Neurodiversity Affirming Goals That Freakin' Rock for Autistic Kids (live registration)

Presenter: Chris Wenger, Speech-Language Pathologist

Relevant Financial Relationship: Chris sells an ND Affirming Activity Book and an assessment tool called the DASEL. These resources are designed to support educators and therapists in implementing neurodiversity-affirming practices.

Relevant Non-Financial Relationship: Chris supports the West End SELPA and also volunteers. These roles do not influence the content of this presentation.

Presenter Biography: Chris Wenger is an enthusiastic school-based SLP and creator of both the Dynamic Assessment of Social Emotional Learning and the newly released Neurodivergent Affirming Activity Book. He is an internationally-acclaimed presenter who loves to share the most current trends to help autistic teens. A prominent thought leader in the field of speech pathology, and known on social media as “Speech Dude,” Chris motivates and entertains fellow educators and clinicians through his humorous and inspiring posts and videos.

Learner Outcomes

• Participants will describe 3 key differences between traditional, medical model-based IEP goals and neurodiversity-affirming goals and explain how these differences impact student identity and autonomy
• Participants will identify and explain at least 2 neurodiversity-affirming strategies that support perspective-taking in therapy sessions and contrast them with approaches that may unintentionally encourage masking
• Participants will reframe at least 2 traditional social skills goals into connection-based goals that support authentic peer relationships and friendships

Agenda

• Introduction (5 minutes)
• The Problem with Current Social Skills Goals Discuss common issues with traditional goals (15 minutes)
• Case Study: A Better Way (20 minutes)
• How shifting to neuro affirming practices transformed student experiences (15 minutes)
• Q&A (5 minutes)

Cost: Free

Audience: Assistants, Public/Consumers, Students, Early Career Professionals (under 5 years), Related Professionals, Those seeking to increase Cultural Competency, International Affiliates, Researchers

Topic Area: Acquired Cognitive Communication Disorders, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Business and Practice Management: SLP, Fluency, Global Issues and Practices, Language and Learning in School-Age Individuals, Leadership and Professional Issues, Speech and Language Science

To be reported to ASHA CE, participants must indicate their preference to be reported on the post-webinar assessment and achieve a minimum score of 80% accuracy. Unlimited attempts are permitted, but partial credit is not available. The assessment must be completed within one week of the webinar.