ACERinteractive

Seminar 1

Date: Thursday 28 April 2011

Time: 9am – 4.00pm (registration from 8.30am)

Location: The University of Melbourne
Richard Berry Building, Russell Love Theatre
enter via Gate 4, Swanston Street, Parkville

http://www.ms.unimelb.edu.au/AboutUs/location.php

Cost: $255 (+GST) per person

Workshop Summary

Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders from infancy to adulthood: Who’s involved, what to look for, and the assessment process.

The focus of this workshop will be on the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders across the lifespan. It will begin with a review of the early signs of ASDs in infants and toddlers, which will be informed by research conducted at OTARC by Josephine Barbaro. The use of appropriate diagnostic instruments and cognitive assessments for toddlers will also be covered. Diagnosis in children from the age of 4, adolescents and adults follows, with particular reference to the Autism Victoria Diagnosis and Assessment Guidelines, which were launched in November 2010. Amanda Richdale was a member of the working group for these guidelines and has experience in the diagnosis and assessment of children and adolescents. The need for multi-disciplinary assessment, instruments for psychological assessment in particular, and the assessment report will be discussed.

Biography

Amanda Richdale is an Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow in the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe University; this is the first research facility in Australia dedicated to Autism Spectrum Disorders. She has been an autism researcher since beginning her PhD at La Trobe University in 1987. After completing her PhD Amanda joined Psychology at RMIT University and was there from mid-1993 to the end of 2008; she is currently an Adjunct Professor of RMIT University. She joined OTARC in 2008 as an Honorary Research Fellow and took up her present position in 2009. She has been actively involved across a range of areas in autism research and, in particular sleep in children with autism spectrum disorders. She cofounded an international Autism Sleep Special Interest Group, which meets each year at the International Meeting for Autism Research. Amanda was Chair of the Professional Panel of Autism Victoria, and is co-founder of one of its reference groups, the Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Group. Amanda is a Registered Psychologist.Dr Josephine Barbaro is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at La Trobe University. Her PhD, the Social Attention and Communication Study (SACS), was on the early identification and diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders in infants and toddlers. In 2006, Josephine was a recipient of the Sir Robert Menzies Scholarship in the Allied Health Sciences, and she was awarded a Postgraduate Writing-Up Award from La Trobe University in 2010.

Seminar 2

Date: Thursday 25 August 2011

Time: 9am – 4.00pm (registration from 8.30am)

Location: La Trobe University
Room FS 102, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/city/location

Cost: $255 (+GST) per person

Workshop Summary

Asperger’s Disorder and Autistic Disorder: Similarities and differences and changing diagnostic systemsThe ongoing debate regarding Autism Spectrum Disorders and the diagnostic distinctions, or lack thereof, between Autistic Disorder and Asperger’s Disorder and how PDD-NOS fits within the spectrum will be addressed in this workshop. Core areas of central importance to each of these disorders, including social functioning, language, cognition, and neuropsychological functioning , behaviour and implications for daily living, education and work will be addressed. Findings regarding the long-term outcomes of individuals with these diagnoses will also be presented. Although some differences are apparent between the diagnostic groups, taken together, the findings from the studies to date highlight the necessity for the reconsideration of the current classification of Autistic Disorder and Asperger’s Disorder in particular within DSM IV. The suggested revisions in the draft DSM V will be discussed, especially the conceptualization of Autistic Disorder and Asperger’s Disorder as falling within the broader category of an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the implications of this for clinical and research practice.Biography

Cheryl Dissanayake is an Associate Professor and Reader in Psychology at La Trobe University, and Founder and Director of the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, which is the first research facility in Australia dedicated to Autism Spectrum Disorders. She has been an autism researcher since 1984, when she began her PhD at Monash University. She undertook her post doctoral studies at UCLA, and has established and led an active autism research program in the School of Psychological Science at La Trobe University since her return to Melbourne in 1996. The Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre was established in 2008. Cheryl served on the Professional Panel of Autism Victoria, and is co-founder and convenor of one of its reference groups, the Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Group in 2003. She also cofounded the Australasian Autism Research Collaboration in 2009. Cheryl is a Registered Psychologist.Amanda Richdale

Seminar 3

Date: Thursday 20 October 2011

Time: 9am – 4.00pm (registration from 8.30am)

Location: La Trobe University
Room FS 102, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/city/location

Cost: $255 (+GST) per person

Workshop Summary

Social Learning in Autism Spectrum DisordersMost learning takes place in a social context. Although we learn by our own trials and errors, we also perform much learning by watching and interacting with other people. This type of learning is particularly relevant in infancy and appears to be facilitated by specific cognitive and attentional biases that lead children to preferentially attend to social stimuli and to experience the participation to social exchanges as intrinsically rewarding. Mechanisms involved in social reciprocity and social learning appear to be disrupted or inefficient in persons affected with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), a group of conditions characterized by multiple deficits in the areas of social communication and reciprocity and behavioural rigidity. From infancy, children with autism show a diminished attention to people compared to peers, possibly because they don’t experience the same level of social reward that is associated with participating to social exchanges in typical development. How is this affecting the learning processes that contribute to shape the developing brain during early developmental stages? And what can we do to help children with autism overcoming these difficulties? We will focus our discussion on the nature of such phenomena in a developmental perspective. Implications for treatment will be also discussed in details.

Biography

Giacomo Vivanti, PhD , is currently a Research Fellow at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. After completing a visiting fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, and a clinical internship at the University Hospital of Siena, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California, Davis. His current research is focused on the cognitive processes underlying action understanding, imitation, and learning in young children with Autism, and the impact of early intensive treatment on the outcomes of children with Autism. Dr Vivanti is a member of the Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia of Autism and Related Disorders and a member of the Italian Department of Health Commette to establish evidence-based guidelines for Autism treatment in Italy. He is also a consultant for University programs, scientific journals, and service providers and has also collaborated with non-profit international associations for the rights of children with disability, including Autism-Europe and Save the Children.

Cost and Registration

1 workshop: $255 (+GST)
2 workshops: $450 (+GST)
3 workshops $660 (+GST)Contact: Bronwyn Jessup
T: (03) 9277 5448
E: jessup@acer.edu.au

Register here