Children’s Workshop Teachers Attend European ABAI Conference

Special educators from Children’s Workshop (CW), who are enrolled in the Masters in Autism program of San Diego State University’s Department of Special Education, attended the international conference on Applied Behavior Analysis in Oslo, Norway, August 7th-9th, with funding from the Federal grant that supports the SDSU program.

CW teachers Sherry Castenada, Laura Hoge, Christine Daly and Dana Pulde attended panels and workshops ranging from “Early Childhood Intervention in Communication Skills” to “Coaching Mastery and Parent Involvement” with studies presented by teachers and researchers from Australia, England, the Netherlands and Italy. Ms. Castenada reported that “it was great to find that we use the same methods and practice the same ideals as successful educators around the world.”

With a goal of completing their Master’s theses in May, 2010, Ms. Castenada spoke for the group in saying: “We analyzed all the presentations at the conference with an eye for how the research and techniques could be adapted to follow the ABA principles as they are utilized at Children’s Workshop as well as in all of the other schools of The Institute for Effective Education (TIEE).”

With their family members joining them, the four turned the opportunity into a three-week trip, visiting Denmark, France, Norway, Austria, Germany and Spain after the conference concluded. During their travels, they were particularly interested in observing the successful incorporation of people with disabilities into the communities and social structures of the countries they visited.