The STAR Autism Workshop:
Strategies for Teaching based-on Autism Research

LEARN TO USE these evidence based ABA strategies in your school program:

Discrete Trial Teaching
Pivotal Response Training
Teaching Functional Routines

PRACTICE USING a comprehensive curriculum that provides printed lesson plans for teaching:

Expressive Language
Receptive Language
Spontaneous Language
Pre-Academic Skills
Social Interaction and Play Skills
Functional Routines

PRESENTERS:
Joel Arick, Ph.D.
Portland State University
Director PSU Autism Center
Author of STAR Autism Program

John Gill, MS
Portland State University
Autism Specialist and Trainer

About the Presenters:

Joel Arick, Ph.D. is the lead author of the STAR (Strategies for Teaching based-on Autism Research) autism program. Dr. Arick has 30 years of experience working in the field of autism. He is also an author of several other published programs in the area of autism. These programs include the ASIEP-2 (Autism Screening Instrument for EducationalPlanning-2, 1991), the KADI (Krug Asperger Disorder Index,2003), and the FACTER Program (Functional Assessment and Curriculum for Teaching Everyday Routines, 2004). He recently published a peer-reviewed journal article in the Focus on Autism and Other Developmentally Disabled (2003) about the progress children with autism made who were educated using the STAR Autism Program. He is also an author of a chapter entitled “School-based Programs for Children with Autism” in the Handbook on Autism (2005). He is currently assisting the state of Oregon to develop a network of school-based training sites for children with autism in EI, Elementary and Middle School age levels. He is the Director of the Portland State University Autism Training and Research Center.

John Gill, MS is a Senior Instructor at Portland State University and a contributor to the STAR Autism Program. John has been a regular classroom teacher, special education teacher, and autism specialist. For several years John’s program for children with autism served as a model training center for the state of Oregon. John currently provides hands-on training to teachers of children with autism as part of a state-wide project in Oregon to develop training sites for teachers.

WORKSHOP CONTENT:

Participants will learn the techniques of discrete trial training, pivotal response training and teaching functional routines. Participants will receive examples of the STAR Autism Program lesson plans at each instructional level in order to practice their skills in implementing the program. The workshop content will include the following:

• Learn important curriculum content to teach students with autism.
• An overview of the three instructional methods (discrete trial, pivotal response training
and functional routines) and how they are used in combination to form the STAR program
• A comprehensive “how to” training on the use of discrete trial training
• An introduction on how to implement pivotal response training
• An introduction on how to implement functional routines.
• Workshop topics will include the use of a powerpoint lecture, video examples, presenter
demonstration and participant “hands-on” practice

The STAR Autism Program can be used to teach children with autism the critical skills identified by the 2001 National Research Council. The ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) instructional methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training and functional routines form the instructional base of this comprehensive program for children with autism. The methods of discrete trial training and pivotal response training were designated as the only methods that meet the criteria for scientifically-based skill-based methods under No Child Left Behind for teaching children with autism in a recent article in the journal Focus on Autism and other Developmentally Delayed (Simpson, 2005).

The STAR Autism Program has been shown to be effectively implemented by public school early childhood and elementary level teachers, related service staff and instructional assistants in the recent literature (Arick, et. al. 2003). The STAR Autism Program has been used to provide intensive instruction in critical skills for children with autism in both self-contained programs and inclusive education programs. The program provides a structure that allows teachers to implement instruction throughout the child’s day through typical school routines and provides techniques to teach the child in short 1:1 instructional sessions. The skills the child learns in the 1:1 instruction can be immediately practiced in the natural environment through the functional routines lessons.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN:

• Developmental curriculum content appropriate for children with autism
• Curriculum-based assessment techniques for baseline and progress monitoring
• To use applied behavior analysis (ABA) lesson plans
• Teach children with autism using the discrete trial training method
• Be familiar with the method of pivotal response training and the research
• Teach children with autism to be independent and to generalize skills learned in discrete trial and pivotal response training within their daily functional routines
• The critical skills students with autism need to learn
• To teach communication skills, academic skills and social interaction & play skills to a variety of children with autism.

WORKSHOP DAILY SCHEDULE:

Day 1:
8:00 am
Continental Breakfast

8:30 am
Research and Outcomes for the STAR Autism Instructional Strategies
•ABC’s of Behavior: Dealing with Behavior Issues with Children with Autism
•Overview of the three ABA strategies: Discrete Trial Training, Pivotal
Response Training and teaching Functional Routines
•Discrete Trial Training: Applying the Basic Strategies

12:00 pm
Lunch (on your own)

1:00 pm
Discrete Trial Training: Learn to use the STAR Curriculum to Teach Students
to Understand Receptive Language and Pre-Academics to Students at Level I

3:30 pm
Adjourn

Day 2:
8:00 am
Continental Breakfast

8:30 am
•Discrete Trial Training: Learn to use the STAR Curriculum to Teach Appropriate
Language & Academic Skills to Students at Level II and III
•Pivotal Response Training: An Introduction to the Components of Pivotal
Response Training

12:00 pm
Lunch (on your own)

1:00 pm
Pivotal Response Training: Introduction to the PRT Strategy to Teach Expressive
Language and Play/Social Skills

2:00 pm
Teaching Functional Routines: Introduction to the FR Strategy to Teach
Independence on Daily Routines

3:00 pm
"Putting It All Together"

3:30 pm
Adjourn

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

The STAR Autism Workshop is appropriate for all persons who work with children with autism and children with other developmental disabilities. Special education teachers, speech pathologists, autism specialists, school psychologists, behavior specialists, special education administrators, parents and educational assistants who work with children with autism should attend. The techniques learned at this workshop are appropriate for children in early intervention/early childhood special education, elementary and middle school programs.

ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE:

• Detailed handouts that explain each major workshop topic covered including handouts about the STAR curriculum on how to teach using the methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training and functional routines.

• Example STAR Autism Program Learning Profiles, Lesson Plans and Data Sheets for discrete trial, pivotal response and functional routines. Additional lesson plans and materials will be available for purchase from Pro-Ed. Inc.

• Continuing Professional Development: All participants will receive a certificate to document 12 hours of continuing professional development for attending the full workshop. For an extra fee of $100.00 participants can also receive one graduate credit from Portland State University (Special Education 509). Attendees can sign up for the graduate credit at the workshop.

PREVIOUS WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS COMMENTS:

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