Autism in the Community: A Desensitization Approach

Presented by Anna Greenspan, OTR/L, Occupational Therapy Supervisor and Kristy Yurichak, MOT, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist at Monarch Center for Autism in Cleveland, Ohio
Sponsored by Monarch Center for Autism, STAR Autism Support, and VizZle

WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING

Within 24 hours after the live event, a CE certificate is emailed to live attendees who logged in online with their email address. To get your CE certificate for logging in live by phone, or for watching the recording, join the Teaching Students with Autism community and go to the Webinar Archives folder to take the CE quiz. As a member of the community, you’ll also have access to additional resources and online discussions..

Many children with autism have atypical sensory behaviors, which may negatively impact their participation in the community. Research indicates that using a desensitization approach, which emphasizes the child’s needs while creating a positive and structured experience, can significantly improve community participation.

Learn how to:

• Identify challenges encountered by families of children with autism, when participating in common community experiences
• Identify the child’s sensory needs
• Explore ways to help the child desensitize to community experiences
• Teach caregivers how to assess the environment using a sensory approach
• Create and use visual language to aid with expectations
• Determine what supports should be placed within the community

Anna Greenspan, OTR/L is the Occupational Therapy Supervisor at Monarch Center for Autism in Cleveland, Ohio. She has been employed at Monarch for more than 15 years, overseeing treatments and IEPs of more than 140 students, as well as collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of professionals. She was a guest lecturer at John Carroll University and presented on the topic of sensory support for Cuyahoga Community College Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. She also guest lectured for The Autism Mini Series presented by Cleveland Clinic.

Kristy Yurichak, MOT, OTR/L received her Master of Occupational Therapy degree from Wayne State University in 2012. Currently, she is an occupational therapist at Monarch Center for Autism. She specializes in organizing and implementing programs that improve independence within the areas of ADLs, fine/gross motor, visual perception, vocational, sensory processing, and leisure. Additionally, she provides training and recommendations to school staff and parents regarding sensory strategies and environmental modifications to help promote self-regulation. She is also a supervisor for level II occupational therapy graduate students.

WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING

Monarch Center for Autism, a division of Bellefaire JCB, is located in Cleveland, Ohio. Monarch offers a comprehensive array of programs and services for individuals ages three through adulthood with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Highlights, which incorporate Monarch’s visual language treatment model, include a preschool; day school for children, adolescents & young adults; transition education program; summer & extended school year programs; therapeutic residential treatment program; adult vocational & supported living programs; and community training.

 
STAR Autism Support (SAS) provides curriculum materials, workshops and training to school and agency staff who work with students with autism. Our mission is to help others successfully implement research-based applied behavior analysis (ABA) techniques. We want every child with autism to receive effective instruction!

 
VizZle provides a library of more than 14,000 lessons and the tools and media to customize them or create your own from scratch. The lessons can be tailored to any grade level, assigned to any student, and played on iPad or Android tablets, laptop or desktop computers. Data is tracked automatically. This award-winning software is developed collaboratively with educators.