Autism & Asperger's: Proven Techniques to Achieve Social and Academic Success in Children & Adolescents

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Timothy Kowalski, MA, CCC-SLP Related seminars and products

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Timothy P. Kowalski, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a licensed speech-language pathologist specializing in social-pragmatic communication deficits and internationally known expert on Asperger Syndrome. His Orlando practice has seen clients from Europe, South America and throughout the USA. Mr. Kowalski regularly consults to schools on best practices for students identified or suspected of having Asperger’s syndrome and provides schoolwide district inservices.

Mr. Kowalski presents internationally on a wide variety of issues relative to Asperger’s, is a guest lecturer at universities and colleges and is a consultant for forensic cases involving Asperger’s syndrome. He has worked in a variety of psychiatric healthcare delivery systems including in-patient and outpatient psychiatric hospitals, sex offender units, and school-based settings. Mr. Kowalski is the author of six books on Asperger syndrome: Asperger Syndrome Explained; Social-Pragmatic Success for Asperger Syndrome and Other Related Disorders; Are You In The Zone?; The Source for Asperger’s Syndrome; Me, Myself, and You; Understanding Emotions: A Guide for Adults; and an article entitled Assessing Social Communication in Asperger Syndrome.

He holds the position of vice president of professional practices in speech-language pathology for the Florida Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is also a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Autism Society of America, Council for Behavior Disorders, and the Council for Exceptional Children. Mr. Kowalski is the recipient of the “2010 Clinician of the Year Award” offered by the Florida Association of Speech- Language Pathologists and Audiologists and the 2011 FLASHA nominee for the ASHA Louis M. di Carlo Award for Recent Clinical Achievement. He holds the “TEAMS 2000 Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year” award for his work with Autism in the four-countywide greater Orlando, Florida metropolitan area and has served on the board of directors for the Greater Orlando Chapter of the Autism Society of America.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Timothy Kowalski is the President of Professional Communication Services, Inc. He receives royalties as a published author. Timothy Kowalski receives a speaking honorarium, recording royalties, and a consultant fee from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Timothy Kowalski a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Florida Association for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists.

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Objectives

1. Identify appropriate assessment tools to drive intervention and enhance functional outcome.
2. Formulate practical social goals to make IEPs a breeze.
3. Discover how to avoid potential litigation by knowing the common pitfalls.
4. Use the 4 theories of cognition to distinguish patterns of deficits and design treatment interventions.
5. Demonstrate appropriate strategies to address issues related to reading and writing.
6. Identify the cycle of anxiety and rage to formulate appropriate interventions.

Outline

Assessment of Client Behavior

• Changes to DSM-5® and how they contrast with new ICD-10
• Four theories of cognition to target intervention:
• Theory of Mind for perspective taking and social appropriateness
• Executive Function for flexibility, relevance, goal focus and experiential learning
• Central Coherence for details to eliminate arguments based on narrow definitions and overuse of detail
• Emotional Intelligence to address anxiety and rage

Evaluation Strategies

• Practical tools for all ages
• Pitfalls in social-pragmatic evaluation
• Avoiding potential litigation
• Tools to formulate appropriate social goals
• Formulate practical social goals to make IEPs a breeze

Proven Strategies to Improve:

Social Interaction and Social Communication

• Teach how to “fake it” – dealing w/rude behavior
• Nonverbal communication - impact on perspective taking
• Develop the fine art of negotiation
• Analyze what went wrong through Social Autopsies
• Visual cues to improve interaction skills
• Active listening for meaningful conversation
• ‘Repair Strategies’ for when things go wrong
• Develop flexibility and control - “Go with the flow” and not interrupt
• Sarcasm or bullying, which is it?

Social-Emotional Regulation

• Incorporate “Language of Emotions” to enhance empathy
• Safe Havens and Hot Passes to avoid emotional meltdown
• Relaxation techniques for anxiety and emotional regulation
• Let “Bygones be Bygones”
• Avoid emotional escalation

Academics

• Bloom’s Taxonomy to reveal the underlying problem
• Compensatory strategies to effectively compete with peers
• Enhance test taking and homework
• Teach the teacher (and others) to “think like the child”
• Take the client’s perspective to target intervention

Target Audience

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