Success for Students With High-Functioning Autism INTRODUCTION This course focuses on the impact of Theory of Mind on effective social-pragmatic communication for children and adolescents with high-functioning autism. The course describes the typical Theory of Mind deficits among this population – including tact, proxemics, social rules, egocentricity, naiveté, and jocularity – as well as social communication deficits and issues associated with social-emotional regulation that this population often exhibits. The course then explores the unique assessments and interventions that can address the specific deficits and challenges of students with highfunctioning autism, which are distinct from those of students with more severe autism. The course discusses in detail best practices in social-pragmatic assessment and evidence-based treatment strategies and techniques that SLPs can put into practice to equip students to overcome social skills deficits. LEARNING OUTCOMES You will be able to: describe how Theory of Mind, central coherence, executive functioning, and emotional intelligence affect social-pragmatic communication use assessment methods to evaluate social-pragmatic communication use evidence-based interventions to produce positive change in social-pragmatic communication
CONTENTS What’s Theory of Mind? .................................................................................................. 3 Classification of Characteristics ....................................................................................... 8 Executive Function ........................................................................................................ 30 Central Coherence ........................................................................................................ 33 Emotional Intelligence (EQ) ........................................................................................... 35 Assessment .................................................................................................................. 42 Social Deficits Associated With Asperger’s Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism ........... 56 References.................................................................................................................... 83
PROGRAM HISTORY and IMPORTANT INFORMATION Live recording date: February 29, 2016 Peer reviewed: February 8, 2017 Available through: February 8, 2020 To earn continuing education credit, you must complete and submit the learning assessment on or before February 8, 2020.
ASHA Self-Study 16402
Success for Students With High-Functioning Autism
To see if this program has been renewed after this date, please search by title in ASHA’s online store at www.asha.org/shop.
This course is offered for 0.35 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).
STATEMENT ON EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE It is the position of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association that audiologists and speech-language pathologists incorporate the principles of evidencebased practice in clinical decision making to provide high-quality clinical care. The term evidence-based practice refers to an approach in which current, high-quality research evidence is integrated with practitioner expertise and client preferences and values into the process of making clinical decisions. Participants are encouraged to actively seek and critically evaluate the evidence basis for clinical procedures presented in this and other educational programs. Adopted by the Scientific and Professional Education Board, April 2006