Invitation to Present at the 1st Annual Canadian Social Thinking Providers Conference
Social Thinking and ACT – Autism Community Training are collaborating to bring you the 1st Annual Canadian Social Thinking Providers Conference.
A special feature of this event will be the opportunity for Canadian practitioners of Social Thinking to present on innovative ways that they have used Social Thinking Techniques in their practice. For details and to access the application to present, download this PDF.
The deadline to send your application to ACT is May 23, 2014.
Register Online, use our Registration Form (pdf) or call 604-205-5467 or toll-free 1-866-939-5188
April is Autism Awareness Month – Time to Vaccinate!
April is Autism Awareness Month – Time to Vaccinate!
April Autism Awareness Month coincides this year with a sharp increase in the number of people infected with measles in B.C. – now nearly 400, more than anywhere else in North America. This is attributed to the declining number of children being vaccinated. At ACT we follow the research into autism carefully; we have compiled the following resources to help families consider the excellent public health information which supports the need to vaccinate our children.
Autism awareness in Ottawa and the House of Commons
On the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day, M.P’s from all parties gave M.P. Mike Lake a standing ovation as he spoke of his son, Jaden.
On Parliament Hill throughout the day, activities were organized to raise awareness of M.P.’s and Senators. Organizations from across Canada have come together to press for more action to help individuals with autism and their families. Representing B.C. are:
- Deborah Pugh, ACT’s Executive Director,
- Wendy and Sergio Cocchia from Pacific Autism Family Centre and
- Dan Goldowitz from NeuroDevNet.
Tonight Parliament Hill will ‘go blue’ to mark April 2, 2014, the 7th Celebration of World Autism Awareness Day since the declaration of the United Nations.
April News Round-Up: Autism Awareness Events, a National Survey, Tax Month and ACT Initiatives.
If you are not receiving our monthly news roundups, sign up at our site. In the April News Roundup: Autism Awareness Events, a National Survey, Tax Month and ACT Initiatives.
Events in April: Social Thinking in Kelowna, and Diagnosis in Vancouver
ACT is hosting two upcoming events in April for Autism Awareness Month. Early bird ends Wednesday, March 12 – Register now online or call ACT at 1-866-939-5188 or 604-205-5345
April 4 & 5th, Vancouver
ACT’s 10th Annual Focus on Research
Diagnosing and Treating Young Children with ASD: the Potential of Community-based Diagnosis and Treatment
Presented by Amy Wetherby, Ph.D, CCC-CLP, Director of the Autism Institute, College of Medicine, Florida State University.
Dr. Amy Wetherby is an international leader in autism research with a special interest in changing the developmental trajectory of children with ASD in community settings. This presentation will demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a reliable diagnosis and provide developmentally appropriate, evidence-based intervention for young children in community settings by training community professionals and parents. Dr. Wetherby will also review the newly implemented DSM5.
April 26, Kelowna
Teaching Social Thinking Through Stories & Play for Preschool and Early Elementary School
Presented by Kari Palmer, MA, CCC-SLP & Ryan Hendrix, MS, CCC-SLP
What looks like pure fun to us has important social consequences for the developing mind. The ability to participate in collaborative pretend play depends upon having a flexible brain, competent language ability, self regulation, and solid social-emotional development as well the executive function skills to multi-task the use of all of the above! The new common core standards highlight the importance of “listening and collaboration” in the classroom, which are hallmarks of developmental learning in preschool and during the early elementary years.