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| Now You're Talking: Teaching Simple and Complex Conversation Skills to Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Thursday, May 24, 2018 |
| 4:00 PM–7:00 PM |
| Manchester Grand Hyatt, Harbor Ballroom G |
| Area: AUT/PRA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Jennifer Yakos, M.A. |
| JENNIFER YAKOS (Institute for Behavioral Training), CECILIA KNIGHT (Institute for Behavioral Training) |
| Description: For many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), social language skills, specifically conversational skills, are one of the most difficult skill sets to develop and utilize effectively with others in the natural environment. Conversation skills are essential for individuals of all ages to engage in successful social interactions, gain general knowledge, participate in group activities, and form friendships. Such skills also lead to increased success in educational and vocational settings. As such, it is essential that clinicians are equipped to teach these skills to their clients with ASD. This workshop will examine the complex behavior of engaging in a conversation as a whole, and break down key component skills that can be individually taught through structured and naturalistic instructional activities. Practical teaching strategies will be given, to include visual supports, conversation games and activities, video modeling, and strategies to teach conversation rules. Discussion will also focus on the importance of other domain areas to facilitate conversation skill development, particularly perspective taking skills and executive function skills. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to: (1) identify key social language skills that contribute to engaging in successful conversations with others; (2) identify and discuss several practical instructional strategies for teaching social language skills; (3) discuss several other skill areas that should be taught in order to facilitate conversation skill development, including perspective taking and executive function skills; (4) practice designing an intervention to teach a conversation skill using one of the discussed instructional strategies. |
| Activities: Workshop instructional activities will include lecture, small and large group discussion, video demonstration, and practice activities. |
| Audience: This workshop is appropriate for BCBAs, BCaBAs, educators, speech and language pathologists, therapists, or other professionals who work with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), particularly in the areas of social skills, advanced communication skills, and social integration with others in schools and community settings. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Keyword(s): Advanced Communication, Conversation Skills, Social Language, Social Skills |