guiding principles from the new Ontario Autism Program (OAP) will also be presented as a contributing factor to the successes experienced during service delivery. Benefits, challenges, and ideas for future directions of mediator model-based continuous service within the OAP will be examined, particularly as it pertains to focused individual behavioural service within Toronto Autism Services.