This is the First Issue of Autism News Orange County & the Rest of the World.

EditorialHow it all started: From the Autism NewsSingapore ................................................3

Where it all began: The Interagency AutismGroup......................................................5

For OC Kids ..........................................6Orange County Department of Educationand Regional Center................................7

Council for Exceptional Children............8

ResearchHome Videos of Young Children withAutism ....................................................8

SCERTS Model ....................................11

Education/TherapyS.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project of Orange County . . . .13

Adaptations to the Traditional PictureExchange Communication System (PECS)..............................................................15

Parent/FamilySea of Autism ........................................18REACT Foundation..............................19Life with Bryan......................................20

NewsEvent Highlights....................................22Calendar of Events ................................23

Editorial Team

Vera Bernard-Opitz, Ph.D., EditorTresa Oliveri, Associate Editor

Editorial BoardTeri Book

Joe Donnelly, M.D.Andrea Walker

Janis White, Ed.D.

Cover Feature

The drawing entitled “Clinic” is done byRichard Schwaab, an adult with autism, whodraws in seconds on whatever paper he can find.The drawings have to be removed from his sightright away. Drawings were taken with kindpermission from the book by Do ro t h e aSchwaab: Pictures and Drawings from People withAutism (Germ.)

Our logo is inspired by Jonathan Book, andthe editors appreciate his contribution.

Submission Policy

The Autism News of Orange County RW isa vailable free of charge to parents andp rofessionals of children with autism. T h eopinions expressed in the newsletter do notnecessarily represent the official view of theagencies involved.

Contributions from teachers, therapists,researchers and relatives/children of/with autismare welcome. The editors select articles and makenecessary changes.

Please submit articles in Microsoft Word usingfont size 11, double-spaced, and no more thanfour pages in length. Longer articles should havep re - a p p roval from the editor. Photos areencouraged and when submitted with articlesthe permission to include is assumed.

Please email all correspondence to:Dr. Vera Bernard-Opitz

vbernard@ocde.us

Please visit our website: www.autismnewsoc.org

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Advisory BoardLocal

Pauline A. Filipek, M.D.University of California, IrvineFor OC Kids

BJ Freeman, Ph.D.Autism Consultant

Wendy Goldberg, Ph.D.University of California, Irvine

Belinda Karge, Ph.D.Cal State University, Fullerton

Connie Kasari, Ph.D.University of California, Los Angeles

Marian Sigman, Ph.D.University of California, Los Angeles

Becky TouchetteSaddleback Unified School District

National/InternationalJay Birnbrauer, Ph.D.

Murdoch University, AustraliaV. Mark Durand, Ph.D.

University of South Florida,St. Petersberg

Patricia Howlin, Ph.D.St. Georges’s Hospital London, England

David Leach, Ph.D.Murdoch University, Australia

Gary Mesibov, Ph.D.University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill Division TEACCH

Fritz Poustka, M.D.University of Frankfurt, Germany

Salwanizah Bte Moh.SaidEarly Intervention, Autism Association, Singapore

Mission StatementAutism News Orange County & the Rest ofthe World is a collaborative publication forp a rents and professionals dedicated tosharing research-based strategies, innovativeeducational approaches, best practices andexperiences in the area of autism.

How it all started:From the Autism News Singapore to

the Autism News Orange County & theRest of the World (ANOC-RW)

Vera Bernard-Opitz

It takes about 21 hours to travel fro mSingapore to Irvine, but to turn the AutismNews Si n g a p o re into the Autism Ne w s

Orange County took almost a year and was anadventurous story.

Transitions are a roller coaster as you leavesteady states of life: familiar people, places,routes, ways of communicating, the safety net offriends, doctors, school and work environments.For fifteen ye a r sSi n g a p o re hadbeen our home:the tropical heat,the mixture ofc u l t u res andlanguages, the wayto my office at theDept. of So c i a lWo rk andPs ychology pastthe huge dragon ofa Chinese themepark, my work asan AssociateProfessor ofPsychology, the research and clinic sessions at theBICC (Behavioral In t e rvention Center forC h i l d ren) of the National Un i versity ofSingapore and last but not least the great team ofparents and professionals involved in the AutismNews Singapore.

Autism News Singapore had started in 1992as a magazine aimed to increase public awarenessfor autism, to share information about new ideasand developments and to give parents a platformto report experiences with their special child.

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When I came to Singapore in 1989 autism wasrather unknown and the first Si n g a p o re a nchildren with autism were only found after adetour through the database of Dr. BernardRimland in San Diego. With the support of AnnDevadas, the first Principal of Margaret DriveSpecial School, we started the first Singaporeanschool program for children with autism calledSTEP (Structured Teaching for ExceptionalPu p i l s ). The center combined stru c t u re dteaching in one-to-one settings with small groupinstructions. Supervising up to 100 children overten years along with a full time teachingcommitment turned out to be quite a challenge.Topics shared with the readers of the AutismNews covered a wide range of areas such as:

Parents, siblings and children with autismshared the ‘high’ and ‘low lights’ of their livesand readers got a glimpse into the family aspectof autism and changes over the years. Colleaguesfrom the US, Australia and Europe came toSingapore to give talks and workshops and theAutism News shared the highlights with 800readers in 14 countries.

O ver the years the number of children withautism in Si n g a p o re grew rapidly and we had toopen another center as the number of studentswent beyond 100. With improved publica w a reness demands for services incre a s e d

dramatically inside Si n g a p o re as well as itss u r rounding countries. Se rvices dive r s i fied withschools and private centers starting to offerp rograms for children with autism. A ve ry activeAutistic Society of Si n g a p o re was formed, whichs t a rted an impre s s i ve Early In t e rvention Pro g r a munder the competent guidance of Salwanizah andan Autism Re s o u rce Center d e veloped with ane xcellent re s o u rce library and continuededucation and training for parents and autismteachers. All this was re p o rted in the Au t i s mNews by our enthusiastic team of pare n t s ,students and professionals, who had many latesessions at our home to bring the latest news tothe readers. Without the ideals and the drive ofthe editorial board, especially my co-editors

Juniper Lee, Dr. Kwok Kian Woon and LeeHong Eng all this would not have beenpossible. It was difficult to leave such am o t i vated group of colleagues, who hadturned into friends and to give up the ideaof the Autism News Si n g a p o re .

But just as I searched years back forc h i l d ren with autism in a country thatclaimed not to have them, I looked for acomparable publication in our newh o m e t own, Irvine. To my surprise it didn’texist, but colleagues at the Orange CountyDe p a rtment of Education and For OC

Kids we re ve ry enthusiastic about the idea of sucha newsletter for Orange County. The warmwelcome by Andrea Wa l k e r, Coordinator of theS.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project and the sparkling eyes ofDr. Joe Do n n e l l y, Pediatric Ne u rologist at For OCKids, on presenting the idea of an Autism Ne w sOrange County will not be forgotten. The fir s tmeeting at the Interagency Autism Group felt likecoming home. My presentation of a possible newAutism News was received with so muchenthusiasm and support, that I knew the new s l e t t e rAutism News Orange County & the Rest of theWorld ( A N O C -RW) had found a new home.

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Autism News Singapore• Language Songs• Integrated Play Groups • Computer Assisted Instruction • Using mild distress in teaching • Effect of teaching conversational skills on Theory

of Mind• Enhancing speech through the IBM Speech Viewer• Comparison of various forms of parent training• Epidemiology of autism in Singapore• Teaching joint attention etc.

Our new publication has been madepossible by joint funding of theOrange County De p a rtment ofEducation, the Regional Center, theCouncil for Exceptional Children andFor OC Kids, agencies, which areintroduced on the following pages.

We are happy that a multi-disciplinary team of autism specialists,from the US, Europe, Australia andAsia, has agreed to be on our AdvisoryB o a rd. Pa rents, teachers, therapistsand well-known autism researchers join hands tos h a re the perspective of family,education/therapy and research.

We hope that our new group of readers willbenefit and enjoy the Autism News OrangeCounty just as much as our Singaporean groupdid and that the information provided is relevantnot just for Orange County, but to some extentfor the Rest of the World.

Vera Bernard-Opitz, Ph.D.Clin. Psych., Editor

Where it All Began:The Interagency Autism Group

Janis White

It all began in 1995 when Bill Bowman, thenew Executive Director for the RegionalCenter of Orange County, walked into the

office of Larry Belkin, Chief of Sp e c i a lEducation Services with the Orange CountyDepartment of Education, and talked about theidea of collaboration. One of the main issuesthat both organizations were struggling with wasin the area of autism. The growing number ofc h i l d ren being diagnosed, uncertainty of anincreasing number of programs that did notappear to be re s e a rch-based, and grow i n g

litigation prompted the importance of all entitiesto work together on behalf of children withautism and their families.

To this end, the Interagency Autism Groupwas born. Made up of all identifiedrepresentative groups and co-chaired by Bill andLarry, it is a time, monthly to discuss issuest h rough what Bill Bowman calls "dynamictension." The outcome has been many positivechanges in Orange County.

So who are the participants that belong to thisgroup? They are as follows:• The Regional Center of Orange County (RCOC)

which is a state and federally funded non-profitagency that operates under the umbrella of theDepartment of Developmental Services. Theyprovide IDEA Part C Services to children underthe age of three and services for those over threewho have a diagnosis of autism, mental retarda-tion, cerebral palsy, uncontrolled seizures, or simi-lar disabilities.

• The Orange County De p a rtment of Ed u c a t i o n ,which supports the 28 school districts in Or a n g eCounty and has a Special Schools division thatteaches children requiring specialized and inten-s i ve serv i c e .

• Other entities include, but are not limited to: U C IMedical Center, For OC Kids, Behavioral He a l t hSe rvices, re p re s e n t a t i ves from school districts, priva t epractitioners such as psychologists, speech/language

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Members of the Interagency Autism Group

pathologists, occupational therapists, physicaltherapists, physicians, and pare n t s .

There have been many exciting outcomes of thisgroup. The opening of an Orange CountyDepartment of Education program for childrenunder three with a diagnosis of autism, fundedby the Regional Center - The In t e r a g e n c yAssessment Center – has been a collaboration weare very proud of. It has expanded to two class-es in South County and one in North County. Athird site is under consideration in Santa Ana.Other results have been the Parent/ProfessionalSymposia, coordinated by Dr. Janis W h i t e ,which brings experts in the field to OrangeCounty to discuss various re s e a rch andinformation in the area of autism. Anotherexciting outcome is the S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project,coordinated by Andrea Walker, which provides amatrix of teacher training and support. TheInteragency Autism Group also offers physicianoutreach and is currently addressing social skillsfor the adolescent and high school age student.We will be highlighting some of these programsin subsequent articles.

The Interagency Autism Group continues toevolve and grow as it strives to obtain the latestinformation and provide quality programs tomeet the needs of children with autism.Through the collaborative efforts of those at thetable and behind the scenes, we are making adifference for the children in Orange County.

Janis White, Ed.D. Chief Operating OfficerRegional Center of Orange County.

For OC Kids is a multidisciplinary center,and a collaborative project between theUn i versity of California, Irvine and

C h i l d re n’s Hospital of Orange County, forautism and other developmental disord e r s .Created by Dr. Pauline Filipek from a grant fromthe Children and Families Commission ofOrange County, the mission of For OC Kids isto assess and treat children with autism inOrange County. In addition it prov i d e seducational opportunities for parents andprofessionals who care for them. The clinic alsooffers medication management andd e velopmental surveillance for childre ndiagnosed with autism and a variety of otherneurodevelopmental disorders.

Onsite speech, occupational and physicaltherapy are offered by The Children’s TherapyCenter of Garden Grove and Speech PathologyAssociates of Irvine. Currently in operation is atoddler program for children under thre evendored with the Regional Center of OrangeCounty that includes speech therapy,occupational therapy and physical therapy witha strong parental education component.

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Assessment & Therapy Room at For OC Kids.

Outcomes of the Interagency Autism Group• Interagency Assessment Centers (IAC)

• Parent/Professional Symposia

• S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project

• Physician Outreach

Mission

The OCDE provides over 163,000students with a world class educationthat emphasizes standard-based skills in

a safe and orderly learning environment. Thesestudents attend the following county-operatedp rograms and services: Outdoor Science,Regional Occupational Program, Sp e c i a lEducation and Student Programs.

• We partner with our districts to provide aworld class education to 500,000 students.

• We serve as a connecting agency amongOrange County school districts andcommunity college districts, local, state andfederal governmental agencies, andcommunity agencies.

• We respond to district and communityrequests for staff development, administrative,business, educational and support services.

• We partner with parents, businesses, and thecommunity for student success in OrangeCounty.

Text adapted from:The " Values and Mission Statement of the OCDE"William M. Habermehl – CountySuperintendent of Schools. www. o c d e . k 1 2 . c a . u s

Regional Center of Orange County( RCOC) is a nonprofit agency thatcontracts with the State of California

Department of Developmental Services and isthe entry point to the system of services forpeople with developmental disabilities,including mental retardation, autism, cerebralpalsy, and epilepsy. There are 21 RegionalCenters in the state and each addresses theunique needs of their community.

We are the third largest Regional Center inthe state and provide service coordination for13,000 people in Orange County. Any residentof Orange County, who has or is suspected ofhaving a developmental disability that originatedbefore age 18, is entitled to receive an assessmentto determine eligibility. Services are provided forthe entire life of a person with a developmentaldisability who is substantially disabled.

RCOC is also the lead agency for theCa l i f o rnia Early St a rt program which ismandated by IDEA Part C and coordinatesearly intervention services to children, birth to36 months of age, who have developmentaldisabilities, significant developmental delays orwho are at risk for having a delay.

If you are interested in learning more aboutbecoming a client of Regional Center, please callour Intake De p a rtment at (714) 796-5354.www.rcocdd.com

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Council for Exceptional ChildrenOverview

The Council for Exceptional Childre n(CEC) is the largest internationalprofessional organization dedicated to

improving educational outcomes for individualswith exceptionalities, students with disabilities,and/or the gifted. CEC advocates fora p p ropriate governmental policies, setsp rofessional standards, provides continualprofessional development, advocates for newlyand historically underserved individuals withexceptionalities, and helps professionals obtainconditions and resources necessary for effectiveprofessional practice.

Services Provided Professional development opportunities and

resources• 17 divisions for specialized information• Journals and newsletters with information on

new research findings, classroom practices thatwork, federal legislation, and policies

• Conventions and conferences• Special education publications • Information services such as the ERIC

Clearinghouse, the National Clearinghouse onCareers Serving Children with Disabilities,and the IDEA Partnerships, in cooperationwith the U.S. Department of Education

AudienceTeachers, administrators, students, pare n t s ,

p a r a p rofessionals, related support serv i c eproviders.

For more information: www.cec.org

Home Videos and Parent Reportsof Regression for

Young Children with AutismWendy A. Goldberg

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to analyzethe correspondence between pare n t -reported regression and independently-

coded observations of re g ression from earlyhome videotapes. Data are re p o rted on 53children with early autism or autistic regression.All children were infants and toddlers on thehome videotapes and were, on average, 6 years ofage when they entered the UC Irvine AutismRe s e a rch Project (P.I.: M.A. Spence) fordiagnostic testing and assessment. Pa re n t a lreports of regression came from the AutismDiagnostic In t e rv i ew - Revised and theRegression Supplement Form. Home videotapeswere coded using an adapted version of theOsterling & Dawson (1994) coding scheme.Consistency between parent reports of regressionand behaviors coded from videotapes rangedfrom a low of 62% for loss of play to a high of83% for language regression.

What is Regression in Autism?Re g ression in autism applies to the

phenomenon of apparently normal earlydevelopment followed by the loss of previouslyacquired skills and manifestation of symptoms ofautism. Autistic regression -- loss of languageand other skills --- typically occurs in the middleof the second year (Tuchman & Rapin, 1997).Estimates of the frequency of re g ression inautism range from 10-50% (Hoshino et al.,1987; Tuchman & Rapin, 1997).

Aim of the current studyThe aim of this study was to examine whether

t h e re is consistency between pare n t s’retrospective reports of losses in language andother domains and observer-rated videotapes ofchildren’s behavior during the early years. Based

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on other studies that have compared parentalre p o rts and observational data, moderateconcordance was expected.

Participants in the current studyFi f t y - t h ree children, mostly males (87%) met

criteria for this study. Children we re age 6 ona verage when they came in to the UC Irv i n eMedical Center for IQ testing and otherassessments. Most children completed theSt a n f o rd - Binet: FE assessment and had an ave r a g eIQ score of 76.33 (range 37-116; n = 30); somec h i l d ren took the Mullen Scales and scored 48.32on average (range 19-89; n = 20). Ethnicity was55% Caucasian, 23% Hispanic, 7% Asian and15% other. Due to some non-informativevideotapes, the actual sample size for thecomparisons ranged from 29-44.

Study MeasuresObserver-coded Videotape Measures

Home videotapes were brought in by familiesand were edited for up to 15 minutes of tape at6, 12, 18 and 24 months; expressive languagewas coded from all available tape. Tapes werecoded by 2-4 trained research assistants whowere "blind" to diagnostic category and who hadestablished good inter-coder re l i a b i l i t y.Frequencies for the behaviors of interest werecalculated as the number of behaviors divided bythe minutes of tape available. Language andnon-language behaviors were coded from thevideotapes.

Parent-report MeasuresParent reports of regression in autism came fromtwo sources:

Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R; Lord, Ru t t e r, & LeCouteur, 1994) andAutistic Diagnostic Observation Schedule –Generic (ADOS-G; Lord et al., 1989). Theseassessment instruments were used to diagnoseAutism Spectrum Disorders. The ADI–R is as t a n d a rd i zed interv i ew, conducted withcaregivers, which includes questions about thechild’s family, schooling, history, and behaviorscommonly associated with autistic disorder. TheADI-R also taps the loss of skills in domainssuch as communication, social interest andre s p o n s i veness, play and imagination. T h eADOS-G is a structured observation measure,which provides an evaluation ofcommunication, re c i p rocal social interaction,play, stereotypic behavior or restricted activitieswithin standard contexts.

Regression Supplement Form (RSF; Goldberg etal., 2003). The Regression Supplement Formprobes for type of loss, timing of loss, andpossible regain of 18 specific skills, along withconcurrent events. Consistent with the ADI-R,the skills re p resent the domains of spokenlanguage, non-verbal communication, sociali n t e rest and re s p o n s i veness, play andimagination. The RSF has been shown to havegood inter-coder reliability (91%) and validity. Itprovided detailed information about the timingand course of parent-reported regression.

What defines consistency betweenvideotapes and parent report?

Criteria were set a priori for determiningwhether or not regression occurred in languageand other domains based on the videotapecodes. If behaviors increased or did not changeover time, then "no regression" was coded. Ifbehaviors dropped by 50% or more withincreasing age, then "regression" was coded.These videotape-derived codes were comparedto parent reports to determine "consistency".

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Study ResultsMore consistency was found for Language

Regression (i.e., loss of language) than forOther Regression (e.g, social skills, gaze, play).

As depicted in the graph, consistency wasgreater for reports of No Language Regressioncompared to reports of Language Regression.

Do parent reports and independently-coded

videotapes yield similar conclusions?• A qualified "yes": Results of this study indicated

moderate to high consistency between pare n tre p o rts of re g ression and observer-coded homevideotapes. Mo re consistency was found forre p o rts of language re g ression than for othertypes of losses.

ReferencesGoldberg, W.A., Osann, K., Filipek, P. A . ,

L a u l h e re, T., Ja rvis, K., Mo d a h l ,C . , Flodman P.& Spence, M.A. (2003).Language and other regression: Assessmentand timing. Journal of Autism andDevelopmental Disorders, 33, 607-616.

Hoshino, Y., Kaneko, M., Yashima, Y. ,Kumashiro, H., Volkmar, F. R., & Cohen,D. J (1987). Clinical features of autisticchildren with setback course in their infan-cy. Japanese Journal of Psychiatry andNeurology, 41, 237-245.

L o rd, C., Ru t t e r, M., Goode, S.,Heemsbergen, J., Jordan, H., Mawhood, L.,& Schopler, E. (1989). Autism DiagnosticOb s e rvation Schedule: A standard i ze dobservation of communicative and socialb e h a v i o r. Journal of Autism andDevelopmental Disorders, 19, 185-212.

Lord, C., Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A.(1994). Autism Diagnostic In t e rv i ew -Revised: Journal of Autism andDevelopmental Disorders 24, 659-685

Osterling, J. & Dawson, G. (1994). Earlyrecognition of children with autism: Astudy of first birthday home videotapes.Journal of Autism and De ve l o p m e n t a lDisabilities, 24, 247-257.

Tuchman, R. F., & Rapin,I. (1997).Re g ression in perva s i ve deve l o p m e n t a ldisorders: Seizures and epileptiform elec-t roence-phalogram correlates. Pe d i a t r i c s ,99, 560-566.

Wendy Goldberg, Ph.D., Professor Clinical PsychologyUniversity of California, Irvine

Early Concerns• No gesturing or joint attention by

12 months

• No babbling by 12 months

• No single words by 16 months

• No symbolic play

• Loss of language or social skills

at any age

Autism News 10

The SCERTS ModelTeri Book

The SCERTS Model is ac o m p re h e n s i ve multidisciplinarya p p roach to organizing assessment

and interventions to enhance thecommunication and socio-emotionalabi lities of children with Au t i s t i cSp e c t rum Di s o rders. It was developed incollaboration by Prizant, We t h e r by,Rubin, Laurent and Ryd e l l .

These three basic areas provide the back-boneof the framew o rk for appropriate assessmentand intervention for children with autism andtheir families.

The framers of themodel re c o g n i ze thatthe most meaningf u llearning experiences inchildhood occur ine ve ryday activitieswithin the family andschool. The SCERTSframework has been setup to focus on settinggoals in socialcommunication andemotional regulation byi m p l e m e n t i n gtransactional supports throughout the child’sdaily activities. With the support of a multi-disciplinary approach involving general and spe-cial education, speech-language pathology,occupational therapy, psychology and socialwork, the SCERTS Model seeks to providesupport for the child’s overall development.

The Social Communication c o m p o n e n ta d d resses the child’s need to communicate ino rder to participate in social activities; to learn toplay and enjoy interactions with both adults andc h i l d ren. To be successful at these activities

c h i l d ren must acquire capacities in two majora reas: joint attention and symbolic behavior.These are two of the building blocks of socialcommunication. In c reased joint attention allow sthe child to share attention, emotions and expre s sintentions with social partners. T h ed e velopment of symbolic behavior invo l ve slearning to play, a necessary tool to engagementand interaction with peers. St ress is placed ond e veloping symbolic communication, fle x i b i l i t yto use verbal and non-verbal communication andthe ability to coordinate various means such asw o rds and gestures or pictures and vo c a l i z a t i o n s ,rather than having to rely on only one-waycommunication. With these abilities, a child will

be better able to deve l-op satisfaction in beingable to relate to others.

The Em o t i o n a lR e g u l a t i o ncomponent of theS C E RTS Model isfocused on helpingc h i l d ren to re g u l a t etheir emotionala rousal level. Autismis a disorder ofextremes of emotionalregulation that makes itdifficult for learning.

The goal of theSCERTS Model is to help a child learn tomaintain ‘optimal arousal’, not too high or toolow, which inhibit the child’s ability to engage inlearning opportunities. There are many factors( c o g n i t i ve, physical, sensory, motor,interpersonal, and social) that influence a child’sability to engage optimally. The SCERTSModel’s goal is to help a child adapt and copewith their individual daily challenges.

Transactional Su p p o rt is the ability toc o o rdinate efforts among all the part n e r s

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The acronym "SCERTS" is derived from the

major components of the actual modelSC - Social Communication

• Joint attention

• Symbolic behavior

ER - Emotional Regulation

• Optimal arousal

TS - Transactional Support

• Coordinated efforts

involved in interaction with a child and family.It invo l ves the development of a complex,dynamic and transactional relationship betweenc a re g i vers, professionals and other serv i c eproviders with the family. The SCERTS Model

stresses the importance of trust, respect andempowerment for the child and family so theycan learn to be competent and independent insupporting their child’s development. Supportis essential for families and professionals, and itcomes in different forms: • Families: education and emotional

understanding for parents and interpersonalskills for children with the opportunity forenhancing their educational and therapeutica b i l i t i e s .

• Professionals: Emotional support to cope withthe challenges of working with children withASK to prevent burnout.

The SCERTS Model is designed to prov i d estated core values and principles to guide

educational efforts for children with ASD.Application of this model should be focusedon the most functional and meaningful goalsfor the child and be respectful of the childand family. It is not a curriculum but rather

is a way of addressing the cored e velopmental challengesfaced by children with ASD.Designed to be flexible forc h i l d ren at all levels, theS C E RTS Model is a systemat-ic and semi-stru c t u red tool top rovide guidance and dire c-tion to professionals and fam-ilies attempting to organizingi n t e rventions for childre nwith ASD.

ReferencePrizant, B.M., We t h e r by, A.M.

Rubin, E., Laurant, A.C. & Ryd e ,P. (2002) Jenison Autism Jo u r n a l( Ed: Carol Gray), Vol. 14 (4)

Teri Book Pediatric Nurse Practioner, For OC Kids.

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Sensory stimulation can help children be moremotivated for learning

G O O D I D E A C O R N E RKids with and without

autism and their parents

may enjoy clip on timers

that remind them when play or out-

side time is over, how

much time they have for

a chore or just how long

they need to brush their

teeth. They can be found in paper

stores and often range below $5.00.

We are interested in sharing "Go o dIdeas" among parents and teachers. Ifyou’d like to share yours, please e-mail theeditor: vbernard@ocde.us

A Short Summary ofThe S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project of

Orange CountyAndrea Walker

In 1995, after one of our ve ry first presentations, Iread a comment in the evaluations, which stated," Great session but you spelled success wrong!’ We

h a ve been explaining our acronym since those earlydays. The Systematic Utilization of Compre h e n s i veStrategies for En s u ring Student Su c c e s s(S.U.C.S.E.S.S.) Project is now in its 8th ye a r. Itre p resents the integration ofthe current trends andre s e a rched interventions thata re effective in prov i d i n gs e rvices to students withAutism Sp e c t rum Di s o rd e r sand other related special needs,p reschool through adult. T h e13 Special Education LocalPlan Areas (SELPAs), w i t h i nOrange County, made that acollaborate commitment, eachp roviding financial support tothe maintenance of thisp roject. Our beginning focus was on the earlyp reschool programs (ages 3 to 5). We worked with ac o re group of staff for the first 2 years. Our Qu a l i t yIndicators (see below) and Belief Statements we reestablished in year 3. They have been re v i ewed bymany of our consultants and national expert s .Cu r rently there is at least one contact person for eachS E L PA who focuses on the educational issues forstudents with autism and their assigned staff. T h i sg roup meets monthly and continues to collaborate onlocal program and staff development needs.

The support to staff is critical as they are faced withthe challenges of providing quality educationalo p p o rtunities for their students with Autism Sp e c t ru mDi s o rders. Ongoing inservices, trainings and work-shops are available to parents, staff and otherp rofessionals within the Orange County are a .Recently the S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project has opened some

slots to those outside of our local area. Annually, ove r1200 participants attend our sessions, which areo f f e red at ve ry reasonable fees. In addition, moreemphasis on the needs of the older students and theirfamilies is provided. ( See page 23 of the upcomingtrainings in 2004). We have developed ongoingrelationships with many outstanding experts in thefield of autism. Mentor groups and focus meetings arep rovided to facilitate the improvement of skills after aninitial training. Some of our educational pro g r a m sand their staff are now receiving local and nationalrecognition for their quality. School districts alsop rovide local support to their staff and community.

" Best Practices" are foundational to the educationala p p roaches and modelimplemented in the Or a n g eCounty area. We re c o g n i ze thatthe power of "collaboration" isessential. T h rough the effort sof the Interagency Au t i s mGroup, collaboration betwe e nthe educational system,Regional Center, parents andlocal professional agenciescontinues to enhance thequality of services for familiesand their children. At the coreof these services is the

recognition of the unique developmental needs of eachstudent, which are addressed in a compre h e n s i veIn d i v i d u a l i zed Educational Program (IEP).

As we continue to face the challenges of prov i d i n ge f f e c t i ve educational services to our students ands u p p o rt to their families, we remember a quote, seenon a local marquee: ‘The road to success is alwaysunder construction!’ Each year parents, students andstaff members share new success stories.

For further information contact:Andrea Walker S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project Coordinator a.walker@ocde.usPhone: 714-966-4198

Autism News 13

E d u c a t i o n / T h e r a p y

Andrea Walker, the mind behind theS.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project

Quality Indicators

STAFF DEVELOPMENTStaff re c e i ves training and support in assessment

and evaluation, characteristics of Autism Sp e c t ru mDi s o rder (ASD), confid e n t i a l i t y, effectivei n s t ructional methodologies, curriculum, familys u p p o rt, applied behavioral analysis and planning,utilization of paraeducators, IEP deve l o p m e n t ,data collection and analysis and the integration ofc u r rent re s e a rch in the area of Au t i s m .

UTILIZATION OF VARIOUS INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Staff utilizes an integrated model ofinstructional strategies, which are consideredbest practices for use with students with AutismSpectrum Disorders. These methods focus on as t ru c t u red environment, intensive behavioralinstruction, generalization skills and integrationstrategies to enhance social, communicative andother functional skills.

CURRICULUMStaff utilizes and adopts core curriculum as

well as providing adaptations and modificationsas needed to individualize the students'instruction. In addi-tion, the curriculuma d d r e s s e sfunctionally baseda d a p t i ve skills,communication andlanguage, socialskills, technology,vocational andi n d e p e n d e n c etraining.

STRUCTURED ENVIRONMENTStaff provides a safe and stru c t u re d

environment which incorporates age appropriatei n s t ructional settings, heightened systems ofre i n f o rcement, positive behavioral support ,visually well defined areas, predictable routinesand schedules, low staff to student ratio andsupport in transitions throughout the day.

EVALUATION OFSTUDENT PROGRESS

Staff utilizes methods to evaluate studentp ro g ress, program effectiveness and the selection ofa p p ropriate instructional strategies and placement.

SUPPORT SERVICESThe allocation of non-student time is essential

for student pro g ress meetings, pare n tcollaboration and conferencing, staff and parenttraining, and team meetings. Multi-disciplinaryteams include credentialed, licensed staff andparaeducators.

SUPPORT FOR FAMILIESStaff provides ongoing parent education,

progress reports and regular communication tofoster home-to-school collaboration. Su p p o rt

may include parent groups, re f e r r a l s ,establishment of a family resource center,and collaboration with other agencies.

Autism News 14

E d u c a t i o n / T h e r a p y

G O O DI D E AC O R N E RVisual timers are agood alternative to reg-ular timers for visuallearners as well

as for children who are sound sensitiveand dislike the sound of alarms. Childrenwith ASD as well as children with ADHD can ben-efit. Check the internet or ask us for furtherinformation!

Developmental Adaptations to theTraditional Picture Exchange

System (PECS)Laurie Lennon

Au g m e n t a t i ve and altern a t i vecommunication (AAC) strategiesh a ve become increasingly popular in

the field of autism over the past ten ye a r s .Because autism is a disorder that invo l ves asocial communication impairment and aunique learning style, AAC strategies areoften quite beneficial. One of the most we l l -k n own AAC programs is the Pi c t u reExchange Communication System (PECS).

PECS is a teaching method developed to helpc h i l d ren and adults with autism to rapidlyacquire functional communication skills (Bondyand Frost, 1994). The PECS system clearly hasa number of strengths. First, it involves the useof a physical and pragmatic exchange thatfacilitates initiation. Mo res p e c i f i c a l l y, an individual isre q u i red to physically g i ve amessage that is represented inthe form of a photograph orp i c t u re in order to re c e i vesomething. Next, the use ofphotographs and picturecommunication symbols is beneficial becausec h i l d ren with autism often demonstrate ap re f e rence for visual, non-transient ve r s u sa u d i t o ry transient information (Prizant andSchuler, 1987; Schuler, 1995).

While transient information such as words orgestures disappear after the communicative act,non-transient information such as photographs,line drawings, and written words stay andprovide an individual with retrieval cues about"what to say". Photos, pictures, line-drawingsand written words have not only been found tos u p p o rt the development of symbolic

communication skills in children with autism,but also can facilitate the use of ve r b a lcommunication (Fay and Schuler, 1980;Mirenda and Schuler, 1989). An individual isable to visually scan an array of pictures andchoose the appropriate one to form appropriatew o rd combinations, simple and complexsentence structures. Pictures and written wordscan also serve as a means of assisting anindividual in making choices, decreasing relianceon verbal prompts, and increasing spontaneity.

Despite the benefits of the traditional PECSp rotocol, it presents with a number oflimitations. First, it addresses a restricted rangeof communicative functions. Young, pre-verbalchildren typically communicate for a wide rangeof functions, which include both instrumental(e.g., requesting or protesting for/againstobjects or action) and social (e.g., showing off,requesting a social routine, calling another’sattention to an item of interest) purposes.

Children with autism, who arefaced with social-communication challengesoften have difficulty withlearning to communicate forsocial functions, thus, earlyi n t e rvention efforts shouldfocus also on social functions

of communication. Next, the PECS protocoldoes not follow a developmental sequence oflanguage acquisition.

Typically developing children learn to use awide range of single words, known as semanticrelations. Examples of one-word semanticrelations include but are not limited to naming,calling, action words, negation, attributes,locations, possession, and agents (e.g., a personor character who performs an action).

Once a child has acquired a vocabulary of 50 –60 words, he will combine words into two—and thre e — w o rd utterances which are also

Autism News 15

E d u c a t i o n / T h e r a p y

Strengths of PECS• Facilitates spontaneity

• Utilizes visual system

• Helps with choices

k n own as semantic relations. His use oflanguage is flexible and he is able to combinew o rds to formulate numerous cre a t i veutterances. Conversely, children with autismoften present with a"gestalt" languagelearning style (Pr i z a n t ,1983). They use theirrote memory stre n g t h sto acquire wordcombinations or"chunks" of words thatthey use as a whole unit without understandingthe meaning of each word. This languagelearning style can present a challenge because achild who does not understand the meanings ofindividual words withina "chunk" will notcombine those word swith other words in aflexible manner.

An example of this isthe chunk, "I want."Children often learn thischunk as a single wordand do not combine theindividual words, "I"and "want" with otherw o rds in a flexiblemanner (e.g., "I go","Mommy want.") Theearly stage of the PECSp rotocol facilitates ac h i l d’s acquisition ofobject labels and then,the word combination,"I want + object/food label". In later stages, thep rogram addresses attribute + object wordcombinations (e.g., "red car") and promotes achild’s ability to combine the chunks "I want"and "I see" with object labels. A child who usesthis traditional system is at risk for developing a

limited language base. A number of speech andlanguage pathologists who specialize in autismhave made adaptations to the traditional PECSprotocol in order to address the core challenges

in children with autism,specifically problems inacquiring socialcommunication and a flexiblelanguage system. Colleaguesin Baltimore, Maryland andNew England developed theuse of a color-coded

communication system. An example of thissystem was also featured in a recent issue of TheJenison Autism Journal, edited by Carol Gray,which introduced the SCERTS model (Prizant,

et al, 2002). Like PECS, itinvolves the use of a pragmaticexchange, but also considers ani n d i v i d u a l’s unique profile ofcommunication strengths andweaknesses. Since manyindividuals with autism havegreater difficulty with initiatingcommunication for socialpurposes and joint attention thedevelopment of social interaction(i.e., requesting social games orroutines), joint attention (i.e.,calling another’s attention to anitem of interest), and strategiesfor emotional regulation (i.e.,requesting hugs) is a core featureof the new adapted visualcommunication system. Picturesymbols should not only be

i n t roduced for the purpose of re q u e s t i n gpreferred foods, toys, and/or activities (e.g.,bubbles, balloons, crackers); but should alsoallow a child to request social routines (e.g.,peek-a-boo, chase, familiar songs, etc.); actionwords (e.g., eat, drink, jump, crawl, clap, etc.);

Autism News 16

E d u c a t i o n / T h e r a p y

Concerns of PECS• Restricts Communication

• Not developmentally based

• Enhances rigid communication

common environments (e.g., playground, pool,etc.); attributes (e.g., size, colors) and internalstates (e.g., mad, happy, sad).

A color-coded system isrecommended to facilitate a child’sindependent communication.Individual phrase and sentencestrips are created with color-codedboxes in order to promote the pro-duction of word combinations. For example, asentence strip that involves a red box and a greenbox can promote an agent + action combination.

A child can then match the appropriate symbolsto their appropriate location on the board and

exchange the whole board to his lis-tener to make a request (e.g.,"mom kick," "dad throw," and"child jump") or a comment (e.g.,"baby doll + drink", "Elmo eat").Once a child has developed the useof a wide range of two word

combinations, this system can be expanded toform three- word combinations.

Autism News 17

E d u c a t i o n / T h e r a p y

Activities should be cre -ated that are specific toeach child’s interest,stage of languagedevelopment and needs!

Additional Ideas1. Introduce a game of "Simon Says." Place the photographs, picture communication Symbols or written symbols, or written words that representthe child and his communicative partner (the adult) on a felt board along with symbols which depict actionwords and a red and green sentence strip. Take turns playing the role of "Simon" and giving your partner adirection to follow by pairing a visual and a verbal word combination.

3. Model commenting behavior duringplay with dolls and props.

An adult can pair her verbal models with a visual model to reflect a variety of word combinations such as "babydrink", "hug baby", "baby tired." etc.

4. Incorporate the system intopredictable story-book routines.

Linguistic concept, commenting, and turn-taking skills can all be addressed within this context. For example,an adult can provide a visual and verbal model when reading books such as:• I Went Walking by Sue Williams• Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Polar Bear, Polar Bear by Eric Carle

References are available upon request

2 . Use a felt board for a sharedbubble blowing.

Targeted two-word semantic relations can include:

• Agent + action — (Mommy blow)• Action + object — (blow bubble)• Attribute + object — (big bubble)

Targeted three-word semantic relations can include:

• Agent +action +object (Child blow bubbles)

• Action +attributes +object(blow big bubbles

Laurie Lennon, Speech and Language Pathologist,

Speech Pathology Associates (SPA), Irvine.For OC Kids

Autism News 18

Sea of Autism

My son Trevor is10 years old, hehas big gre e n

eyes, he has a silly littlegiggle and he has autism.Tre vor cannot speak.He uses a Pi c t u reCommunication Bookto tel l me what hewants. In the future Iexpect he will use acomputer device tocommunicate. Despite hismany challenges fro ms e i z u res, poor motorplanning, hypotonia andreflux disorder, he managesto wake up each morning full of energy with abig smile on his face and lots of hugs forMommy and Daddy.

Trevor needs constant 1:1 supervision – hedoesn’t sit still for long nor engage in watchingvideos or Play Station games. We have had anABA home program for six years. At present heattends a special day class where he is makingp ro g ress communicating with others andlearning functional skills.

Trevor loves summer surf camp, horsebackriding, swimming, riding in cars, playing in thep a rk and eating chocolate pudding (soypudding that is – he is on a special diet). Foryears our family went through tremendouslydifficult and stressful times when behaviors wereout of control and illness struck frequently.With the help of caring doctors, anunderstanding and patient psyc h i a t r i s t ,n e u rologist, knowledgeable ABA therapists,teachers, parent support groups and lov i n gfamily – we have learned to adjust to the ever-changing world of autism. Trevor continues tomake strides, we will forever help and guide himto be all that he can be.

P a r e n t / F a m i l y SEA OF AUTISM

The sun kisses your neck Our shadows grow tall, As we walk the beach silently

You and I, my son, my little love

The waves crash against the shoreWill it be like this forever more?Autism crushes against your soulTaking its tollTurbulent surf, stormy days,You communicate in different ways

Tides change Raging squalls arise without warningEach wave, a new challengeEach night, the same longing

The seas are in turmoilWe’re caught in its curlI feel as if I’ll drownIn this Sea of AutismI’m afraid, I’m confusedYet you cling to meAs if you can see

The unknown strength rising in me

I won’t give inI fight, I struggleI pray for calm watersIn this Sea of Autism

Adrift on the stormy seaI learn to surviveEventually, I come up for air

Stop living in despairRide the waveBalance the boardAdjust, to endure the strainI learn to cut an edge and surf safely Through this Sea of AutismThe peace of the calm is relishedLessons of the sea embellished in myheartAs I learn to love and embrace this….Sea of Autism

We glide onto the shoreWhere weWalk the beach silently You and I, my son, my little love

Dale Wood, proud to be Trevor’s Mother

Autism News 19

P a r e n t / F a m i l y

REACT FoundationJon Harb

After 15 years in the high-tech fiber opticsi n d u s t ry, I’ve decided to spend them a j o rity of my time organizing an effort

to help young children with autism develop andm a i n s t ream into their society as they appro a c hgrade school. I’m inspired by four-year-old son,Noah, a high-functioning child with autism tomake REACT Foundation a success.

R E ACT Foundation stands for Res o u rces forAutistic Ch i l d re n’s Th e r a p y. It is dedicated tohelping young children with autism thro u g hearly intervention, speech, language,occupational, and social therapies. Especiallywith all the budget cuts in our schools and thes l ow economy, it’s important that we stay focusedon the critical early years, which is a key time forchildhood development. By providing thesei n c reased services to children in the 2-5 ye a r - o l drange, the key typical development years forlanguage, the opportunity for these children tom a i n s t ream can be maximized. The goal is tobuild on the strengths of children with autism,while helping them develop the basicre q u i rements for socialization – speech, languageand typical physical re q u i rements to be able tointeract more normally with their peers. Fu n d swill be raised from industry and the private sectorin general with a focus on high-tech,e n t e rtainment and the general population.Cu r rently planning for the use of the funds isunder consideration.

REACT Foundation is focused on help nowthat will have an immediate effect on youngc h i l d ren. with autism. The Fo u n d a t i o n’soverhead will be limited to 25% and willmaximize the effectiveness of every donationdollar. The majority of the initial funds will befocused in Orange County and Santa ClaraCounty in California, but our goal is toeventually expand to other areas.

REACT Foundation is now being finalizedand will be ready to accept donations soon.

For further information please contactjonharb@cox.net or

www.reactfoundation.orgREACT Foundation,

25108 Marguerite Pkwy, Suite B300,Mission Viejo, CA 92692.

Ph: 949-837-1163

Life with BryanTresa Oliveri

No, this isn’t a review of a Monty Pythonmovie or a TV sitcom, but my life does havesome surreal qualities. My 13 year old son,

Bryan has autism. Our journey is no moreremarkable than others who live in families withchildren affected by autism, but I’d like to share someexperiences we’ve had so far.

When we began our family, I read lots of booksand prepared myself for motherhood. Robert wasborn and two years later Bryan joined our family. Wewere a pretty typical family – two kids and a dog.

At Bryan’s 18-month old check up the pediatriciansuspected he had a hearing loss since he didn’t reactto auditory signals given during that exam. Thatbegan a long road filled with numerous assessmentsand enrollment in the School for Communicationand Language Disorders on Long Island, NY andcontinues today with Bryan as a student in theOrange County Department of Education’s CountyProgram at Rancho San Joaquin, Irvine.

The early days after learning of Bryan’s diagnosiswere a confusing time of learning about autism Ibegan reading about autism and none of theinformation wasencouraging. Adding tothe family’s stress was thefact my husband wascommuting back andforth from California, andwe were struggling withthe decision of whether tomove or not.

A family friend, aware of our search for helpunderstanding Bryan’s diagnosis, arranged for anappointment with Dr. Stanley Greenspan. Wewanted guidance about what kinds of interventionswould be effective in helping Bryan learn tocommunicate with us. Dr. Greenspan recommendedthe elements of treatment we could continue whenwe moved. He gave us an outline of his preferredi n t e rvention – "Floor-time" – as well as othercomponents he supported. He stressed theimportance of interacting with Bryan on his level,but as Bryan became a toddler he was becoming a

mystery to me. My attempts to engage Bryan andclose the "circles of communication" as Dr.Greenspan recommended were usually ignored, andI sensed his withdrawal. I doubted my ability tochange that course.

We moved to California in 1993 and enrolledBryan in Irv i n e’s district preschool pro g r a m .Assessments re vealed that his deficits we re toosignificant to address in the district’s program so weenrolled him in the County’s preschool classroom atCu l ve rdale El e m e n t a ry. We we re naturallydisappointed that Bryan’s deficits warranted a move Ip e rc e i ved as a step backwards. Instead – whathappened was something very lucky for both Bryanand myself – we walked into Diane Gallagher’sclassroom. Diane is a dedicated and sensitive teacher,and we forged a partnership to help Bryan. I’m notthe only one who recognizes Diane’s talents in theclassroom. She was honored this year an OrangeCounty’s Teacher of the Year.

Sh o rtly after our move to Irvine, I became awareof a group of parents that we re forming anorganization, ACCESS, focused on bringinga w a reness to parents of the benefits of Ap p l i e dBehavioral Analysis. I joined as a board member and

was surprised as ourmailing list grew to about700 families in a ve rys h o rt time. We heldseminars to educatep a rents about how tos t a rt ABA programs; andwe collaborated withU C I ’s School of So c i a lEcology and offere d

training to students for home programs parents hads t a rted. Un f o rtunately ACCESS was not able tosustain itself as an organization due to seve r a lfactors, including a lack of funding and timedemands of our own families.

Throughout the years, I’ve learned how to advocatefor Bryan’s needs and have broadened my advocacyefforts by joining the Interagency Autism Group 8years ago where I continue to lend my perspective asa parent. Cu r rently I’m learning about theimportance of being active in the Legislative processas a Board Member at Regional Center Orange

Autism News 20

P a r e n t / F a m i l y

Throughout my experiences withBryan I’ve met people with an

immense capacity for compassionand others whose cruel

comments still sadden me.

County. Throughout my experiences with Bryan I’vemet people with an immense capacity forcompassion and others whose cruel comments stillsadden me.

I ’ve spent countless hours listening to experts whostudy autism and suggest treatment protocols andreading books. Over thepast 13 years I’ve learnedabout - Fl o o rtime, pivo t a lresponse training, ABA,GFCF diets, yeast ove r-g rowth, good language-good speech, vitamint h e r a p y, Au d i t o ryIntegration T h e r a p y,T E ACCH – to name justa few. With financial helpf rom our families we’vetried many of them.

Along the way welearned Bryan has somecognitive deficits as wellas autism that no doubt affect his progress. I can’t tellyou what was the one thing we did that helped Bryanlearn to talk, but over time I developed a confidencein my ability to make an impact in his life. For me,the curriculum that accompanied our home programprobably had the biggest impact. I learned as Bryanlearned how to connect the dots of skill acquisition.For example, once he learned to recognize and labelcolors, a trip to the supermarket became anopportunity to label, count, and categorize fruits andvegetables.

When I had children I assumed I’d teach themthings and prepare them for adulthood. That hasn’tchanged, but what surprised me was how much mychildren would teach me. Instead of sending Bryanoff to school like I did with Robert, my 15 year oldson, and going back to work as I had planned, Ilearned how to navigate the assessment and IEPprocess and a myriad of other terms and educationalstrategies associated with special education. I havecontinued to attend seminars and often learnsomething to enrich my abilities to parent. I alsolearned the importance of working collaborativelywith the professionals invo l ved in Bry a n’s life.However, most importantly I learned to cherish the

everyday things most parents take for granted. Bryanhas many limitations to be sure – he’ll probably neverbe able to carry on a conversation that most peoplewould recognize, or live independently, but he lovesto travel on airplanes and go to bookstores with hisdad. He is funny, artistic and happy.

Se veral years agoduring a family visit toNew York, my husbandsurprised us with ticketsfor "The Lion King" onBroadway. While Bryanloved the movie, I wasa p p re h e n s i ve about hisability to sit through astage show and didn’twant his presence to be adistraction for others.Our tickets were on theaisle, and I’ll never forgetthe look on his face asthe animals made their

way through the theatre onto the stage. He wasmesmerized and loved every minute of it. It wasmagic. I couldn’t have imagined that moment whenI sat in the neurologist’s office and heard the wordautism, but there we were.

Some time ago we added bicycle riding to Bryan’sIEP goals. He accomplished that goal recently andwas riding a bike up and down our street – just likethe other kids. I’d been nervous about letting himride a bike, since that made him very mobile, but intypical Bryan fashion, he’s learning the rules aboutriding safely. Once again Bryan is my teacher. I lovebeing his student.

When Bryan was newly diagnosed, it seemed asthough all my hopes and dreams for him weresnatched from me. In some ways they were, but I stillwish for Bryan what I wish for Robert – happinessand contentment on their life’s journey. So far sogood for both boys.

P.S. We’re still a typical family with one change – nowwe have two dogs.

Autism News 21

P a r e n t / F a m i l y

Mark Durand, Ph.D., Professor and Dean atthe University of South Florida, gave a talk at

the Regional Center Orange County about ‘Howto distress’, focusing on functional analysis andintervention in sleep disorders. His latest researchstressed the important role of optimism and cogni-tive restructuring in parent intervention programsfor children with autism.

In an enlightening talk held at the RC O CBetty Freeman, Ph.D., Professor of Me d i c a l

Ps ychology at the Un i versity of California LosAngeles highlighted the need of educationalgoals for children with autism to be functionaland appropriate to their developmental leve l .

Pegs play a central role in the Links toLanguage p rogram. In an intere s t i n g

workshop organized by the S.U.C.S.E.S.S.Project Pamela Payne and Lauren Franke,Ph.D., described the way pegboards are usedas visual reminders of number of tasks to dobefore switching to new activities or getting abreak. Children are only allowed to take out a pegif a specific task is done satisfactory. (Ed i t o r sComment: It would be interesting to compare thetraditional token system, where children get a pegfor good responding, to a system that is moreescape motivated.)

The workshop by Michelle Garcia Winner onEnhancing Organizational Skills in Children

with Autism also organized by the S.U.C.S.E.S.S.Project was overbooked, indicating the needsprofessionals and parents with children with autismsee in developing methods in this area.

An interdisciplinary playgroup for childrenbelow the age of 3 years is offered at ForOC Kids. The Moringa Tree Play Group is

a therapy based program, which utilize scomponents of the SCERTS model to address thespecific needs of children who are at risk for ordiagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Theprogram is vendored through Regional Centers.

For more information call Tisha at The Children’sTherapy Center (714) 892-6828.

Autism News 22

SEE PACSupport Education and Empowerment

for Parents of Autistic Children

This is a 10 week educational programprovided in collaboration by the AT S C(Assessment and Treatment Services Center),the Regional Center of Orange County and ForOC Kids starting in January 2004. T h eprogram is free of charge and babysitting willbe provided. Space is limited.

Moringa Tree Play Group

Upcoming Staff Development, Conferences and Parent Trainings(Partial Listing — January to June 2004)

There are several opportunities for continuing education and support that will be offered by vari-ous organizations. The S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project of Orange County strives to provide affordable fees toboth families and staff. Most of the sessions are held at the Orange County Department of Educationin Costa Mesa. Each session has a specific focus, some pertaining to early interventions, some withmore of an emphasis on the older aged student. Registrations may be limited, therefore call early!

Autism News 23

Date/Time/Place Topic/Speaker Dev. Level Apprx. Fee Contact

Jan 21 4-8pm Overview Older students - $20.00 S.U.C.S.E.S.S. ProjectOC Dept. of Ed. Social Thinking +8 yrs and older (714) 966-4137OCDE M. Garcia Winner

Jan 22 8:30-3:30pm Day 1 Social Thinking Older students - $45 - $55 S.U.C.S.E.S.S. ProjectOCDE Social Thinking +8 yrs and older (714) 966-4137

Jan 23 8:30-3:30 Day 2 Social Thinking Older students $45 - $55 S.U.C.S.E.S.S. ProjectOCDE M. Garcia Winner +8 yrs and older (714) 966-4137

Jan 30, 31 Apraxia All ages Varies for CSHA Calif. Speech/Hearing8:30-3:30pm Dr. Edy Strand members, non-members Assoc. District 8OCDE Students, etc.

Feb. 5, 4-8pm Asperger’s Syndrome Older Students $20-$25 S.U.C.S.E.S.S. ProjectOCDE Dr. Brenda Smith Myles (714) 966-4137

Feb. 6, 8:30-3:30pm Social Issues/Autism Older Students $45-$55 S.U.C.S.E.S.S. ProjectOCDE Dr. Brenda Smith Myles (714) 966-4137

Feb. 17, 8:30-3:30pm Autism & Social Skills All ages $100 So. Cal. Autism TrainingRiverside Co. Office Dr. Roger Cox Collaborative (SCATC)of Education (562) 926-5566 x21060

Feb. 17 & 18, Links to Language Early to mid. age $235 S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project8:30-3:30pm OCDE Dr. Lauren Framke students (includes manual) (714) 966-4137

Feb. 20, Advanced Day All ages $45-$55 S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project8:30-3:30pm OCDE Icon to I Can (714) 966-4137

Barbara Bloomfield

March 4-6 Cal Speech Hearing All ages Varies for CSHA CSHAAll day Assoc. (CSHA) members, non-membersLong Beach State Conference Students, etc.

March 27 Parent/Professional All ages $50 Regional Center of OCAll day Symposium (714) 796-5256OCDE

April 28-29 Picture Exchange Early Intervention $250.00 Regional Center of OCCommunication (includes manual) (714) 796-5256System (PECS)PECS Staff

N E W S

Avoids eye contactEviata el contacto visual

Lacks creative “pretend” playCarece el juego creativo

Shows indifferenceDemuestra indiferencia

Copies words like a parrot (“echolalic”)Repite las palabras como un loro(“en forma de echo”)

Shows preoccupation with onlyone topicDemuestra preocupacion/interesten solo un tema/asunto

Does not like variety: it’s not thespice of lifeNo demuestra interest in variedad

Shows fear of, or fascination withcertain soundsDemuestra miedo de/o fascinacion con ciertos sonidos

Shows one-sided interactionDemuestra intreaccion que es unilateral

Laughs or giggles inappropriatelyRisa/reir inadecaudamente

Displays special abilities in music,art, memory, or manual dexterity Demuestra capacidades especialesen music, arte, memoria or destrezamanual

Sh ows fascination with spinningobjectsDemuestra fascinacion con objetosque giran

Does not play with other childrenNo juega con otros ninos

SOME EXAMPLES OF AUTISTIC BEHAVIORAlgunos ejemplos del comportamiento de personas con autismo

Some Examples of Autistic BehaviorAlgunos ejemplos del comportamiento de personas con autismo

• Difficulty with social interactions.Tienen dificultad para socializar con otras personas.

• Problems with speech. Tienen problemas con su lenguaje

• Disturbed perception.Tienen una percepción anormal de los sucesos que acontecen a su alrededor.

• Abnormal play.Su forma de jugar es anormal.

• Resistance to change in routine or enviromnent. Se resisten a cambios en sus actividad rutinarias ó a su medio ambiente.