sonderly.io

01/13/2021

As much as ever, the mental health promotion of students is imperative. Unfortunately, approximately only 1 in 6 youth receive professional help for mental health issues, and for those who do, services are often inadequate. For good reason, focus is placed on school-based supports when considering a child’s mental health. As educators are called upon to address the mental health of their students, they have little support to effectively fulfill this role. Support for autistic youth is equally as important, but it’s often challenging for educators to know when and exactly how to intervene.

(Canadian Psychiatric Association, 2012; Koller & Bertel, 2006).

01/11/2021

The Ontario government announced $7.5 million ABA training investment to help the educators better support children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Sonderly™ (https://buff.ly/35xY36v), the Geneva Centre for Autism training division, will deliver the training program. Read the full announcement at https://buff.ly/39fzwUI. @StephenLecceMPP @GenevaCentre #autism #autismservices #autismspectrum #asd #sonderly

12/30/2020

Friendship and ASD.

The importance of building and maintaining meaningful friendships is a need for individuals with ASD. Still, many difficulties are faced in forming reciprocal peer relationships due to communication and social skills deficits. The distinct difficulties that are faced in building relationships also pose some challenges to people who care for individuals with ASD from childhood to adulthood, in effectively supporting positive pro-social behaviour.

With Sonderly's new Autism Intervener Course, you will explore strategies and learn fundamental accommodations to support individuals with ASD across their lifespan in developing meaningful relationships in different environments.

Head over to Sonderly's website to learn more about our Autism Intervener Course.

12/27/2020

Boxing Week Special! Once again, our Coping with Anxiety course is free for 24 hours, so sign up at the link in our bio today and start learning how to help.
Share and spread the word!

12/21/2020

Holiday Special! Limited time only.
This holiday season, make mental health a priority and learn how to be there for your students who may be struggling. Our Coping with Anxiety course is free for 24 hours, so sign up at the link in our bio today and start learning how to help.
Share and spread the word!

12/16/2020

Individuals with developmental disabilities are three times more likely to become victims of abuse compared to their peers (Sullivan and Knutson, 2000).

Did you know that signs of trauma can inadvertently resemble behaviours that are common in many individuals with autism?
This may look like engaging in repetitive behaviours, experiencing sudden changes in mood, or being sensitive to sounds or touch.
Yet, those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are also often the most at-risk.
Prevent any delays in reporting concerns by learning more about the difficulties in identifying these signs.
Guard yourself with the knowledge to protect, support, and accommodate individuals with ASD, no matter their age.

Head over to Sonderly’s website to learn more about our Autism Intervener Course.

12/02/2020

What's in a Diagnosis?

Families who have gone through the process of receiving a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for their child can attest to how challenging this process may be. For many reasons, diagnosis may not take place in childhood.

For adults seeking a diagnosis for themselves, these barriers may become even more complex. High costs associated with psychological assessment may present a real financial barrier. For reasons like this, undiagnosed adults may forgo pursuing a formal diagnosis and declare a self-identification of ASD instead.

To understand more about these barriers, the diagnosis pathway, and how to support and accommodate individuals with ASD, no matter their age, check out Sonderly's new Autism Intervener Course.

Head over to Sonderly’s website to learn more.

11/30/2020

New Recording: Putting Social Interaction at the Heart of Autism Interventions

Speaker: Alice Shillingsburg, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LABA

Impairments in social communication and interactions are hallmark characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). For example, a child with ASD may want to join peers on the playground but not know how to initiate play when these valuable opportunities arise. Behaviour professional, practitioners and educators alike are invited to learn from Dr. Alice Shillingsburg recorded presentation. She teaches strategies on how to teach children with ASD to initiate and respond to social partners. In addition, she is discussing procedures to enhance motivation for social engagement.

11/20/2020

Does your student require significant prompting to write in their journal? Have you spent months showing them what to do, but end up writing it for them? You’ve been prompting, but haven’t seen any increase in the skill. We can help! After taking ABA for Educators Level II you’ll master the ability to confidently fade your prompts and increase the student’s independence! Find the ABA for Educators course in the link: https://buff.ly/333oTlY

11/19/2020

Does your student require significant prompting to write in their journal? Have you spent months showing them what to do, but end up writing it for them? You’ve been prompting, but haven’t seen any increase in the skill. We can help! After taking ABA for Educators Level II you’ll master the ability to confidently fade your prompts and increase the student’s independence! For more info visit https://buff.ly/3kMsD15

11/18/2020

How Can I Help You?

When you intervene in a situation, you become involved in it and try to support it. Whether that's intervening to help face a bully, or by advocating for change to help increase the accessibility of your workplace.

Not sure how to help those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)? Understanding ASD and implementing appropriate accommodations, across any environment, are some of the first steps to take.

Sonderly's Autism Intervener Course will empower you to think outside the box to confidently support those with ASD. By following a case study of a man with ASD throughout his lifetime, this course provides perspective to fully appreciate, learn, and feel empowered to support someone living with ASD.

Whether you are an educator, transit worker, grocery store manager, or group-home staff, chances are you will know, work alongside, or provide customer service to someone with autism. Our course provides you with the tools you need to affect the necessary change to support these valuable community members.

Grow your understanding of ASD, get an overview of evidence-based intervention techniques, and implement pro-tips to get you intervening!
To learn more, head over to the link: https://bit.ly/3mS8xUB

11/04/2020

We have a new Autism Intervener Course available!

Autism affects 1/160 people worldwide. Chances are you will know, work alongside, or meet someone with autism.

Sonderly's Autism Intervener Course will empower you to think outside the box to confidently support those with ASD. By following a case study of a man with ASD throughout his lifetime, this course provides perspective to fully appreciate, learn, and feel empowered to support someone living with ASD. Find out more in the link: https://bit.ly/3mS8xUB

10/16/2020

A powerful message from Dr. Temple Grandin. Throughout Canada, October marks Autism Awareness Month, a time to celebrate differences and reflect on the importance of awareness, acceptance and understanding in all aspects of the community.

10/14/2020

Independence. Empowerment. Self-awareness. Self-determination. Communication.

Self-advocacy is a skill that helps people with disabilities ask for what they need and want and share their thoughts and feelings. Parents lay the foundation for self-advocacy as they are the first people to advocate for their child. When a child starts school, the parent shares that role with their child’s teacher. Parents and teachers’ crucial role as an advocate for their child or student is teaching them how to self-advocate! The skills you used to self-advocate for your child or student are the ones you must teach to the child so they can become their own advocate!

Our course, “Teaching Self-Advocacy Across the Lifespan” explores the importance and benefit of teaching self-advocacy to individuals with autism spectrum disorders. In this course, you will learn how to facilitate communication, choice-making and goal-selection. The better the child learns to express themselves and communicate with the people around them, the better they will be able to advocate for themselves in the future and navigate the world outside of the family and classroom.

Teaching and learning to be a self-advocate is a lifelong process and your child will do their best when everyone involved works to give him or her as much independence, self-advocacy and self-determination skills as possible.

Learn more: https://buff.ly/3jWzKo4

10/12/2020

We’re back at school and things may seem a little different as we’re continuing to learn how to navigate our new normal. Re-establishing school routines in settings that may have changed may pose challenges for students on the spectrum. Discover how you can help support your students who think differently with our courses https://buff.ly/33ykSFd.

10/07/2020

Only from October 7th - 9th, when you register for one of our qualified courses, you’ll receive a 50% off promo code for Geneva Centre for Autism's International Symposium, streaming online November 11th - 13th. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to join leading experts sharing clinical breakthroughs and best practices in the field of autism. Register here: https://buff.ly/2F9mcX3 #AUTISM2020

10/05/2020

Imagine your student is having a hard time staying motivated for her daily class tasks. They give up easily and aren’t focused on finishing their tasks in order to move on to the next activity. If this has happened in your classroom before, there are some concerning issues around their motivation and possible lack of reinforcement being given to them.

Reinforcement is a something that increases behaviours. Think about reinforcement as when someone gets something desirable (positive) or avoids something undesirable (negative). It is crucial to understand the power of reinforcement and motivation in a classroom setting. Reinforcement can help boost motivation in a child, which allows them to successfully complete tasks. To learn more about how to deliver different forms of reinforcement check out our RBT course: https://buff.ly/2S0SK8E

10/02/2020

The school year is back in action and you are too. While things may work a little differently this time around, as an educator, you need to stay on top of your game and continue to be there for your students. Especially for the students on the spectrum who may require a bit more of your attention and time. Discover how you can better educate and support your students with autism in our courses: https://buff.ly/2RvXWkB

09/30/2020

Play and ASD…

Play is learning! The first few years of a young child’s learning experience is done through play and exploration. But we know that play skills in children with autism are often underdeveloped. How can you as a teacher help bridge that gap?

Our online course titled “Supporting Play-based Learning for Kids with ASD” is about planning for play through incidental teaching. Teachers or education assistants may contrive play situations or capture a student’s initiation to help increase spontaneous language and other learning opportunities. You can support play through the use of modeling, visuals and natural reinforcement opportunities.

Learn more about how to use behavioural strategies to support play in children with ASD: https://buff.ly/3i4ukFC

09/29/2020

Educators of Children with ASD Can Make A Big Impact - Health Insight

“Next to parents, educators have the greatest opportunity to impact the lives of kids with autism. Unfortunately, teachers’ college doesn’t train or prepare them. We translate the latest clinical and academic information into something that’s meaningful and useful for teachers," Sonderly's Director, Andrew Davis told Health Insight

With the right training and tools — like those from the online training service Sonderly — teachers can help students with autism spectrum disorder succeed.

09/25/2020

We’re back to school and things may seem a little different as we’re continuing to learn how to navigate our new normal. Reestablishing school routines in settings that may have changed may pose challenges for students on the spectrum. Discover how you can help support your students who think differently: https://buff.ly/2ZBeWKI

09/24/2020

Geneva Centre for Autism International Symposium Nov. 11-13

This year Geneva Centre for Autism is hosting its bi-annual International Symposium online so that people all over the world can join. From November 11-13, come together with professionals, educators, parents and researchers, and expand your knowledge with the latest research and clinical practices in the field of autism. Register today at symposium.autism.net #AUTISM2020

09/21/2020

The school year is back in action and you are too. While things may work a little differently this time around, as an educator you need to stay on top of your game and continue to be there for your students. Especially for the students on the spectrum, who may require a bit more of your attention and time. Discover how you can better educate and support your students with autism: https://buff.ly/2ZAYrya

09/18/2020

To you, this is just a mess that you are not looking forward to cleaning up. To a child on the spectrum however, it’s an illustration of their frustration. See the bigger picture with better communication.

Perspective is everything. While we may not understand everything about ASD just yet, we can open our minds and learn more. Learn to better understand children with autism at sonderly.io

09/14/2020

We’re back to school and things may seem a little different as we’re continuing to learn how to navigate our new normal. Re-establishing school routines in settings that may have changed may pose challenges for students on the spectrum. Discover how you can help support your students who think differently: https://buff.ly/33a5NK4

09/11/2020

It may look like it's just a simple drawing of a couple of faces. To a child on the spectrum however, it's an expression of confused feelings. Without proper communication, you may not be able to see the bigger picture.

Perspective is everything. While we may not understand everything about ASD just yet, we can open our minds and learn more. Learn to better understand children with autism at sonderly.io

09/10/2020

Make your job easier, and your student’s more successful. Get started today on ABA For Educators Level II for your professional development: https://buff.ly/3m6iSwv

09/09/2020

www.sonderly.io

Planning for Adulthood...

START WITH THE END IN MIND!

As educators, it is important that long term goals and preparation for adulthood guide programming for our students. Communication, independence, community access and job development should be some of the critical components of programming for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder.

Tara Connolly’s presentation, Preparing Students for Successful Transition into Post-Secondary Education, offers valuable insight and practical tools to support students with autism in preparing for the transition to post-secondary education. Tara Connolly describes key elements of post-secondary settings that will help prepare students to navigate this new environment. This presentation highlights the use of ABA principles to help students build readiness skills.

Once you’ve learned how to prepare and support your student’s transition to post-secondary education, you can further your knowledge with Joanne Gerenser’s presentation, Planning for Adulthood through ABA and Effective Education. This presentation explains the barriers to achieving positive outcomes and describes strategies to address these challenges. Assessment tools for both evaluating programming and supporting program development will be discussed.

Research has shown that when students with autism age out of education systems, they have poor outcomes as adults; less than 30% are employed and less than 20% have long term relationship goals. And to make matters worse, funding significantly decreases as individuals with autism move into adulthood. Of course, addressing these issues will not be easy but this is the reason why we have to start today!

Learn more on our website: https://buff.ly/3hRQnAn

09/04/2020

What do you see? A leaf perhaps. Well, to a child on the spectrum, it could be a caterpillar and an expression of curiosity in nature. But it's difficult to distinguish that at first glance.

Perspective is everything. While we may not understand everything about ASD just yet, we can open our minds and learn more. Learn to better understand children with autism at sonderly.io