Back to Back Seminars: STAR Program and Crisis Management

Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research (STAR Program)

ASP hosted Strategies for Teaching based Autism Research seminar was held in Autism society Philippines National Headquarters last June 25, 2016. There were 42 participants who were teachers and parents.

Teacher Tess presenting in seminar

Ms. Maria Theresa Aficial a.k.a. Teacher Tess presented demos, Q & A’s and talks of strategies for parents and teachers to be able to learn about languages. She also showed objectives and 3 levels of STAR Program for people with special needs who have difficulty understanding in commandments. Teacher Tess showed an example of a physical prompt by letting one of the participants sit in front of people using those materials 2 plastic cups, a chart of I’m Working For coins, purse, marker, lollipop and a dish.

Teacher Tess let people see the STAR Program guide of students’ lessons for them to be taught as routins. She divided groups into 6 and distributed 3 small boards of “I’m Working For” with pennies and dimes and photos of animals. Then participants discussed briefly about how they worked and wrote on a daily data sheet as their tasks. One of them also put pennies and dimes in each board about them practicing especially for motor skills.

After the discussion, one of the heads in each group shared on how they taught their children / students as correcting behaviors for them to be more skillful. They mentioned about how they experience educating special children and learned after Teacher Tess answered their comments.

“It is good that talk, demo and Q & A are all given a designated & enough time.”

“It is good that everyone or most of the attendees are given a chance / time to share their knowledge, experiences to all of us.”

“The strategies I’ve learned this morning will help me in teaching my daughter structure teaching.”

Crisis Management at home, school and community

ASP hosted Crisis Management persented by Mr. Mark Padil and welcomed 38 participants. The seminar was held in Autism Society Philippines National Headquarters last June 25, 2016. They were teachers and parents who attended.

Participants watching safety video

Mr. Mark took out safety and first aid kits and put them in a table for participants to see what he used. He presented the table of contents of how to prepare for safety precautions in case of earthquake, fire, floods and other dangerous situations.

He even mentioned about how to rescue people with autism to teach parents on how to handle them safely. Mr. Mark showed a step on saving people from disasters. He also showed videos in front of participants on how children with autism reacted after being rescued. The mat was seen as Mr. Mark folded to show the safety cross and an arrow.

The rules on how to be safe, planning to do and other needs of people to be survived were shown such as in case of a flood, fire, earthquake and active shooter so they would not panic if something happened in buildings and roads as well as to defend themselves. The slides were also shown about prevention, encounters, Tips for EMS and Your indentification is your Safety to be alert on saving people / children with autism especially non verbal. Mr. Mark presented Emergency Comm-Board as he gave examples of kinds of deseases and illness.

He let one of the participants lie down on the floor to let people see on how to hold a person who has a risk of restraint.

“This seminar is definitely helpful & highly recommended. I think that Teacher Mark can also deliver such seminars to public SpEd schools.”

“Very knowledgeable! Good speaker.”

“Socially relevant!”

About the contributor. Lloyd Ngo worked as an ASP intern when he attended Independent Living and Learning Center. He began working in 2012 as an encoder at the Ongkiko Manhit Custodio and Acorda Law Offices in Makati. He is currently ASP’s Program Assistant for Communications.

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Posted in: 4parents,4pros,behavior,crisis,research,seminar

June 25 Back to Back Seminars

Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research (STAR Program)

25 June 2016, Saturday, 8:30 am - 12:00nn

ASP National Headquarters, #9 11th Jamboree Street cor. Sct. Fuentabella,

Brgy. Sacred Heart, Kamuning, Quezon City

Map: http://bit.ly/1LwgklB

Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research or the STAR Program (author, Joel Arick, Ph.D) is an evidence-based, ABA-based and research validated program used in over 2,000 school districts in the United States and in other parts of the globe. It is a strategy for instruction based on research-based methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training and teaching functional routines method. The program is a method of teaching to address the needs of children with Autism from early childhood through post-secondary level in the 6 curricular areas of receptive language, expressive language, spontaneous language, functional routines, academics, and play and social skills. The STAR program provides curriculum resources and a continuum of professional activities needed for teachers to implement the program which includes detailed lesson plans, teaching materials, data systems and curriculum-based assessment.

This talk will give an overview of the STAR program, instructional activities and materials and demonstrate methods of instruction particularly discrete trial method.

About the Speaker

Ms. Maria Theresa Aficial

Maria Theresa P. Aficial, fondly called Teacher Tess, she has taught in college, high school and SpEd. She worked with Bridges Foundation Inc. for 4 years before she went to the US as a Special Ed Teacher. She is now currently teaching Life Skills, a self-contained class of all autism, from kinder to 1st grade at Coyote Canyon Elementary School at Bullhead City, Arizona. She has attended the STAR seminar-workshop in Phoenix, AZ in October 2015 aside from the on-site training done regularly by the STAR Autism Support. Her class has been using the STAR program and is being closely monitored and evaluated for strict implementation of the program and children’s progress as required by Arizona Department of Education.

Crisis Management at home, school and community

25 June 2016, Saturday, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

ASP National Headquarters, #9 11th Jamboree Street cor. Sct. Fuentabella,

Brgy. Sacred Heart, Kamuning, Quezon City

Map: http://bit.ly/1LwgklB

The rainy season is here and with it comes the possibility of storms, floods, brown outs and other disruptions to our children’s daily routines which could trigger tantrums and meltdowns. How do we deal with these? How do we prepare our children for emergency and crisis situations?

T. Mark will show us how to plan and prepare our children for such occurrences. He will give us strategies to ensure our children’s safety, and what to do when crisis arise. He will give us tips on how to prepare our children for encounters with Law Enforcers, Fire Fighters and Medical Responders.

More importantly, he will give tips and strategies on how to de-escalate tantrums and meltdowns when they begin, how to distinguish between a tantrum and a meltdown and the safety measures to use when we need to physically restrain or isolate them during a full blown meltdown. Parents, teachers and therapists alike will benefit from these important strategies.

About the Speaker

Mr. Mark Anthony Padil

Mark Anthony T. Padil, EMR is a graduate of BS Physical Therapy from Our Lady of Fatima University in 2002. He has worked as a Behavior Therapist ABA / VB - Shadow Teacher with individuals with Autism. Teacher Mark assists in emergency and disaster alleviation efforts and in the promotion of public safety, disaster-preparedness and community service with the Regional Emergency Assistance Communications Team - REACT NCR North Group and with the CRS-AFP Civil Relations Service. A Fire Volunteer and member of Fighter ESD - Emergency Services Division, An Auxilliary Officer under PCGA, An EMS Officer - Ambulance Medic with Dreamsmed Ambulance Transport and he is founder of the eMergency Autism Response sKills (eMark) Services.

Seminar Fees

Pre-Registration (until June 22 or until slots last)
Single Seminar Member - P 400.00
Single Seminar Non-member - P 600.00
Double Seminar Member - P 800.00
Double Seminar Non-member - P 1,000.00

On-site Registration Fee
Single Seminar Member - P 500.00
Single Seminar Non-member - 700.00
Double Seminar Member - P 1,000.00
Double Seminar Non-member - P 1,200.00

Pre-registered participants may pay to Autism Society Philippines, Metrobank, Kamias Branch Account Number 047-3-04751874-2. Please email the scan copy of your deposit slip with the name/s of participant/s and contact numbers to autismphils@gmail.com and bring it on the day of the seminar. There will only be 60 slots available. No refund will be given to participants who do not show up on the date of the seminar. For more details, please call ASP at 7-903-5496.

The ASP Education and Empowerment Program serves as a platform to educate Filipino parents and professionals on the various interventions, modalities and theories surrounding Autism Spectrum Disorder. Their application and implementation are left at your discretion. The views and personal experiences of the speakers are their own and may not necessarily reflect the views of the organization.

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Posted in: 4parents,4pros,behavior,crisis,research,seminar

Researching on Autism with ASP

The Autism Society Philippines is appreciative of the the interest from researchers from all over the world on autism and the individuals and families who live with this condition. We can only hope that this search for knowledge on a misunderstood condition can fuel our aspiration to build an Autism-OK Philippines.

ASP receives volumes of thesis assistance requests all throughout the year. And to manage the overwhelming number and our humble resources, the organization shall pursue research proposals which can provide meaningful, genuine benefit for our members in partnership with visibly dedicated and vested researchers -- instead of being a one-way engagement.

This PWA soccer event was organized by UST students researching on nutrition and diet.

Interested students from all levels -- from grade school to post-graduate -- and researchers intending to publish must submit the following requirements. These requirement must be met if the student/s is/are conducting a focused group discussion, a survey or an interview with leadership.

1) A signed letter of introduction, articulating the study parameters of your thesis, your timeline and what you need from ASP in precise terms. This document must be created in the letterhead of your school and must include the name, signature and contact number of your supervising professor.

For example: “We are conducting a study of the effects of gaming on children with autism. We would like to request for ASP to assist in identifying 10 children who are gamers. We will distribute a 20-page survey to their parents. We also need an ASP staff member to fill out an evaluation form on how well we conducted the study. The study needs to be competed by February 2016.”

2) An explicit commitment that ASP will receive a copy of the final thesis and will be allowed to share it in the ASP Reading Room with interested parties and in our digital library on Scribed. This must be written out and included in #1.

3) A proposal for a simple event or project you or your group will organize for ASP members. This will be the basis of inviting your target audience to meet with you. The project must be connected to your field of study and needs to deliver tangible benefit to families and/or individuals living with autism. For example, if your project is on assessing the merits of non-traditional interventions, you can host a photography walk for kids with autism or a lecture for parents on the same subject. Parents will explicitly agree to participate in your study by signing up for the event. You are expected to provide a reputable resource person or expert who will moderate the activity or lecture. ASP will endorse your event to the chapter nearest you and help you promote the effort; but the project has to be driven and executed by the student researchers themselves.

Please send the requirements to autismphils[at]gmail[dot]com. Upon receiving your proposal documents, the ASP National Office will assess within seven (7) calendar days, if the request merits endorsement to an ASP chapter. Incomplete submissions will mean automatic rejection of the request.

Compliant to the Data Privacy Act of 2012, we cannot share membership data. We also cannot release a survey to sub-section of our membership that meets a research criteria. ASP had been entrusted with member information for the specific use of ASP -- and not third parties. We look forward to engaging with researchers in a manner that is equitable to both the researcher and the respondents; and respectful to privacy preferences of the respondents.

Due to the significant volume, we also no longer accommodate interview requests. Instead, we encourage students to attend the monthly New Member and Volunteer Orientation on the second Saturday of each month. Aside from getting basic questions about autism answered, researchers may ask their questions during the Open Forum.

Thank you for helping build a greater understanding of autism within the academic community.

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Posted in: guidelines,research