2nd Annual Penn Autism Network Conference: Journeys Through Adolescence and Adulthood (March 15-16)
March 14, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
The 2nd Annual Penn Autism Network Conference: Journeys Through Adolescence and Adulthood will be held on March 15-16 on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The conference will present “a unique and exciting opportunity to focus on promoting systems of supports and services for adults with ASD, including transition to adulthood issues.” Topics to be covered include:
- Defining effective intervention strategies and therapeutic techniques for adolescents and adults with ASD.
- Utilizing the unique skills required to address the needs of individuals with ASD.
- Providing environments conducive to best outcomes for individuals with ASD.
- Recognizing the many and complicated facets of home life for individuals with ASD and their families
Jerry and Mary Newport, authors of Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger’s Love Story (2007) and the subject of the film of the same name are featured speakers. A full schedule of events can be found here.
Along with Ari Ne’eman, Scott Robertson, and Kate Goldfield, of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) and Vincent J. Varassi, campus director of the Regional Center for College Students with Learning Disabilities at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, I am speaking on a panel:
Transitioning to Postsecondary Education with Students on the Autism Spectrum
The panel of adults on the autism spectrum and educators will discuss challenges and opportunities involved in transitioning from high school to postsecondary education for students on the autism spectrum. They will present solutions for the challenges and answer questions from the audience about the transition process and postsecondary education.OBJECTIVES: The program is designed to help the workshop participant learn more about:
1. Transition planning & preparation in high school
2. Postsecondary school: a) selection considerations; b) admissions considerations; c) accommodations & support; d) graduation considerations
I will be speaking about my experience teaching college students on the autism spectrum. The thesis of my presentation is very broad—when teaching college students on the autism spectrum, the teacher (i.e., me) has as much to learn as the student—-and I look forward to learning much from the other members of the panel and at the conference as a whole.
from the memoirs of an asperger person:
Aspergers is a type of autism and the greatest value of this book–to anyone other than me–is that I had no idea I was autistic when I wrote it and had never heard of aspergers. So unlike the many memoirs available written by autistic people, this one is an objective study of the syndrome written by someone who was not trying to fit himself into that mold. But those who are in the know will find aspergers on every page. Which to me is a validation of the diagnosis itself, which skeptics want to call “the flavor of the week” in the menagerie of psychobabbloid excuses to not function properly as modern Americans.