Gold Standard Curricula for Children and Teens with High(er) Functioning Autism: A Wish List of Instruction, Services and Supports Covered by Insurance

Please join us in the Brubeck Room for an important SPED*NET presentation.  One of the best kept secrets in the world of health insurance companies is that children (toddlers to 21) diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders qualify for gigantic amounts of services in their homes and communities. This could be up to 30-hours each week for several years, with most of the services covered by your insurance. The important question is: What would you want your children to learn and join if you had many hours per week of enrichment, support and staff? Clinical psychologist and educational consultant Michael J. Weiss, PhD, will discuss some of the most important instructions your kids need and how to get them paid for by your insurance company. He will describe a curriculum aimed at children on the spectrum who have good verbal skills, yet struggle with behavior and socializing with peers. The instruction ranges from promoting an understanding of nuanced and symbolic language (e.g., idioms, fables) to following conversations and story lines (TV/movie/story reading “therapy”) and teaching about other people’s perspectives, thoughts and feelings (called “Theory of Mind”). In addition to the instruction, a key curriculum goal is to hook kids up to socialize together, with close staff supervision.

Michael Weiss is the Director of Applied Developmental Analysis (ADA) Therapy, LLC, a licensed clinical psychology and educational consulting group working with children, families and schools managing developmental differences. After receiving his doctorate from Tufts University in 1986, Dr. Weiss served as a faculty member in the Schools of Medicine at McGill and Harvard Universities and as a staff psychologist at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal and the Children’s Hospitals in Montreal and Boston. He was also an Adjunct Professor in psychology at Fairfield University from 2004 to 2016. Dr. Weiss has worked for more than 40 years consulting with families and school boards across the United States and eastern Canada. He was the senior editor of the textbook Newborn Attention: Biological Constraints and the Influence of Experience (1991, co-edited with Philip R. Zelazo, PhD, McGill University) and has published numerous articles, chapters, and abstracts related to infancy, children and families, and developmental differences and disabilities. Dr. Weiss, along with Sheldon Wagner, PhD, and Susan Goldberg, MA, has co-authored a book about managing children’s behavior, titled Drawing the Line: 10 Steps to Constructive Discipline and Achieving a Great Relationship with Your Kids (2006; Warner Books Publisher). He was the featured host of the Canadian syndicated television show “Real Families with Dr. Michael Weiss” and has been a regular contributor to Parents Canada.

Presented by SPED*NET in partnership with Wilton Library and Wilton Public Schools.  Registration suggested.