Autism 200 Series
Autism 200 is a series of 90-minute classes for parents and caregivers of children with autism who wish to better understand this disorder. Faculty from Seattle Children’s and the University of Washington and community providers teach the classes. Each class includes time for questions.
Classes are open to the general public. There is no need to register in advance to attend. Lectures are held at Seattle Children’s Hospital's main campus in Wright Auditorium. Park free in Lot 1. Enter the hospital through the River entrance, located straight across from the parking garage. Get an entrance badge from the Greeter Desk (bring photo ID).
Lectures are available through Seattle Children's video and teleconferencing outreach program and can be viewed at various locations throughout Washington, Alaska, Montana and Oregon. View Seattle Children's video teleconferencing site information (PDF). Lectures are also recorded. View past lectures.
Please call Seattle Children's Autism Center at 206-987-8080 with questions.
Class Details
Autism 203: ABA Benefits in Washington State
Thursday, Mar. 21, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructors: Ele Hamburger, JD, and Mendy Ann Minjarez, PhD
Attorney Ele Hamburger from the Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore law group and clinical psychologist Mendy Ann Minjarez from the Seattle Children’s Autism Center will discuss the litigation that lead to the development of new health coverage benefits for therapy using Applied Behavior Analysis in the State of Washington. Ms. Hamburger will discuss the history and status of the litigation and related settlements and Dr. Minjarez will describe how services will be delivered and how to access services within the community.
Autism 204: Supporting Speech, Language and Communications with Mobile Technology
Thursday, Apr. 18, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructor: Marci Revelli MS, CCC-SLP
Marci Revelli, a speech-language pathologist and augmentative/alternative communication specialist at Seattle Children’s Hospital will discuss how mobile technology can support a range of communication skills including speech production, language understanding, language use, and functional communication. Mobile technology can also provide opportunities to support children with their cognitive and academic growth and ability to play independently. This presentation will help parents and educators make informed decisions regarding the use of
apps to support communication, including learning how to prioritize goals for mobile technology use, how to determine what apps will be the most successful for a specific child’s communication needs and how to place restrictions or limits to encourage appropriate app use for communication purposes. Different speech, language and communication apps will be demonstrated.
Autism 205: Legal Planning for Individuals with Disabilities: Guardianship, Public Benefits and Estate Planning
Thursday, May 16, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructors: Joshua L. Brothers, JD, and Christopher Henderson, JD
Attorneys Joshua L. Brothers and Christopher Henderson from the Dussault Law Group will provide an overview of the most significant legal planning and public benefits issues that face families and individuals who experience autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities and how those areas interact. The topics covered will include a) planning for an adult who needs the protection of a legal guardianship, power of attorney or other decision-making assistance, b) the most common public benefits that may be available for those experiencing disability, and c) the unique elements of estate planning, trusts and wills necessary to plan for individuals who experience disabilities, including, but not limited to, special needs trusts.
Autism 206: Anxiety
Thursday, Jun. 20, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructor: Felice Orlich, PhD
Clinical psychologist Felice Orlich, Director of Community Outreach Services at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center and clinical associated professor in Psychiatry at the University of Washington will discuss issues related to anxiety commonly observed in children with autism spectrum disorder. How to identify signs of anxiety in children and strategies that have been developed to support children experiencing anxiety at home and in the classroom will be discussed.
Autism 207: The Transition to Adulthood
Thursday, Jul. 18, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructor: Gary Stobbe, MD
Dr. Gary Stobbe, a neurologist and Director of the Adult Autism Transition Services at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center and Director of the Adult Autism Clinic at the University of Washington Medical Center will discuss common steps and issues families who have children with autism spectrum disorder commonly face as their children approach adulthood. The focus will be on children aged 16 and older with discussion of children across the autism spectrum. Common obstacles and planning processes will be identified and discussed.
Autism 208: Social Communication
Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructor: Jim Mancini, MS, CCC-SLP
Jim Mancini, a speech-language pathologist and coordinator of parent education at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center will discuss social communication development in children with autism spectrum disorder. A model of social communication will be presented and issues related to evaluation and strategies to facilitate development of social communication will be presented. The focus of this presentation will be on early social communication abilities such as engagement, joint attention, nonverbal communication abilities (e.g. gestures, facial expressions, eye contact), and early reciprocal conversational abilities.
Autism 209: Relationships, Puberty and Sexual Health
Thursday, Sep. 19, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructors: Karen Toth, PhD, and Katrina Davis, BA
Karen Toth, PhD clinical psychologist and Katrina Davis, BA, family resource coordinator and parent of a child with autism, from the Seattle Children’s Autism Center will discuss how they approach working with youth with ASD around the following topics: a) understanding different types of relationships and expectations for behavior; b) common questions and concerns about puberty and sexuality raised by parents of youth with ASD and how we approach these issues; and c) how we address issues related to sexual health and hygiene, both in youth who are significantly impacted by autism and those who are more mildly impacted.
Autism 210: Highway to Hell or Stairway to Heaven? – Parenting a Child with Autism
Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Instructor: Greg Schell, MEd, Director, Father's Network
Greg Schell, M.Ed., Director of Washington State Fathers Network, a program of Kindering, will present on topics related to dads and moms including the following: a quick review of research on typical dads; lessons learned from many dads and families having children with special needs; three issues regarding stress experienced by dads and moms creating challenges for the couple relationship; and finally discussion of ‘resilience’, a powerful tool all of us can use and strengthen with awareness.
Autism 211: Panel Discussion – Developing and Advocating for Services in Local Communities
Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Amy Carlsen, RN, LEND Parent Professional Partnership Leader
Amy Carlsen, RN and parent of a child with autism, has been working on the Community Asset Mapping project since 2010. Through this project, rural communities have developed organized coalitions to better provide services for children with autism and their families close to home. Panelist will share their personal stories and insights on the successes and challenges of creating these services in rural communities.
View Past 2013 200 Series Lectures
Autism 201: State of Autism in 2013
Instructor: Charles Cowan, MD
Dr. Charles Cowan, developmental pediatrician and Clinic Director of the Seattle Children’s Autism Center will discuss current understanding regarding autism spectrum disorders in 2013. Dr. Cowan will discuss recent developments in research, expected changes to the DSM-V, and issues and progress made on the community and state levels in our region.
Autism 202: Addressing Challenging Behaviors: Strategies for Families
Instructor: Nancy Rosenberg, PhD., BCBA
Nancy Rosenberg, PhD, BCBA, a special educator and behavioral specialist from the University of Washington, will present a Positive Behavior Support approach to addressing challenging behaviors in children on the autism spectrum. Topics will include the importance of understanding the function of a child’s behavior, a toolkit of key strategies for preventing problem behaviors and techniques for teaching replacement behaviors.
Visit the Autism Center Resources page for additional resources or visit The Autism Blog, authored by Seattle Children's Autism Center. The world of autism spectrum disorders is constantly changing and we at Seattle Children’s Autism Center are eager to share with parents and caregivers what we continue to learn. The Autism Blog is designed to be a resource on autism as well as to give you an opportunity to comment on our posts and engage with our experts.