Skip to main content
Not Found
Digital Seminar

Early Intervention for Autism: A Developmental Approach to Assessment & Treatment


Faculty:
Griffin Doyle, PhD
Duration:
6 Hours 48 Minutes
Copyright:
Dec 04, 2018
Product Code:
POS054465
Media Type:
Digital Seminar
Access:
Never expires.


Description

Early detection is critical to effective autism treatment… every moment counts.

But, at what age can you effectively identify autism and begin treatment? Do you know how to start treatment with very young children? Autism expert, Griffin Doyle, PhD, will show you the answers to these questions and more!

Looking through a developmental lens, you will learn new and improved strategies allowing you to effectively close the gap between what you know about autism and how to begin early treatment!

Through case examples, videos and lively class discussion you’ll be guided on how you can identify key markers of autism and begin treatment with children as young as 9 months old. You’ll get specific instruction so you can effectively intervene, prevent regression and promote developmental gains in young children – even prior to formal diagnosis.

In this recording, you'll learn the necessary skills you need to:

  • Ask “What is missing?” - Subtle differences in neurotypical and ASD-like children
  • Identify the easy-to-miss ‘red flags’ of ASD in infants, toddlers and young children
  • Develop an initial working profile of sensory-motor processing deficiencies
  • Customize treatment plans for each child’s unique challenges
  • Positively impact clinical outcomes with evidence-based therapeutic strategies to reduce and replace maladaptive behaviors.

Don’t let a wait and see approach cost kids a better future. Intervene early when brain plasticity is much more pronounced and the impact of intervention is much more comprehensive!

You'll get the early identification and intervention skills you need to make a life-changing impact on children with autism!

CPD


CPD
- PESI Australia, in collaboration with PESI in the USA, offers quality online continuing professional development events from the leaders in the field at a standard recognized by professional associations including psychology, social work, occupational therapy, alcohol and drug professionals, counselling and psychotherapy. On completion of the training, a Professional Development Certificate is issued after the individual has answered and submitted a quiz and course evaluation. This online program is worth 6.75 hours CPD for points calculation by your association.

Handouts

Faculty

Griffin Doyle, PhD Related seminars and products


Griffin Doyle, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 43 years of experience practicing psychoanalytic and developmentally-based psychotherapy with children and adults in private practice. Dr. Doyle has over 30 years of experience assessing and treating infants, toddlers and pre-school children “at-risk-for” or diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). He primarily works in a parent-mediated, developmentally-oriented treatment model popularly known as DIR/Floortime ©. This is a multi-dimensional framework that weaves together cognitive, social-emotional, relational, and innate constitutional factors as they interact uniquely in each child.

Dr. Doyle has worked and collaborated with a variety of specialists and reviewed studies aiming to capture the earliest signs and effective treatments for the youngest portion of the ASD population. He consistently lectures, trains and consults on “red flags”, subtle diagnostic cases, and the variability of symptom formation during early development (0-5 years). Dr. Doyle has found being face-to-face with each unique child and his/her caregiver provides a critical, compelling means to witness the child’s interests, communication style and capacity to engage. He coordinates ASD intervention with a team of occupational therapists, speech therapists, educators and pediatricians for the best possible outcomes. He often serves not only as a team member, but also as a case manager coordinating care to construct, execute, and refine treatment strategies.

Dr. Doyle has served as a core faculty member of various post-graduate training organizations. He is a co-founder, senior faculty, and training coordinator for the Profectum Foundation Training Programs. In this capacity, he teaches, mentors, and designs curriculum for a range of domestic and international professionals wishing to become proficient in practicing a comprehensive, relationship-based approach with pre-school up through college age ASD individuals.

Further, Dr. Doyle has advised widely at various public, private, and special educational settings, treatment centers, and a long-term research project promoting and studying development of ASD children. He testifies as an expert witness throughout Washington, DC and West Virginia regarding legal matters regarding treatment, custody, and divorce visitation with HFA children.

 

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Griffin Doyle is in private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.

Non-financial: Griffin Doyle is a member of the American Psychological Association; and Maryland Psychological Association.


Objectives

  1. Summarize the core functional emotional developmental capacities as they relate to assessment and treatment of autism in clients.
  2. Assess for “red flags” and subtle signs of “autistic-like” behaviors seen in young children who are at risk for autism.
  3. Use formal/developmental assessment protocols to determine if autism is present.
  4. Implement clinical techniques to reduce problematic behaviors inherent to young children with autism.
  5. Use affect-based strategies to improve client engagement and reciprocity in clinical treatment.
  6. Design an intervention treatment plan customized to meet the developmental needs of each individual child.

Outline

The Developmental Perspective
  • Core functional emotional capacities: Case examples
  • Inherited neurobiology and human experience
  • Infant/Child seeking security, information, meaning
  • Role of the parent-child bond
  • All developmental domains are interdependent
  • What typical traits are missing in ASD-like behavior?
Assessment and Easy-To-Miss “Red Flags”
  • Earliest atypical infant behavior
  • DSM-5® criteria
  • Formal evaluations
  • Your play/activity with child
  • Informal and qualitative traits
  • Parent-Child (P-C) Interaction
  • Differentiating SID or Expressive-Receptive LD from ASD
  • Current research findings
Developmental Evaluation
  • Rate six core functional stages
  • Regulation and shared attention
  • Warm engagement
  • Intention and purposeful, reciprocal interaction
  • Continuous interaction and problem-solving
  • Symbolic play and language
  • Representational thinking
  • Level of communication and play/activity
  • Quality of P-C emotional bond
  • Joint Attention (JA) and Imitation
  • Atypical Sensory-Motor Systems
  • Patterns and triggers for ASD-like behavior

INTERVENTION STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES
Encourage Shared Play and Pleasure

  • Establish and hold mutual engagement
  • Track child’s interests at his/her functional level
  • Follow child’s back-and-forth pace
  • Find Fun!! Go for the “Gleam” and eye contact
  • Gently join self-absorbing action
  • Invite/model further exploration
  • Inject needed “affect”
  • Reciprocity/communication
  • Intentionality
  • Rigidity/transitions
Treat Difficult Behaviors
  • Dysregulation, security seeking
  • Meltdowns
  • Seeking/avoiding
  • Stimming/self-absorbed
  • Perseveration
  • Physical proximity/holding
  • Eating/sleeping problems
Major Treatment Approaches
  • Relationship-based, ABA, mixed programs
  • Application of Developmental (DIR) Model
  • Dyadic treatment approach
Developmental Treatment Framework
  • Create a treatment plan in class: Class example
  • Follow developmental evaluation
  • Prepare suitable sensory-motor environment
  • Shoot for child succeeding at his developmental level
  • Follow and join child’s interests
Empower Parents and Families
  • Help them come to terms with the ASD diagnosis
  • Strategies for grief, stress, anxiety and depression
  • Strengthen/coach the parent-child relationship: Case example
  • Understand their child’s behavior and motives
  • Team work/referral process
  • Coordination with school placement

Target Audience

  • Speech-Language Pathologists
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Occupational Therapy Assistants
  • Psychologists
  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Educators
  • Early Interventionists
  • Nurses Behavior Specialists
  • Marriage and Family Therapists
  • Other helping professionals who work with children birth-5 years

Please wait ...

Back to Top