Autism 200

Please join us for Autism 207, the second of a 2 part series: “Transition to Adulthood”. People with developmental disorders are at an increased risk of abuse and neglect. This population also appears to be at an increased risk of exposure to intimate partner violence in childhood, which can produce lasting effects. At the same time, post-traumatic stress can be very difficult to detect and treat among developmentally delayed adults. This presentation will outline primary risks, as well as recommendations for assessment and treatment of trauma and neglect in adults with autism and developmental disorders.

Rachel L. Loftin, PhD, is a clinical and school psychologist who specializes in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She has extensive experience in diagnosis, assessment, and intervention to help promote positive outcomes for people with ASD. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Loftin has been involved in cases involving special education, family, criminal, and civil law. She has particular expertise working with people with autism, intellectual disability, and other conditions that can increase social vulnerability and complicate interactions with law enforcement. Dr. Loftin’s clinical-research interests include interventions to increase independent function in young adults, strategies for increasing self-monitoring, transition to adulthood, and sexuality education and sexual identity in people with ASD.
Dr. Loftin is adjunct faculty in the Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Department at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and in the Psychiatry Department of the Yale School of Medicine

Class Schedule: This class will be held Thursday, August 15, 2019, at Seattle Children’s Hospital in Wright Auditorium from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Please join us in person or watch on Facebook live. For more information see the  Autism 200 Series webpage.

This month’s Autism 200 series class is Autism 206, the first of a 2-part series: Transition to Adulthood: “My physical body and mind started shutting down”: Autistic burnout and the costs of coping and passing.

Instructor: Dora Raymaker, PhD

Although autistic adults have identified an urgent need to address autistic burnout – a near-total exhaustion, sense of hopelessness and detachment and loss of function in daily life (sometimes called autistic regression) – research on burnout and autism has focused on caregiver and provider burnout. The Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE), a long-standing community based participatory research partnership, has begun new research in this area. This presentation will first provide an understanding of the characteristics and experience of autistic burnout, and how it impacts people’s lives. Then we will discuss its potential causes, including prolonged masking of autistic traits. Lastly we will offer suggestions for preventing or reducing autistic burnout, and conclude with implications for healthcare and service providers.

Class Schedule: This class will be held Thursday, July 18, 2019, at Seattle Children’s Hospital in Wright Auditorium from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Please join us in person or watch on Facebook live. For more information see the  Autism 200 Series webpage.

This month’s Autism 200 series class is Autism 204: Perspectives on Psychiatric Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Instructor: Hower Kwon, MD

Although psychiatric medications are not typically prescribed Read full post »

This month’s Autism 200 series class is Autism 203:  The Visual Pathway in ASD: Explicit Teaching Methods to Promote Social Communication

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This month’s Autism 200 series class is Autism 202:  Best Practices in ASD Treatment: Applied Behavior Analysis Update

Instructors: Mendy Minjarez, PhD, and Elizabeth Hatzenbuhler, MS, BCBA

Interventions grounded in applied behavior analysis (ABA) have demonstrated effectiveness across a variety of individuals and behaviors especially within the treatment of autism. Decades of research support that ABA is an effective scientific methodology with an emphasis on teaching skills and reducing challenging behaviors. As ABA can be implemented in many different ways and the field has evolved over the last few decades, there are many types of treatment strategies supported by a large body of knowledge. As such, this can be confusing for parents, autistic individuals and other consumers outside of the field to navigate. This talk will provide an overview of the defining features of the science of ABA, provide an overview of some examples of how it can be applied and discuss quality indicators that can be used to evaluate ABA programs. It will also highlight some of the misconceptions and sources of confusion about ABA, including the origins of these issues as well as the response from the ABA field.  

This class will be held Thursday, February 21, 2019, at Seattle Children’s Hospital in Wright Auditorium from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Please join us in person or watch on Facebook live. For more information see the  Autism 200 Series webpage.