Autism awareness: an introduction [ChildHub webinar]

According to recent research into autism rates, it has emerged that autism affects around 1 in 100 people. Autism-Europe which is an international association representing over 30 European countries, reports on research which demonstrates that many children affected by autism are undiagnosed. Therefore it is important for all child care professionals to have a basic awareness of autism.

In this webinar, we will learn some basic facts about autism and some of the tell-tale signs which may help you to recognise the condition. We will look at the diagnostic criteria for the condition and the ways in which it affects behaviour. We will explore the effects of autism on family life and look at some ways that families may be supported to keep their child within the family and the community.

It is also clear that children and young people affected by autism are not only disabled by the condition but also by the way that the world sees them. We will explore how attitudes to disability can be as disabling as the condition itself. We will also look at ways in which we can start to overcome this.

Finally the webinar will look at some of the ways in which services are currently delivered in a part of the region to see if there are any lessons we can learn.

The speakers:

Dr Irene Stevens was previously a Director of Care for a large autism-specific residential school in Scotland. She is currently a team leader for the UK National Autistic Society, working for their accreditation service which inspects and accredits a range of autism services for children and young people in the UK and other countries. Her doctoral thesis was on the topic of autism.

Maja Cepanec, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of Speech and Language Pathology (Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb). She has a master degree in speech and language pathology and PhD in cognitive neuroscience. Clinically, she does developmental assessments of children aged 0-7 in Early Communication Unit at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences. She was trained in the assessment of autism spectrum disorders on a number of  study visits and educations (Yale University, University of Washington, University of California, University of Michigan etc.). She is one of the creator of Croatian standards for screening and assessment of autism spectrum disorders in children aged 0-7.