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  4. Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD) to Offer Training on Quality Employment Supports for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD) to Offer Training on Quality Employment Supports for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

September 18, 2009

The Maine UCEDD is offering an advanced two-day training based on the curriculum, Quality Employment Practices for Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, for employment specialists, job coaches, administrators, vocational rehabilitation personnel, and educators who work with transition-aged students with ASD. The curriculum, developed by Alan Kurtz and Janine M. Collins at the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, combines information from a wide variety of sources about best practices in customized employment supports with up-to-date knowledge about the diverse support needs of individuals across the autism spectrum. The voices and perspectives of individuals with ASD are emphasized throughout the training. The two-day training will be offered twice in Maine this fall: please visit http://www.ccids.umaine.edu/ for more information.

The training is divided into seven units: Introduction to Quality Employment Practices for Individuals with ASD; Sensory Processing Differences; Structure, Routine, and Predictability; Movement Differences and Motor Planning; Communication and ASD in the Workplace; Social Interaction and ASD in the Workplace; and Assessment and Job Development.

Alan Kurtz, M.Ed., is a Research Associate at the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of New Hampshire where he is pursuing his doctorate in Education with a concentration in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Janine M. Collins, MTS, MSW, is a Research Associate at the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and works on a number of projects related to best practices and improving service delivery.

For more information about the training or the curriculum, please contact Alan Kurtz: [email protected] or 207/581-1084 or 800/203-6957 (V/TTY).