Summit Delivers Hope, Insight, Technology to Parents and Professionals

KiDA’s 3rd Annual Summit on Autism was an informative event for over 700  parents and professionals.

• “I loved the event,” said Mike Easterson, who has an eight-year-old son with autism. “I thought it was great. Some of it was therapeutic, hearing what other people have to say, their common experience. You don’t feel like you’re all alone.”
  

  KiDA's Summit on Autism speakers include Dr. Wendy Goldberg, Dr. Matthew Goodwin, Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Dr. Howard Shane, Alison Singer, and Dr. Connie Kasari

• “I like what the speakers had to say,” said Kelly Owens, a speech and language pathology assistant not associated with KiDA. “I have taken away more compassion for people with autism, or any kind of mental illness, and just what parents go through that have an autistic child. I think this knowledge is definitely something I could bring back to the classroom.”

• “I enjoyed the straightforward manner of some of the speakers, especially Alison Singer, and the Summit was easier to relate to than other autism conferences I’ve been to,” said Betty Egan, mother of a child on the spectrum.

• “The Summit was very interesting,” said Andi Yudin, a preschool teacher in a school with a full-inclusion program. “I got some insight today that you have to accept and appreciate the child for the way they are. We may not know why they’re doing the hand clapping. And we can’t be upset if they’re not making the leaps and bounds that we might expect.”

• “The information was very hopeful,” said Amy Tam, who has a daughter with autism. “I loved Dr. Shane’s presentation because I love the iPad. My husband and I loved the technology panel, in general. I’m going to bring home some of the things I learned to try to work with my daughter.”

• “I thought the speakers and presentation were very helpful,” said Michelle Steiner, the mother of two-year-old daughter recently diagnosed with autism. “I also appreciated all of the research, and this summit had a very personal feel to it. The Summit was great, very exciting.”

• “I wanted to learn what I could possibly do to help families whose lives are impacted by autism and to understand them better,” said Holly Wylie, who works in a church with families who have children on the spectrum. “It’s very important for families to hear that there is hope out there.”

About the Summit

“My most important message to you as caregivers, from my experience of 40 years … is in the face of all the stresses and challenges, you must take care of yourself. If you don’t take care of yourself, the quality of care you give is diminished,” said former First Lady Rosalynn Carter to an audience of more than 700 parents, service providers and professionals during her keynote speech at KiDA’s Third Annual Summit on Autism at the UC Irvine Bren Events Center.

The Summit, which was presented by the Kids Institute for Development & Advancement (KiDA) in collaboration with UC Irvine, For OC Kids, CHOC Children’s, featured a prominent group of experts that explored, through research and personal experience, the new, cutting-edge technologies that can assist children with autism and the impact autism has on the family.

Technology Today

“The idea is to think about just how powerful this new technology is,” said presenter Dr. Howard Shane, the director of the Autism Language Program at Children’s Hospital Boston. “It is going to change the way we think about things. It’s really a paradigm-shifter.”

Shane’s presentation focused on technology he has developed as well as the iPad and various apps that help improve the communication and learning skills of children with autism. He presented some of the iPad apps that can engage and teach children with autism, including: Singing Fingers, Arnie the Trick Goldfish, Talking Karl and Symbol Talk, a voice-driven speech tool he is currently developing. Shane also showed the audience how effective the use of Skype, video modeling and online photos can be for children to learn to perform basic tasks with visual and dynamic cues.

Dr. Matthew Goodwin, director of Clinical Research at the MIT Media Lab, continued the focus on the latest technology advancements by discussing advancements such as unobtrusive, wearable devices such as the Q sensor wristbands that collect real-time data on autonomic nervous system activity – like stress and anxiety levels – and wireless sensors that automatically detect the motor movements of hand clapping, body rocking and other common behaviors.

But what really wowed the audience was his and his colleagues’ exploration into technology that allows for the early diagnosis and detection of autism in children by recording visual and audio data over months or years in the places they naturally inhabit, such as the home. This technology has since moved from the lab setting and led to the development of a home-based version. “There’s hope for the future” said Goodwin. “Some of this is crystal ball-gazing, but I’m involved in the largest scaled effort from computer scientists and behavioral scientists … to come up with assistive technologies that will let non-experts perform more like experts.”

Impact on the Family

The Summit’s audience of families and professionals were also treated to presentations on autism’s impact on the family featuring nationally recognized autism experts including Dr. Wendy Goldberg, professor of Psychology & Social Behavior and Education at UCI, Dr. Connie Kasari, professor of Psychological Studies in Education and Psychiatry at UCLA, and Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation and the mother of a daughter with autism.  Their talks delved into why it’s important for parents to talk about and share their experiences and stress because autism affects the entire family.  Dr. Kasari addressed how the content of interventions – and number of hours spent – matters and how parents’ child-related stress can be limited with effective hands-on and education treatments and better communication.

For more information about KiDA’s summit on autism, visit www.kida.com/summit-2.

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