Early Days

Early Days

Early Days is a series of free workshops for parents, grandparents, and families of young children (0-6 years) who have an Autism Spectrum Disorder or who are going through the assessment and diagnostic process.

This initiative is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services through the Helping Children with Autism package.

There are a series of workshops available. Families may choose to attend one, several or all of the workshops. It is recommended to attend the "my child and Autism" Workshop first. 

To register, please click on the title of the workshop you would like to attend. If you are having trouble, call Emma Bennett, Training, Consultancy and Research Officer on 8462 0658 or email at ebennett@autismsa.org.au 

 South Australia

Northern Territory Early Days Workshops

If you would like to register for a Northern Territory workshop, please contact twachtel@autismsa.org.au

Understanding Behaviour 

Topics covered:

•Understanding your child’s behaviour.
•Teaching your child a new, more functional behaviour.
•Developing techniques to promote positive behaviour.

Tips for Everyday Skills

Topics covered:

•Factors affecting achievement of daily living skills
•Strategies for working on daily living skills
•Additional resources available for use

My Child and Autism

Topics covered:

•Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
•What ASD looks like for your child and your family.
•How you can make a difference.
•Navigating Early Intervention. and funding options

Helping My Child Cope With Change

Topics covered:

•Understanding why change is hard and how it impacts on young children with ASD.
•Strategies for preparing for change in everyday situations.

Play and Social Learning

Topics covered:

•Understanding Play, social learning and ASD.
•Understanding the types of play.
•Strategies to scaffold and encourage play development.

Progression to School

Topics covered:

•The importance of working as a transition team.
•Tips and ideas to help you ready your child for school.
•Funding options.

2019 Autumn Conference Series: Using the Social Thinking Methodology to support Social Learning

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW:

Michelle Garcia Winner, the founder of Socially Thinking®, will teach those that support people with social emotional learning challenges to develop skills in how they interpret and respond to social information to better connect with others. Michelle will present practical strategies to improve social competencies that can be used immediately in the classroom, clinic, home and community.

The conference is set to be an engaging, interactive day where participants will be guided through a range of innovative socially based problem solving strategies that can be used with individuals with solid expressive and receptive language skills, in a range of settings.

Frameworks and strategies presented and demonstrated include;

• How to encourage the development of social competencies;
• 10 core Social Thinking Vocabulary Concepts such as ‘expected’ and ‘unexpected’ behaviours;
• Social Behaviour Maps and ME maps for self-protective, resistant learners; and
• The Double Interview and Thinking With Your Eyes.

Outcomes for participants and individuals include learning how they can support the development of four core factors in social learning: social attention, interpretation, problem solving tothen figure out social responses. Participants will develop skills to help people learn to process and respond to social information; which then promotes social self-regulation.

“Observing the social interactions of others is very helpful to me as I formulate how to interact myself. I’ve learned not everyone walks with their head down avoiding eye contact all of the time. I’ve learned when and how to smile. I’ve studied what makes a stranger seem approachable. In short, you have to know the rules of the game in order to play the game’. A quote from a 43-year-old engineer and student of Social Thinking’s Methodology 

‘Your program has given me the much needed tools to communicate in a meaningful way with my 9 year old son. Thank you. The stress level in our house has decreased along with the meltdowns. He is able to come out of the meltdowns much more readily. Thanks.’- Conference Attendee, Parent

Who should attend?

Educators, clinicians, professionals, parents, family members, individuals and anyone who supports a person on the spectrum will benefit from attending this conference. All participants will develop an appreciation that social capabilities are integral to a person’s success in life - socially, academically, and professionally.

PRESENTER PROFILE:

Michelle Garcia Winner is an internationally recognised speech pathologist from the United States and is the founder and CEO of Social Thinking®. Social Thinking is a company dedicated to helping individuals from across their lifespan to develop their social competencies to meet their personal social goals. Michelle is recognised as ‘...the leading expert in the field of social skills’ with more than 30 years’ experience working with individuals, families and professionals in the autism sector. Michelle is a prolific writer and has written and/or co-authored more than 40 books and over 100 research articles about the Social Thinking Methodology including; ‘Social Behaviour Mapping’; ‘Thinking about you, Thinking about Me?’; ‘You are a Social Detective’; and ‘Superflex: A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum”.

Michelle is known for her enthusiastic presentation style and ability to provide participants with real strategies that can make a difference in the school, home and community setting.

"...one of my favorite authors in the field of teaching emotional intelligence. Michelle Garcia Winner has pioneered some very helpful ways of conceptualising and helping educators understand the social challenges that students on the autism spectrum face." - Stephan Borgman, 2010, Psychology Today, ‘Spectrum Solutions’ 

PROGRAM:

8.30-9.25am – Registration

9.30-9.45am- Conference opening

9.45-10.30am- Social Think’s Social Competency Model

10.30-10.50am- Morning Tea

10.50am-12.30pm- Exploring two different types of informal dynamic assessment tasks

12.30-1.10pm- Lunch

1.10-2.30pm- Exploring 10 core Social Thinking Vocabulary concepts

2.30-2.50pm- Afternoon Tea

2.50-3.45pm- A Core Social Thinking Treatment Framework: Social Behavior Mapping and Me Maps

3.45-4.00pm- Conference Closing

4.15-4.30pm- Book Signing

Positive Partnerships