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No More Meltdowns: Handling Challenging Behaviors & Teaching Social Skills

A Bruton Conference

The Bruton Conference Series on Communication Disorders is made possible through a generous gift from the David J. Bruton, Jr. Charitable Trust.

Date
Saturday, September 25, 2010

Time
Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.
Presentation 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location
Callier Center Dallas
Glorig Auditorium

Cost

Individual – $50.00
UT Dallas faculty, staff and students – Free

Fee Includes:
Continental Breakfast
Lunch
CEUs (for professionals and UT Dallas attendees only)

Special accommodations

If you are a person with a disability and need special accommodations to attend this event, please call Linda Sensibaugh at 214-905-3003.

Educational objectives

After this course, participants will be able to:

Understand the reasons for social skill deficits and disruptive behaviors.
Learn strategies to deal effectively with meltdowns and be able to put together an effective behavior plan to prevent frustrations.
Understand how to put together a social skills training program in schools or at home.
Learn ways to motivate verbal and non-verbal students to want to socialize.
Learn several strategies for teaching and generalizing skills.
Learn how to create programs for typical peers to accept students with disabilities and model positive behaviors.

Course description

Students on the autism spectrum often present with difficulty regulating their feelings and interacting socially. This workshop describes how to handle meltdowns and design effective behavior plans to prevent these moments and reduce frustration and anxiety.

The second part of the presentation details strategies to teach social skills, motivate students to learn, generalize skills into the natural setting and increase acceptance and tolerance from peers.

Agenda

Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010
8:00 - 8:30 a.m.	Registration

8:30 - 10:00 a.m.	Session I - Understanding Challenging Behaviors and the Need for Social Skills Training In order to implement any strategy to help students on the autism spectrum, we first need to understand the reasons behind some of their challenging behaviors and the feelings those behaviors provoke in their caretakers. This session examines the anxiety behind challenging behaviors in both our students and those that care for them.

10:00 - 10:15 a.m.	Break

10:15 - 11:45 a.m.	Session II - No More Meltdowns: Managing and Preventing Challenging Behaviors All of us can have meltdowns when we lose control and seem immune to reasoning. Having consistent rules and consequences for such behavior is important, yet there are times when such traditional discipline seems ineffective. When consistent discipline is not enough, we need to understand why these difficult moments continue. This presentation is designed to (1) help adults manage their own emotions so they can help their children manage theirs, (2) learn ways to de-escalate a meltdown in the moment, and (3) understand how to create an effective plan to prevent future meltdowns.

11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.	Lunch

12:45 - 2:15 p.m.	Session III - Key Components of Effective Social Skills Programming This presentation reviews some of the research on social skills training that points to key components to consider when teaching social skills, including motivating students, choosing teaching strategies, how to generalize skills into the natural setting and the importance of increasing acceptance and tolerance from peers. Information will be imparted through lecture, interactive exercises, and video clips.

2:15 - 2:30 p.m.	Break

2:30 - 4:00 p.m.	Session IV - Social Skill Training Strategies and Sample Lessons This last workshop describes various methods to teach social skills, including ABA methods, structured learning, social stories, picture books, video modeling and others. Several sample skill lessons are presented through lecture and video.

Featured speaker

Jed Baker, Ph.D.

Jed Baker, Ph.D. is the director of the Social Skills Training Project, a private organization serving individuals with autism and social communication problems. He also directs social skills training for Millburn Public Schools in New Jersey. He is on the professional advisory board of Autism Today, ASPEN, ANSWER, YAI, the Kelberman Center and several other autism organizations. In addition, he writes, lectures, and provides training internationally on the topic of social skills training and managing challenging behaviors. He is an award winning author of five books, including Social Skills Training for Children and Adolescents with Aspergers Syndrome and Social Communication Problems; Preparing for Life: The Complete Handbook for the Transition to Adulthood for Those with Autism and Aspergers Syndrome; The Social Skills Picture Book; The Social Skills Picture Book for High School and Beyond; and No More Meltdowns: Positive Strategies for Managing and Preventing Out-of-Control Behavior. His work has also been featured on ABC World News, Nightline, the CBS Early Show, and the Discovery Health Channel.

Continuing Education

ASHA logo

This course is offered for .6 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).

Continuing education for Texas licensing with the State Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology for six hours will be available, also.