WESTFIELD – The Westfield Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is holding a workshop for all Westfield families on cognitive and behavioral approaches to teaching social skills. The workshop will take place this Thursday, April 6 from 6:30 to 8:30 in the South Middle School cafeteria at 30 West Silver Street.
“In honor of Autism Awareness month, we will be discussing the subject of social skills which is the hardest skill set to teach to any child. The definition of autism is a ‘disorder marked by impairments in the ability to communicate and interact socially and by the presence of repetitive behaviors or restricted interests.’ The first criteria in the DSM-5 for autism spectrum disorder is ‘persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts.’ So this is an important topic for any parent of a child who has an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis,” said Michele Douglas, SEPAC parent leader.
Douglas said the focus of the workshop will be looking at behavioral and cognitive approaches for teaching social skills to children. Heather Kamal, behaviorist at Munger Hill Elementary and Karen Kennedy, autism consultant at Westfield High School will be the presenters. Both professionals have dealt with many children with various behavioral issues.
Kamal, who is a board certified behavior analyst, will be reviewing several evidence-based interventions that have been used to teach social skills.
“I am going to quickly review what social skills are, how to measure them and assess them, and then review the interventions. The interventions I am reviewing include video modeling, social stories, rule cards/scripts, and positive reinforcement strategies. I am going to end the presentation by discussing strategies that can be used to generalize social skills before, during, and after instruction,” Kamal said.
Kennedy, a special educator with 25 years experience, said she was asked to speak about social thinking and what that entails and encompasses for students with autism.
“I will be talking about the work of Michele Garcia Winner, a speech pathologist who has developed, what I feel, is a really great curriculum and model for teaching individuals with autism how to be social thinkers in order to experience their social world more positively and with more social success. Being a social thinker is not only helpful for engaging with other people, but also is an effective tool to help students understand the academic pieces as well,” Kennedy said.
The workshop is open to all families. “Your child does not have to have an autism diagnosis and/or an IEP. This workshop will give parents of any child who struggles with peer interactions some tips on what you can do,” Douglas said, adding that families whose children are not in Westfield Public Schools are also invited to attend.
The last half hour will be left for parents to network with the presenters or other parents.
Child care and refreshments will be provided. For more information contact SEPAC at [email protected], or join the group on Facebook at Westfield MA Special Education Parent Advisory Council.
