The University of Arkansas Autism Spectrum Disorder Symposium will focus this year on a system called pivotal response training. Online registration is available now.

The symposium will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. May 8 and 9 at the University of Arkansas Global Campus, 2 E. Center St., Fayetteville. The cost is $175 for professionals and $75 for families and students. Continuing education units will be available.

The ASD Symposium sponsored by the graduate programs in autism in the College of Education and Health Professions is in its fifth year. It provides professionals and parents the latest information on helping children with autism spectrum disorders. It is organized by Peggy Schaefer-Whitby, assistant professor of special education.

Autism is a neurological disorder. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that an average of 1 in 110 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder, which are all characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. According to the CDC, not all causes of autism spectrum disorders are known, but it is likely there are many causes.

Pivotal response training refers to Pivotal Response Treatment, a research-based intervention for individuals with autism. It is a naturalistic intervention based in Applied Behavior Analysis that targets pivotal areas of a child’s development, such as motivation, responsivity to multiple cues, self-management, and social initiations. These skills are pivotal because they are foundational behaviors upon which children with ASD can make widespread generalized improvements.

Ty Vernon, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who directs the Koegel Autism Center Assessment Clinic at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the keynote speaker. Vernon is an assistant professor of clinical psychology within the department of counseling, clinical, and school psychology. His primary research interests lie in novel methods for measuring, understanding and altering the social developmental trajectories of children and adults with autism.

Vernon has participated in the empirical investigation of several innovative social interventions, including an early social engagement paradigm for toddlers and their parents, group socialization interventions for school-aged children and adolescents, and vocational training programs for young adults with ASD. The Koegel Autism Center Assessment Clinic serves as a clinical and research hub for the detection and measurement of autism-related symptomatology in toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults.

Vernon received his doctorate in counseling, clinical and school psychology (clinical emphasis) from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2010. He completed his pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center, which is housed within Yale University’s School of Medicine. During his graduate and post-doctoral training, he acquired training in state-of-the-art autism intervention, assessment and research methods from these two world-renowned programs.

Additional information about breakout sessions and presenters is available on the symposium registration site.