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Laura Molleur Hughes | M.Ed. | Retired BCBA

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​My name is Laura and I have put together visualization cards that are 100% FREE and available for immediate download. Use these as needed or reference the templates to customize to make them your own. These are great for both the home and school settings. ​

​In addition to the free downloadable resources, I wanted to introduce strategies and information to help individuals with ASD reach their full potential with an easy to remember acronym - 'Using the acronym as a planning tool can help unscramble the many areas to address to ensure increased victories for the individual with an ASD.
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VICTORIES'.
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​Victories has been created to assist with understanding relevant factors which have scientific evidence of being instrumental in increasing skills, appropriate behaviors, generalization of skills and decreasing challenging behaviors for many individuals with an ASD.

The acronym, 'VICTORIES' has been created for teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, and families of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), or other related disabilities. 'VICTORIES' is to be used as a quick reference and planning tool which incorporates some of the evidence based strategies researchers have established as effective for most individuals with ASDs. ​

In addition to the effective strategies, the acronym, 'VICTORIES' expounds on the challenging areas many individuals with ASDs face on a daily basis.

The words, "victories and training" are heard in the same breath. Athletes, musicians, scholars, etc., all undergo training and practice to make progress (or just to maintain their skills) in their field of study (or interest). Likewise, individuals with ASDs, also must receive effective training, practice and support to learn difficult skills, attempt undesired tasks, and implement skills which will increase their independence and quality of life. So, what are we waiting for?
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Laura Molleur Hughes | M.Ed. | Retired BCBA ​ ​My name is Laura and I have put together visualization cards that are 100% FREE and available for immediate download. Use these as needed or reference the templates to customize to make them your own. These are great for both the home and school settings.

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My Group's Top 5 Takeaways from Uniquely Human

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My Group's Top 5 Takeaways from Uniquely Human

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1. Trust – It’s important to establish trust with students with Autism. You never know when you might breech that trust, but we should focus on establishing it and maintaining it so that we can best support the student.

2. The “IT factor” is all about having humility and a willingness to grow and learn about the individual with Autism. We should avoid being someone that causes that student dysregulation or seeing them as a child with deficits. We should focus on their strengths and be sensitive to their needs.

3. We are not the expert on the child, the parent is. Although we may be very knowledgeable on Autism, the parents have more experience with their child and know that their child needs the most. We need to be humble in our approach in working with parents and their child

4. We should not see Autism as something that we can fix. Instead, we should change our perspective of Autism and how we approach our students. We should be focusing primarily on making sure they are happy. Other successes and skill development will happen when the child is experiencing positive emotions.

5. As education professionals, we should prioritize building a child’s self-expression and self-esteem over stressing about their academic achievement. We should try to create positive experiences for them that will make them want to learn more and encourage them to pursue their dreams.

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1. We are not the expert on the child, the parent is. Although we may have a lot of information and advice to offer on ASD, the parent knows more about their child than we do and we should connect with parents and try to establish a respectful partnership so that we can do what is best to support their child.

2. Everyone on the spectrum is different. No two people with Autism are the same. Although there are some common characteristics that come with the diagnosis, they present differently in everyone and we should not try to assume that what works for one student will necessarily work for another.

3. Some people have the “IT factor” when it comes to working with children and adults with Autism. They know how to connect with that child and pay attention to what the child needs to make them happy and supported most importantly. The number one characteristic that people with the “IT factor” have is humility.

4. We should not be focusing on “fixing” the child or “getting rid of” their Autism. This is not really an attainable goal and many resent this view of Autism as something one can “recover from” because they see their Autism as an inseparable part of themselves. We need to focus on empowering children with Autism and above everything else make sure they are happy.

5. Many have the view that we should be focused mostly on making sure a student with Autism is achieving success socially and academically. Prizant explains that instead we should prioritize the student’s happiness about academic achievement and that will often lead to more beneficial learning in the end.

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Lou🌈 ♾ (@neurodivergent_lou) * Instagram photos and videos

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Autism Spectrum Disorder Eligibility Checklist

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This is "Make-Believe Play" by KSDE TASN on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

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This is "Joint Interactive Play" by KSDE TASN on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

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ASD Policy Implementation - NC School Psychology

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ASD Policy Implementation - NC School Psychology

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Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment and Intervention for Young Ch…

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The Transdisciplinary Play-Based System is one of the most natural, easy-to-use assessment and intervention approaches for children birth to 6. Assessing child…

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Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment and Intervention for Young Children from Brookes Publishing

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Types of Video Modeling:

1. Basic, best used for imitation, academic responding

2. Self-Modeling, best used for self-management tasks, assessing play skills, or other performance

3. Point of View, best used for specific discrete skills like tying shoes, setting table, ordering food

4. Video Prompting, best used for teaching a sequence of a skill one at a time with practice

Correct errors if a learner continues to make mistakes with certain parts of the target behavior or skill. Only the particular scene where the mistake occurs is played for the learner to re-watch and practice.

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Technology Aided Interventions AFIRM Module Packet

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Technology Aided Interventions AFIRM Module Packet

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Gender, like autism, exists on a spectrum. In the 1990s, as growing numbers of children sought care related to their gender identity, clinicians and researchers began to notice a trend: An unexpected number of these children were autistic or had autism traits. The observation has spurred researchers to work to quantify the association.

The field is beginning to get a clear picture of the extent to which the two spectrums overlap: Gender identity and sexuality are more varied among autistic people than in the general population, and autism is more common among people who do not identify as their assigned sex than it is in the population at large - three to six times as common, according to an August study. Researchers are also making gains on how best to support autistic people who identify outside conventional genders.

Here we explain what scientists and clinicians know - and don't know - about gender and sexuality in autistic people.

What is gender identity?
Gender identity is a person's internal sense of their own gender. People who identify as the sex they were assigned at birth are called 'cisgender,' or cis, whereas those who do not may use terms such as transgender, nonbinary or gender fluid. Researchers often use the phrase 'gender diverse' as an umbrella term for different gender identities, similar to the way some people use 'neurodiverse' to describe variations in cognitive style, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

How common is gender diversity among autistic people?
Many studies have examined the prevalence of gender diversity among autistic people. One of the most frequently cited studies found that about 15 percent of autistic adults in the Netherlands identify as trans or nonbinary; the percentage is higher among people assigned female at birth than among people assigned male, a trend seen in other studies. By contrast, less than 5 percent of adults in the Netherlands' general population have an identity other than cisgender. And in a 2018 study in the United States, 6.5 percent of autistic adolescents and 11.4 percent of autistic adults said they wished to be the gender opposite of what they had been assigned at birth, compared with just 3 to 5 percent of the general population. This study also found that, on two measures of autism traits, higher scores were associated with a higher likelihood of gender diversity. A 2019 study found a similar association in children who are not diagnosed with autism.

Similarly, autism appears to be more prevalent among gender-diverse people than it is in the general population. A 2018 Australian survey of transgender adolescents and young adults found that 22.5 percent had been diagnosed with autism, compared with 2.5 percent of all Australians. Some experts estimate that 6 to 25.5 percent of gender-diverse people are autistic.

Sexuality also appears to be more varied among people with autism than among those who do not have the condition. Only 30 percent of autistic people in a 2018 study identified as heterosexual, compared with 70 percent of neurotypical participants. And although half of 247 autistic women in a 2020 study identified as cisgender, just 8 percent reported being exclusively heterosexual.

Why is the prevalence of gender diversity higher in autistic people than in the general populationSocial experiences are likely a main component, experts say. Compared with neurotypical people, autistic people may be less influenced by social norms and so may present their internal selves more authentically. "You could then understand the co-occurrence as perhaps a more honest expression of underlying experiences," says John Strang, director of the Gender and Autism Program at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

It's possible that autistic people may come to conclusions about their sexual identity differently than neurotypical people do, says Jeroen Dewinter, senior researcher at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Some autistic people have told him they would be likely to identify as bisexual after one same-sex sexual experience, but neurotypical people may be less likely to adopt that terminology based on a single same-sex encounter.

Biological factors may also play a role. Exposure levels to hormones such as testosterone in the womb may be linked to autism, some research shows; increased prenatal testosterone may also lead to more typically 'male' behaviors and to less common sexualities and gender identities, although there is some evidence against that link. Regardless, prenatal testosterone does not explain why autistic people assigned male at birth might identify as more feminine, Dewinter says. But the biology of sexuality and gender in the general population is not well understood either.

Experts say it's likely that a combination of these and other factors contribute to the increased variety of gender identities and sexualities among autistic people.

What does this mean for clinicians and caregivers?
Clinicians who work in gender clinics may want to screen for autism, and those working in autism clinics may want to discuss gender identity and sexual health, researchers say. They should also be sensitive to different information processing styles, Dewinter says. Some autistic people may struggle to express their feelings regarding gender. Even when they do express these feelings, they often face doubts from clinicians because of stereotypes about autistic people, which can block their access to medical care. In a 2019 paper, one autistic and gender-diverse person wrote, "The combination is seen to be too complex for the majority of clinicians, which led to long waiting times for specialized psychiatric care".

Screening tools may also need to be updated to better identify autism among gender-diverse children, just as they need to be adjusted to spot the condition among girls. "Clinics are working to understand what autism looks like in girls and women, and we're going to have to take that same question with the gender-diverse youth," Strang says. Identifying autistic children who may need support in affirming their identity is particularly important because some may seek medical interventions, such as puberty blockers, that are time-sensitive, he says.

Clinicians should be aware that autistic people may present their gender identity differently than neurotypical people do. Some autistic people who transition from one gender to another are not aware of how they also need to change their social cues, such as how they dress, if they want to clearly communicate their gender identity to others. Clinicians can help autistic people navigate these transitions and ensure they have the same access to gender-affirming medical care that neurotypical people have, says Aron Janssen, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.

How do autistic people best learn about gender and sexuality?
For years, many parents and caregivers believed that autistic people, particularly those with intellectual disability, shouldn't be given information about sexuality and are less interested in relationships than neurotypical people are, Dewinter says. That belief is changing as researchers recognize that providing relationship support is important to ensure the overall well-being of neurodiverse people, just as it is for neurotypical people. Belonging to any kind of minority group makes a person more susceptible to mental health problems, because of a phenomenon known as 'minority stress.' For a person who is both neuro- and gender-diverse, belonging to several minority groups can intensify those problems.

More comprehensive and inclusive sex education can help. In ongoing surveys, Eileen Crehan, assistant professor of child study and human development at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, has found that autistic people want information about sexual orientation and gender identity more than typical people do. Research has shown that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) adolescents who have more inclusive sex education in school have better mental health. But only 19 percent of U.S. sex-education materials are LGBTQ+ inclusive, according to the advocacy group GLSEN, creating an extra barrier for autistic LGBTQ+ people. "You have two hoops to jump through to get the information that you need," Crehan says.

Where is the research going next?
Early research focused on measuring the prevalence of diverse gender identities in the autism community - and vice versa - but now researchers are increasingly turning to questions about how best to support autistic people who are gender-diverse. To do that, they're working closely with the autistic community, ensuring autistic people guide research priorities. "I really think it's incredibly important to lift up the voices in the community themselves, and I'm grateful to see that's where the field is going," Janssen says.

Cite this article: https://doi.org/10.53053/YBTA7630

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Gender and sexuality in autism, explained | Spectrum | Autism Research News

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Gender, like autism, exists on a spectrum. In the 1990s, as growing numbers of children sought care related to their gender identity, clinicians and researchers began to notice a trend: An unexpected number of these children were autistic or had autism traits. The observation has spurred researchers to work to quantify the association.

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FCT can be used to target a variety of problematic behaviors such as aggression, tantrums, destructive behaviors, self-injurious behaviors, and elopement.

The only types of behavior that might not necessarily be targeted by FCT are stereotypic or repetitive behaviors, which may not serve a clear communicative function. However, maladaptive behaviors that are associated with stereotypic or repetitive behaviors can still be appropriately addressed using FCT. FCT can be used to give the learner a more appropriate way to communicate the desire to engage in the stereotypic or repetitive behavior.

The communicative behavior should be designed to achieve the same function as the interfering behavior.

The replacement communicative behavior should initially require relatively low effort for the learner to produce.

It is critical for people who may be interacting with the learner to both understand what the learner is trying to communicate and to be able to respond accordingly if put into a position to do so.

Provide prompting and guidance to use the replacement communicative behavior using a most-to-least hierarchy.

If the communicative behavior selected is verbal, but the instructor expects the learner will not initially verbally imitate the replacement communicative behavior even if given a verbal model, then a visual cue should be considered for the initial instruction so that manual guidance can be used to prompt the learner.

It is sometimes necessary to ignore or "extinguish" an interfering behavior while at the same time reinforcing the replacement communicative behavior.

Thin the reinforcement for the replacement communicative behavior by gradually increasing the interval of time between the learner’s use of the replacement communicative behavior and the reinforcing response.

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Evidence-Based Treatments for ASD from PSY 6114

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Evidence-Based Treatments for ASD from PSY 6114

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Forward Chaining: Teach learner initial steps. Once steps are mastered, new steps are added. Benefits include learning how to perform the task from beginning to end.

Backward Chaining: Teach learner final step first. Once mastered, previous step added. Benefits include understanding how performing the task can be beneficial.

Total Task: All steps are taught to learner simultaneously and supports are provided for each step that is needed. Benefits include learning the entire task/routine. Used most often to teach functional skills.

It is important to break down a target skill/behavior into smaller steps. The smaller steps should be discrete behaviors. A discrete behavior requires a single response and is of a relatively short duration.

To teach the determined individual steps, team members will need to select additional evidence-based practices. Prompting, time delay, and reinforcement are commonly used practices to teach individual steps.

It is important to identify types of prompts (physical, model, verbal, gestural, and visual) that will provide the needed support to learn an individual step.

Backward Chaining Steps:

1. Provide assistance to learner with completing the initial identified steps

2. Prompt learner to perform the final step. Remember, to select the prompting procedure (least-to-most prompting, graduated guidance, or simultaneous prompting) that would best assist the learner in understanding what is expected. Also, be sure to use visual supports if appropriate

3. Reinforce the leaner for completing the final step

4. When the final step is mastered, the previous step is added one at a time

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Least Restrictive Environment Info Brief

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Least Restrictive Environment Info Brief

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You should always wait until a behavior has stabilized before beginning to introduce reinforcement

Define the performance goal clearly! (When, What, & How)

Reinforcers can either be primary (satisfy a physical need) or secondary (objects or activities that the individual likes but does not need biologically)

Reinforcers can be further broken down by: Social, Material/Activity, Tangible/Edible, Sensory, Natural

Help prevent satiation by: only using edible reinforcers when no other reinforcers have been identified for that learner, switching from primary to secondary reinforcers as soon as possible, allowing the learner to choose their own reinforcer from the menu

To keep the learners interested in a token economy, adjust prices and rotate items on the reinforcement menu

Negative reinforcement should only be used after positive reinforcement has not been successful

If learners accumulate a large numbers of tokens and assume they do not need to use the desired skill or behavior until the tokens run out, place an expiration date on the tokens to decrease the desire to accumulate tokens.

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Five collaborations involving autistic scientists and experts are advancing autism research, from lending support for theories of the condition to shoring up trials of new treatments.

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Spectrum | Autism Research News & Opinion

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Five collaborations involving autistic scientists and experts are advancing autism research, from lending support for theories of the condition to shoring up trials of new treatments.

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Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong developmental disability that primarily affects social communication. This introduction to ASD describes characteristics of autism, including social communication, repetitive behaviors, thinking and learning, and how to support learners with ASD.

What Will I Learn?

The AFIRM model guides the learner through:

Characteristics of ASD, including social communication, repetitive behaviors, thinking and learning

How to support learners with ASD

Activity based scenarios that promote real-world application.

The Introduction to ASD module will take approximately 2 to 3 hours to complete.
If you leave the module prior to finishing, your place within the module will be saved. From your My Account page, look in the My Modules tab and select the last page viewed to resume this module.

Suggested citation:
Steinbrenner, J., Sam, A., Chin, J., Morgan, W., & AFIRM for Paras Team. (2019). Introduction to ASD. FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina. Retrieved from https://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/introduction-asd

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong developmental disability that primarily affects social communication. This introduction to ASD describes characteristics of autism, including social communication, repetitive behaviors, thinking and learning, and how to support learners with ASD.