Teaching Play and Leisure Skills to Students with Autism

Presented by Rachel Upp, B.A., Behavior Specialist at Bellefaire JCB, Monarch Center for Autism; and Judy Borgen, M.Ed., BCBA, COBA, Behavior Analyst at Bellefaire JCB, Monarch Center for Autism

Sponsored by Monarch Center for Autism, STAR Autism Support, and VizZle

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Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.
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This edWebinar will teach the foundational skills on how to promote more play in your student’s life. Play provides an avenue for children to learn about their natural environment and develop new skills. These skills can be essential to their development: how they complete daily living activities and how they interact with others. Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder sometimes require additional support and consideration when learning new skills. Using play as a vital resource to learn can enhance the education they receive from guardians, educators, and other adults in their lives.

The importance of developing rapport is emphasized and taught as a foundational skill for play. Viewers will receive information on the different types of play, how to teach play, and how to further develop and generalize those skills (e.g., in different environments, with different activities, with different people). Play opens up a world of opportunities for students—both fun and educational!

This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to teachers, therapists, and aides of the preK through elementary levels.

About the Presenters

Rachel Upp, B.A. received her undergraduate degree in child life from the University of Akron in 2018 and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in applied behavior analysis from Ball State University. Since 2015, she has provided emotional and behavioral support to children from infancy to 21 years of age in varying environments—the school, home, and hospital. Currently, she is a behavior specialist at Monarch Center for Autism where she provides behavioral support to students at Monarch’s Transition Education Program (MTEP).

Judy Borgen, M.Ed., BCBA, COBA received her undergraduate degree in psychology from UC Davis and her master’s degree from Arizona State University in curriculum and instruction in applied behavior analysis. She has been working with individuals with developmental disabilities for 16 years in the United States, Canada, and Israel. These experiences were predominantly as an in-home ABA therapist, camp instructor, teacher, and as a Behavior Intervention Implementor (BII) through LAUSD. Currently, she is a behavior analyst at Monarch Center for Autism.

Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.

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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.