Aug/100
Diversity and Equality: A Workplace Must
A lack of diversity and equality may cost an organization billions of dollars over time. The damaging affects of inequality may manifest themselves within an organization in several ways, including losses in productivity, increases in employee turnover, and a dampening of employee moral. The Is It Bias? Making Diversity Work D.V.D. addresses these issues through a critical examination of organization biases, large and small, and how they affect company growth.
However, an organization may take proactive measures to define, recognize, and reduce even subtle biases among employees to pave the way toward long term financial stability.
Organizational Productivity
Increasing company diversity can increase both short and long term productivity. In the short term, a company culture built on equality works with exceptional cohesion. Cohesion provides the groundwork for peer-to-peer collaboration, a necessity for future growth.
Minimizing Turnover
Company diversity slows employee turnover. For example, the greater the variance in worker age, the slower the rate at which organizations lose employees to retirement. This is an issue to which organizations must pay close attention as the baby boomer generation of the 1960s nears retirement. Additionally, workplaces that hold principles of diversity in high regard are better able to retain and develop young employees. Managers, and their organizations as a whole, must instill a sense of equal opportunity among workers regardless of age, ethnicity, and other extraneous characteristics. Failure to do so can cause deeply rooted feelings of resentment, anger, and helplessness, each major contributors to losing human capital.
Inspiring Moral
Great leaders show their followers through action. Organizational leaders who utilize diversity activities inspire moral among their employees by setting estimable precedent. These activities come in many forms, but they each share the same goal: to teach employees to identify and diffuse even inconspicuous biases that lay the foundation for feelings of inequality and other counterproductive thoughts.
Properly utilizing diversity resources is the first step towards safeguarding against loss. Organizations may begin training diversity through many multimedia products. Program Development Associates offers the Is It Bias? D.V.D. to help management define, recognize, and reduce biases among their workforce. Only once biases are uncovered can they be disarmed—a critical step towards an inclusive work environment.
Aug/100
Disability Employment: Online Accessibility
The growth of the World Wide Web has helped businesses reach hundreds of thousands of potential employees through company websites and social mediums. Problematic, however, is the issue of accessibility. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that about 15-20% of the American population have a disability that may inhibit their ability to effectively use technology (i). In a world where employers are increasingly utilizing their online presence to recruit new prospects, this presents a hurdle that needs clearing.
Disability Employment Accessibility
Larisa Thomason, Senior Web Analyst at NetMechanic, Inc., gives valuable insight as to how companies can make their websites accessible to the estimated 750 million of Americans who live with a disability. In an article titled Designing Accessible Web Pages, Ms. Thomason advises tweaking the following aspects of web page code and design to increase their level of accessibility (ii):
- Utilize the Alt tag to provide a description of any photos or videos on the page. This will help explain the image or video through a piece of text, visible when a user hovers their mouse over the element.
- Make navigation more intuitive by including a text link for all image links. For example, a company logo image that links to a page with more information about the founding of the organization would be complemented with a line of text that reads Company Background, or something similar.
- Avoid relying solely on color to categorize items. Instead, categorize items into lists and head the lists with descriptive lines of text.
- Be mindful that not all browsers support JavaScript. Do not rely on Java to display critical elements of the page. Always employ alternative means of displaying page elements.
Making web pages more accessible is a strong step forward in terms of opening the door for diversification. However, businesses should not diversify merely because they have to. It’s simply good business. The popular drugstore giant, Walgreen’s, provides an excellent example of the less-than-limiting effect diversifying your employee base may have. A store location in Anderson, South Carolina, took on 42% employees with disabilities and surged to become 20% more productive than their other distribution centers (iii).
Businesses will have to start considering all that entails diversification of employees. Not only in terms of accessibility in the physical and virtual world, but also sustainability. Employers must consider utilizing disability training and education programs designed to gauge worker competency, design appropriate work supports, and aid in career development. Program Development Associates recommends the Becker Work Adjustment Profile, or BWAP, as an excellent and intuitive tool for hiring departments and HR professionals. Additionally, PDA carries several diversity training resources to further complement such initiatives.
(i) http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/Diversity/Articles/Pages/RecruitingSitesAccessible.aspx
(ii) http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol3/design_no17.htm
(iii) see (i).
Aug/100
Modern Diversity Training: Assistive Technology
The desire to employ persons with disabilities is growing. In honor of the recent twentieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Program Development Associates Disability Training Blog is proud to present a look towards the diversified businesses of the present. This coverage will be completed in two installments.
In this article, titled Modern Business Training: Assistive Technology Products, we will take a closer look at the assistive technology that is enabling persons with various mental and physical disabilities to gain employment. Next week, we will follow up with Modern Business Training Part II, a look at the Universal Design for Learning and its application in complementing assistive technology and broadening the scope of employment opportunity for those with disabilities.
Assistive technology can be considered any of a variety of instruments used by individuals with disabilities to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or altogether impossible (i). This is a broad and somewhat conceptual definition that has many applications. For example, mobility devices including manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, power scooters, and walking aids are all consider assistive technology. In this example, the technology is somewhat primitive compared to digital gadgetry but nonetheless enables the mobility of an individual who would otherwise have some degree of difficulty moving about.
Assistive technology goes beyond mobility devices to also include hardware, software, and other information technologies. For example, consider that individuals with physically impaired hands or fingers can utilize custom designed keyboards and computer mice to operate computers. Individuals with moderate to severe visual impairments can likewise overcome their unique sensory deprivation with software that reads digitally displayed messages aloud, like emails and other lines of text on a computer. In both of these examples, individuals are able to overcome their unique disabilities and perform work specific tasks.
Without these kinds of enabling technologies, these individuals would be hard pressed to find work environments in which they could actively pursue objectives, contribute as team members, and develop into working professionals. The expanding application of assistive technology, however, provides the groundwork for individuals with disabilities to do just the opposite. Indeed, the proliferation of assistive technology establishes the opportunity for businesses to diversify their workforce and cultivate the talents of a range of individuals. Moreover, employers are better able to retain valuable human capital; individuals who spend years learning, training, and contributing within a specific company can more easily retain their position should unexpected, devastating accidents occur. This adds a tremendous value for businesses rich in human capital; unexpectedly losing capital for any period of time can be costly, derail growth strategies, and undermine core business objectives.
Disability employers must know, however, that assistive technology is just that: technology. The effective application of assistive technology hinges on the ability of a disability or diversity employer to consider access. Technology is of no use if it is not accessible to the users for which it is intended. This is particularly important when considering the application of assistive technology, as it is specifically designed for persons with unique mental and physical impairments. Nuances that make one piece of assistive technology accessible to one individual may not make that instrument equally accessible to another individual with a similar impairment.
Since effective application of diversity training depends largely on accessibility, it is of great importance for employers to consider the needs of each of their employees. In the second installment of Modern Business Training, we will investigate how employers can best identify the unique needs of each employee to make assistive technology, and the workplace in general, more accessible.
(i) http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?109
Aug/100
An Executive Order for Disability Awareness
Disability awareness propagates in the wake of President Barack Obama’s most recent Executive Order to increase the Federal employment of individuals with disabilities. The order, released Tuesday July 26th, was issued just one day after the Americans with Disabilities Act reached its twentieth year since enactment. In those twenty years, despite previous presidential orders and Federal initiatives, the unemployment of Americans with disabilities has only risen (i). President Obama, however, hopes to reverse that trend. Different from prior initiatives, Mr. Obama’s Executive Order focuses primarily on retaining individuals with disabilities and learning impairments. An emphasis on disability training and education for Federal agencies and personnel is to be the point of difference that primes this Executive Order for success.
Recognizing the Federal Government as the largest employer in the nation, Mr. Obama begins by addressing the need for government to lead by example. In opening the Order, Mr. Obama states that the government has an important interest in reducing discrimination against those who live with a disability, eliminating the stigma associated with disabilities, and in encouraging individuals with disabilities to seek Federal employment (ii). The importance of these interests cannot be understated. Reducing discrimination and the stigma associated with individuals who have a disability is an important first step in reducing the unemployment rate. The ideal workplace for individuals with disabilities to prosper has core elements of regular disability education, inclusion training workshops, assistive technology integration, and mutual respect among coworkers. In achieving these core elements of an inclusive workplace, Federal agencies will establish strong paradigms that will work to welcome those with disabilities as potential employees.
Mr. Obama’s Executive order moves on to state specific requirements Federal agencies must meet in providing opportunities for persons with physical and mental impairments to gain employment. Most noteworthy, the President calls for the mandatory drafting of strategies to hire and recruit those with disabilities within 60 days of the Order’s enactment (iii). An essential part of these strategies includes outlining disability training programs for Federal Human Resource departments and other hiring professionals. This portion of the Executive Order aims to better prepare agencies to promote job availability as well as to provide hiring professionals with the disability education needed to recruit and train workers with disabilities.
Most importantly, the Executive Order sets the groundwork for long term success by setting standards for retaining workers with disabilities. Mr. Obama charges the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, with the responsibility of identifying and assisting agencies in implementing strategies to retain Federal workers with disabilities. Paramount to the success of this initiative is the ability of the agency to conduct thorough disability awareness training internally, developing an inclusive workplace that will help those with disabilities develop into industry professionals. The President’s Order will help in this regard, specifically detailing the duties of the Office of Personnel Management to include helping with internal training, using centralized funds to provide reasonable workplace accommodations, increasing access to the appropriate assistive technologies, and ensuring the accessibility of the physical and virtual workplace (iv).
In the twenty years that have passed since the enacting of the Americans with Disabilities Act, unemployment among individuals with disabilities has actually grown. Despite Executive Orders, initiatives, and disability awareness programs, the American public is ill equipped to recruit, train, and develop into professionals those with disabilities. Disability training resources are a necessity in reversing this trend. As Mr. Obama’s Order makes clear, responsibility lies in the hands of company owners, internal managers, and other business professionals to utilize inclusion training and other techniques to hire and keep workers with disabilities. Disability awareness training is a vital first step towards creating business environments in which this goal is attainable, and the Federal government’s push to lead by example is inspiring.
(i) http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/stats.htm
(ii) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-increasing-federal-employment-individuals-with-disabilities
(iii) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-increasing-federal-employment-individuals-with-disabilities
(iv) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-increasing-federal-employment-individuals-with-disabilities
Mar/100
Disability & Diversity at PDA
If you look directly under our company name and logo you may have noticed about a year ago we changed our slogan from “Ideas, Training and Solutions for Today’s Disability Professional” to “The Professional’s Choice for Disability and Diversity Resources”.
I must admit, I wasn’t sure it was a good change. We’d had the old slogan for 25 years, and it served us well. Why did we need to add ‘diversity’ to the mix? We have always been the ‘go to guy’ for all of our customers’ disability resources, would we be diluting a core reason for founding PDA by adding it?
In an effort to understand it, I turned to Google and Merriam-Webster for some help and found there are 2 ways to define ‘diverse’;
As an adjective:
1: differing from one another: unlike
2: composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities
And as a noun:
1: the condition of being diverse: variety; especially: the inclusion of diverse people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization
Based on either definition, disability is clearly, a dimension of diversity. Plus diversity is also a major management strategy for our customers. Companies employing people with disabilities not only increase their competitive advantage, they know the value and recognize the many benefits of diversity within their organizations. Managing diversity involves the creation of an open, supportive and responsive program that includes and acknowledges the talents of people of disability.
To that end, PDA has expanded their product line to include a new category exclusively for diversity related resources. And has recently added two programs created specifically to help employers manage diversity: We’re All Different: Diversity in the Workplace and Getting It Right: Disability Etiquette in the Workplace. Although We’re All Different barely mentions disabilities and Getting It Right focuses on disability, they both foster an atmosphere of acceptance and understanding. These training DVDs will help create a workplace that is accepting and respectful of differences, while at the same time encouraging employees to see the unique values in their co-workers.
So, did we lose anything by adding diversity to our slogan? Absolutely not. People with disabilities are our nation’s largest minority crossing all racial, gender, educational, socio-economic and organizational lines. Just like any business who adds diversity to its workforce and customer base, we are better and stronger.
Getting It Right: Disability Etiquette in the Workplace
http://www.disabilitytraining.com/product-info.php?Getting_It_Right_DVD-pid174.html
We’re All Different: Diversity In the Workplace
http://www.disabilitytraining.com/product-info.php?
We_re_All_Different_Diversity_in_the_Workplace_DVD-pid501.html
For the complete list of Diversity products:
http://www.DisabilityTraining.com/product-list.php?Diversity-pg1-cid43.html
Reference:
US Dept of Labor, Offices of Disability Employment Policy
http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/ek96/diverse.htm
Mar/100
New Resource – Fred’s Roman Holiday
Freds Roman Holiday DVD
http://www.disabilitytraining.com/product-info.php?Freds_Roman_Holiday_DVD-pid956.html
Resource #: FSRD979W
Fred's Roman Holiday DVD
Fred’s Roman Holiday is the story of an elderly man who early in his life was labeled with a developmental disability. His poignant return to Rome late in his life embodies the lost oppurtunities of a human being confined to a state facility.
The film sequel to the multi-award-winning film Fred’s Story (1996), in which Alfredo Calabrese described living against his will for decades inside Mansfield Training School – then one of Connecticut’s institutions for people with mental retardation. Fred shared the joy of the freedom of his new life once the institution had closed.
Opening scenes in Fred’s Roman Holiday reprise Fred’s Story to provide a context for Fred’s ordeal inside the institution. But Fred’s friend, Gayle Kranz, knew that Fred had a dream that went beyond those in Fred’s Story. She had met Fred at Mansfield Training School twenty years earlier and knew that Fred had always longed to go to Rome. To Fred, Italy was a magical place. Three years after the release of Fred’s Story she organized this trip.
On the way to Rome, the viewers meet Fred’s other traveling companions: Gayle’s niece, Neesham; Kathy, an academic in the field of inclusive education; and Fred’s close buddy and caretaker, Bob. These people join Fred in quest to find the office of Benito Mussolini, the disgraced dictator who had become the focus of Fred’s mysterious, lifelong fascination. Their collective search evolves into a profound exploration of what sustains a person’s strength through years of hardship, loss of identity, and institutional control.
When Fred last reveals the source of this ironic and misunderstood fascination, the viewer understands Fred’s attempts to cope with dashed dreams of romance and freedom. Fred has touched the hand of history, and he would never forget how it felt and how special he knew he was, despite all the world has done to him.
Mar/100
New Resource – Communication Skills
Communication Skills DVD
http://www.disabilitytraining.com/product-info.php?Communication_Skills_DVD-pid953.html
Resource #: HCCDC913W
VOLUME 6 OF THE COMMUNICATION SERIES
Communication Skills DVD
Communication is a process of creating shared understanding that includes speaking, listening, and non-verbal cues.
This program describes the importance of positive communication skills and teaches effective methods for creating clear, respectful exchanges.
When you train your home care staff in positive communication skills, it increases their ability to relate effectively and improves the quality of life for patient/client.
Topics covered include:
• Verbal and non-verbal communication
• Active listening
• Asking open-ended questions
• Clarification
• Pacing
• Obstacles to communication
• Communicating with someone who has hearing loss
• Uncomfortable conversations
• Honoring your client’s feelings
• Ageism: What is it? and How to avoid it
• Importance of professional appearance
Mar/100
New Resource – Autism & Asperger’s Syndrome: Addressing Sensory Issues, Brain Function, Social Skills, Job Skills, Medications and more
Autism & Asperger’s Syndrome: Addressing Sensory Issues, Brain Function, Social Skills, Job Skills, Medications and more DVD
Resource #: AASD099W
FORMERLY – WAY I SEE IT: A PERSONAL LOOK AT AUTISM & ASPERGER’S
Autism & Asperger's SyndromeDVD
Bring Dr. Temple Grandin into your home or classroom! She serves as inspiration and role model to hundreds of thousands of families and people with autism.
In this unique video, she eloquently and candidly describes the challenges she has faced and offers no-nonsense ideas on how others dealing with autism can meet these obstacles and improve the quality of their lives.
Backed by her personal experience and evidence-based research, Temple shares her valuable insights on a wide variety of topics, and offers useful do’s and don’ts.
Addresses:
• Sensory Sensitivities and Ways to Remedy Them
• Accommodating Neurological Differences
• Disability versus Just Bad Behaviors
• Alternative versus Conventional Medicine
• Employment Advice
Mar/100
New Resource – American Sign Language Clip and Create 5
American Sign Language Clip and Create 5 CD-ROM
Resource # : ASLF939W
VERSION 5
American Sign Language Clip and Create 5 CD-ROM
New Features for Clip and Create 5 include:
• Over 5,555 sign pictures (more than 1,500 new signs)
• Sign-O pictures are larger
• Print the User’s Guide
• Access the categories from Custom Print section
• More categories of signs to choose from
• Print the pictures in grid and individual form directly from the dictionary
The Custom Printing section allows you to create various types of materials (e.g., single and double-fold cards, stationary, 2-5 page banners, labels). Once you have selected the type of material you want to make, you can import sign clipart from the dictionary, use shapes or draw freehand, add text, import other images, and of course, save, and/or print your creation. A layering feature allows you to decide which pictures to move to the front, and which to move to the back. Each of your creations can be saved within the program, or as a bitmap, to be used in other programs.
ASL Clip and Create 5 contains seven templates that can be customized by using any of the vocabulary in the dictionary. Make your vocabulary selections, and get instantaneous crossword puzzles, word searches, SIGN-O cards, fingerspelling scrambles, and ABC order worksheets. An Alternate Display button allows you to retain the same vocabulary but create different worksheets. All templates can be saved within the program or as bitmap files!
There are four games on this software too:
• Con-SIGN-tration requires the player to match a sign picture with its English word equivalent. There are nine categories of words and two levels of challenge. The game keeps score of clicks and matches, and entertains with an animation when the game is complete. Because it randomizes every time it is played, there is always a new challenge.
• Spell Well can be played on any of six categorical gameboards. Use the keyboard on the screen or your own to spell the English word equivalent of each sign picture that appears. Your game piece will follow the trail until you reach the end, when an animation appears.
• Match Madness is a vocabulary matching speed game. You have four gameboard choices. Once you have picked your gameboard, you can choose your level of challenge by deciding how many words will appear simultaneously (2-6). Click on the word that matches the sign picture that appears. To win, make 10 correct matches before the third item drops.
• Sort It Out! focuses on categorization skills. A menu appears that asks you to decide the number of categories into which you must sort pictures containing signs and words. After choosing your number of categories, a screen appears with that number of categories and the names of the categories. The
Dec/090
New Resource – Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites
Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites DVD
http://www.disabilitytraining.com/product-info.php?Shouting_Wont_Grow_Dendrites_DVD-pid947.html
Resource #: SWGD929W
20 TECHNIQUES FOR MANAGING A BRAIN-COMPATIBLE CLASSROOM
Demonstrate how teachers can increase students’ academic achievement through proactive classroom management!
Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites DVD
Designed around the successful format of Marcia L. Tate’s best-selling book Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites, this comprehensive multimedia presentation offers staff developers all the materials they need to help novice and experienced teachers reduce classroom problems and cultivate a physical environment conducive to learning. Workshop leaders will be able to demonstrate how teachers can significantly improve learners’ performance by developing a classroom management plan; delivering successful brain-compatible lessons; responding effectively to chronic behavior problems; and using easy-to-implement strategies such as:
• Constructive classroom conversations
• Classroom rituals
• Music and movement
• Lighting
• Humor
Featuring 20 practical and proven techniques, Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites: A Multimedia Kit for Professional Development provides:
• The 140 page companion book, Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites, covering the critical elements of managing a brain-compatible classroom
• A 70-minute, content-rich VHS video that features Marcia L. Tate discussing brain-friendly strategies and master teachers demonstrating research-based techniques in the classroom
• A companion DVD with navigation menus and bullets for easy stop-and-search control of the video content
• A step-by-step 72 page facilitator’s guide that connects the core content of the book to the video/DVD and includes segment prompts, workshop outlines, extended workshop activities, key points, and discussion questions
This all-in-one package is indispensable for staff developers, principals, and district administrators conducting training on brain-friendly classroom management practices to improve student outcomes.
Dec/090
New Resource – More Power: Instruction in Co-Taught Classrooms
More Power: Instruction in Co-Taught Classrooms DVD
Resource #: MPID918W
More Power: Instruction in Co-Taught Classrooms DVD
More Power: Instruction in Co-Taught Classrooms
, builds on the six co-teaching approaches Dr. Friend made famous in the Power of Two DVD by presenting seven key dimensions of effective instructional practices across K-12 settings. This next generation of co-teaching empowers teachers and gives students a richer and deeper classroom experience. This DVD incorporating evidence-baced strategies, demonstrates how to get more power from your co-teaching to improve outcomes for all students. It includes a 27 page digital facilitator’s guide.The seven dimensions shown are:
• Assessment & Planning (23:30)
• Content, Materials, & Technology (26:00)
• Instructional Environment (19:40)
• Instructional Presentation (19:00)
• Student Participation (15:30)
• Evaluation of Performance (19:10)
• Adult Interactions (18:10)
Bonus Section: Brief review of the 6 co-teaching approaches—the scaffolding on which this DVD is constructed.
Getting the Most From This DVD: Each of the sections is designed to be viewed separately, and in any order. We encourage creative professional developers and others using this program to match co-teachers’ needs to appropriate video segments and draw on the digital facilitator’s guide to encourage discussion of the many ideas presented.
Nov/090
New Resource – Visual Strategies Workshop
Visual Strategies Workshop DVD
http://www.disabilitytraining.com/product-info.php?Visual_Strategies_Workshop_DVD-pid933.html
Resource #: VSWD924W
A LIVE PRESENTATION OF LINDA HODGDON’S POPULAR AND INNOVATIVE WORKSHOP.
Visual Strategies Workshop DVD
The Visual Strategies Workshop is a 5-video set filmed at a live presentation of Linda Hodgdon’s popular and innovative workshop. It provides lots of information about how to use visual strategies and it is packed with samples and examples of visual strategies that have proven successful with students who experience Autism Spectrum Disorders and other moderate to severe communication or behavior challenges. The information in the Visual Strategies Workshop is pertinent for every educator or parent who provides support for these students.
Will teach you to:
• Identify significant factors in student learning and functioning style that affect communication
• Informally assess the student’s communication strengths and challenges
• Recognize specific situations where communication breakdowns can affect student understanding, behavior, and participation
• Create and use specific visual supports that have significantly improved student communication, behavior and participation.
DVD 1: 35 minutes – Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders and Communication
DVD 2: 30 minutes – Informally Assessing Communication: Students, Partners, and Environments
DVD 3: 35 minutes – Samples & Examples of Visual Strategies
DVD 4: 34 minutes – More Samples & Examples of Visual Strategies, Visual Strategies at Home: Parent Interview
DVD 5: 25 minutes – How to Create Visual Tools, Potpourri of Commonly Asked Questions
Package includes a FREE CD with a collection of supplementary materials including:
• Reproducible handouts for each video program
• Discussion questions
• Test questions
• Plus lots of other support materials to help you receive maximum benefit from this training package
• Stored on a CD for easy duplication
Nov/090
New Resource – ADHD, ADD & ODD
ADHD, ADD & ODD DVD
http://www.disabilitytraining.com/product-info.php?ADHD_ADD_ODD_DVD-pid936.html
Resource #: AAOD999W
Part of Foster Parent College
ADHD, ADD & ODD DVD
Children with ADHD and related conditions are plagued by impulsiveness, lack of focus, and/or physical hyperactivity. These behaviors can make it difficult for children to succeed at home, at school, and in the community.
In this course, Dr. James Kagan offers insights and positive strategies for resource parents coping with kids diagnosed with ADHD, ADD or ODD. He discusses symptoms, diagnosis, medication, power struggles, keeping things positive and advocating for the kids.
Nov/090
New Resource – Children With Autism
Children With Autism DVD
http://www.disabilitytraining.com/product-info.php?Children_With_Autism_DVD-pid935.html
Resource #: CWAD999W
Part of Foster Parent College
Children With Autism DVD
The growing number of children diagnosed with autism increases the possbility that foster, kinship, and adoptive parents wil face this challenging disability.
Dr. Robert Nickel, Professor of Pediatrics and nationally respected authority on autism, offers insight into Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) based on his many years of experience as a developmental pediatrician.
This course examines the core deficits of autism: communication, social skills, and play. Also covered are develomental delay, Functional Behavior Assessment, Asperger syndrome, and medical issues commonly experienced by children with autism.