Back to School Workshop Information
NEW! Three Exciting Pre-Conference Workshops
Thursday, September 25th from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm at ASU West
(Registration 7:30-8:30)

1.  Workshop for ParaProfessionals:  
How to be a Para Pro for Students with Autism:  Diane Twachtman-Cullen, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
This workshop is based upon information contained within the book, How to be a Para Pro: A Comprehensive
Training Manual for Paraprofessionals, written by the speaker. The central premise of this presentation is that
students with ASD require informed educational support if they are to succeed.  As such, using the features of
ASD as the disability category, this workshop directly addresses the knowledge base, skills, and attitudes that
paraprofessionals require to ensure classroom success, while at the same time it meets head-on the critical issues
involved in coordinating support between teachers and paraprofessionals, and outlines the specific duties and
responsibilities that para pros need to acquire and understand in order to meet their students’ needs.
The following categories of educational supports will be discussed:  peripheral / environmental; direct instruction /
academic; social, play, and leisure; and behavioral supports.  Several examples of each support category will be
given.  In addition, the para pro’s clerical and record-keeping responsibilities will be outlined, and examples will
be given of how to streamline the process of recording important information and determine progress.  
Finally, a unique model for gauging the amount of support to provide will be presented as a means of providing the
para pro with a method of avoiding prompt dependency in students.  Hands-on activities will address problem
behavior and will include practice in the actual application of the Blueprint for Troubleshooting Problem Situations.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
         describe the strengths, weaknesses, and unique characteristics of individuals with ASD
         describe the ways in which knowledge, skills, and attitude interact to affect caregiver behavior  
         identify the key deficits in ASD that require accommodations and support, as well as the implications that
they have for educational programming
         list the duties and responsibilities of paraprofessionals and the areas of overlap with teachers.
         list the different types of support that students with ASD require
         apply a formula for gauging the amount of support that students require to be successful
         “troubleshoot” regarding problem behaviors
Dr. Diane Twachtman-Cullen is a licensed speech-language pathologist specializing in autism and related
disorders.  The editor-in-chief of Autism Spectrum Quarterly (www.ASQuarterly.com), Dr. Twachtman-Cullen is
also co-chair of the Autism Society of America’s Panel of Professional Advisors, and the author of numerous
articles and chapters. Her books include the following:  How to be a Para Pro:  A Comprehensive Training
Manual for Paraprofessionals; Trevor Trevor (a children’s book for peer training); and How Well Does Your IEP
Measure:  Quality Indicators for Effective Service Delivery (co-authored with Jennifer Twachtman-Reilly).  Dr.
Twachtman-Cullen serves on several professional advisory boards, and provides training seminars internationally,
through ADDCON Center, LLC in Higganum, Connecticut.

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2.  Workshop for SLP’s:
SLP’s & Autism: Practical & Effective Treatment Strategies:  Teresa Cardon, M.A. CCC-SLP

Session 1: Early Intervention and Communication – Defining the SLP’s Role!
There is a mandate for family centered practice in early intervention.  This session will focus on how to shift from
traditional therapy to family based intervention while following ASHA guidelines and utilizing evidence based
practices for children with autism.  Learn how to coach and model techniques so that parents can become effective
partners in intervention.  This session will include video examples of intervention strategies.

Session 2:  Count Me In!  Inclusive Practices for SLP’s and Educators
Heard a lot about “inclusive classrooms”? What is inclusion and how can we really make it work for districts,
teachers, speech therapists, students and families?  This interactive session will have you working together to
determine how inclusion can work for you!  Learn practical ideas that will have you shouting – “Count me in!”

Session 3: Social Skills Groups – Real Life Strategies and Models
There are a number of social skills programs now available to support children with ASD.  In fact, it is the growing
number of social skills programs that makes remediation somewhat confusing and disjointed. There are strategies
and techniques that can make social skills training effective and fun for everyone involved.  This session will
outline specific social strategies that can support children in small group sessions as well as in the classroom.

Teresa Cardon, M.A. CCC-SLP has worked with individuals on the autism spectrum for over 14 years.  She has
helped many parents and teachers develop intervention strategies so they can increase social communication
skills in the children, teens, and adults they work with. She has written many articles on communication strategies
for autism.  She is the author of two major books for ASD, "Initiations and Interactions" (2006), which discusses
how to encourage social communication, and "Let's Talk Emotions (2004)", which discusses how to teach
understanding and control of emotions.    Teresa currently works as a Speech Language Pathologist for the Infant
Child Research Programs at Arizona State University, with a primary focus on working with children with autism.  

Arizona State University is approved by the Continuing Education Board of the American Speech-Language-
Hearing Association (ASHA) to provide continuing education activities in speech-language pathology and
audiology. This program is offered for 0.6 CEUs Intermediate Level, Professional Area. ASHA CE Provider
approval does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products, or clinical procedures.

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3.  Workshop for Teachers, OT’s, and PT’s
Sensory Integration in the Classroom:  A Team Approach:  Susan Golubock, M.Ed.

Description:   Because of the pervasive nature of the developmental delays and breath of diversity of the
spectrum, autism is confusing to most everyone…parents, family, teachers and professionals alike.  The
neurological and biochemical differences in autism contribute to unique patterns of sensory processing that can
significantly influence behaviors, learning, future development.  Susan is an occupational therapist who has
worked in school settings for over 25 years. Her special interests are in sensory integration and assistive
technology.  Susan is also an individual who grew up on the autism spectrum. Working with autistic individuals has
been her only focus for the past 10 years. Susan will bring together current research with practical examples from
her personal and professional experiences to hopefully make sense of autism for therapists and educators who are
both striving to follow best practice standards in this growing, and very challenging, field. From Susan’s
perspective, best practice can be achieved when both therapists and educators work together to achieve functional
classroom goals. Therapists have the specialized knowledge of early development and the neurological foundation
needed to influence that development. Educators, on the other hand, have the power of time in the child’s
functional environment which can result in changes far faster than therapists ever can. You will not want to miss
these highly informative and, in many ways, paradigm-changing sessions on what can be accomplished when
therapists and educators focus on strengths, both theirs and the student’s.

Workshop series objectives: Participants will…
1)        Learn how neurological and biochemical differences influence how the autistic individual processes input
through their senses which subsequently affect behavior, learning and future development.
2)        Explore the strengths that therapists and educators, in both regular and special education, have in their
training and opportunities, that, when brought together, can make noticeable changes in a student’s progress in as
little as 2 weeks.        
3)        Learn how to work together within the IEP team to write realistic, strength-based goals and
accommodations.
4)        Learn effective strategies for working together (not one telling the other what to do) to provide the
opportunities that autistic individuals need to better cope with the sensory processing challenges they experience
that are impeding learning in the classroom and school environments.
5)        Explore standardized tools that can be easily used by both therapists and educators to monitor progress in
the acquisition of IEP goals in keeping with best practice requirements.
on-line Registration for Workshops click here