*Registration   *Agenda   *Course Director & Faculty   *CE Credit  

Course Description and Target Audience
Social communication refers to specific behaviors in which complex cognitive and emotional information is communicated through facial expression, emotional gesture, the prosodic melody of speech, and through knowledge of the social rules of communication (pragmatics). Children come into the world with the capacity to engage in affective reciprocity, and they progress through emotional joint attention and verbal joint attention. By three to four years of age, they begin to demonstrate intuitive psychological knowledge and cognitive understanding of the world of objects. Persons on the autism spectrum fail to develop a repertory of social-psychological skills and behaviors, even if their language and intellectual skills may be intact. Research has shown that social communication skills are distributed as a bell-shaped curve in the general population, with autism at the least skillful end of the distribution. Defining where to put the cut-point on the curve for defining autism remains to be determined.

The morning presentation will provide an over-view, comparison, and strengths and weaknesses of ten of the most popular treatments for autism. These treatments all have evidence that they are useful for persons on the autism spectrum (i.e. persons having DSM-IV autism or Asperger’s disorder).

The afternoon presentation reviews the use of medications to treat many of the interfering symptoms that can be associated with the core social and communication disturbance that characterizes autism.  Interfering symptoms can include motor hyperactivity and inattention; interfering ritualistic behavior; aggression, self-injury and severe tantrums (irritability); mood disturbances such as depression and bipolar disorder; and other problem behaviors including sleep disturbance, pica and inappropriate sexual behavior. The effectiveness of medication for these different symptom clusters, along with their potential side effects will be discussed. In addition, questions that parents and other caregivers should ask their doctors and questions doctors should ask parents will be discussed.

The target audience is healthcare professionals in the following groups: Nurse Practioners, Psychiatrics, Pediatricians, Family Practioners and Psychologists.


Agenda
8:30 AM
Registration
 
9:00 AM   
The Nature and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Peter Tanguay, M.D.
 
10:30  AM 
Break
 
10:45 AM   .
Overview of Evidence  Base Practices for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
G. Richmond Mancil, Ph.D.
 
12:00   
Lunch

1:00 PM
Practical Aspects of Medication Treatment in Autism 
Christopher McDougle, M.D.
 
2:30  PM 
Break
 
2:45 PM  
Practical Aspects of Medication Treatment in Autism 
Christopher McDougle,  M.D.

4:00 PM
Adjourn


Course Director
Rebecca Grau, MPA
Assistant Director
Kentucky Autism Training Center

Faculty
G. Richmond Mancil, Ph.D.   
Executive Director, Kentucky Autism Training Center
College of Education and Human Development, University of Louisville

Christopher McDougle, M.D.
Director, Section of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Riley Hospital for Children, Department of Psychiatry
Indiana University School of  Medicine 

Peter Tanguay, M.D.   
Retired - Spafford Ackerly Endowed Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Emeritus)
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
School of Medicine, University of Louisville


Continuing Education Credit
Physician Credit - The University of Louisville Continuing Health Sciences Education office designates this educational activity for a maximum of 6.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nursing Credit - This program has been approved by the Kentucky Board of Nursing for 7.8 contact hours through the University of Louisville School of Nursing, provider number 3-0046-01-2013-113, expiration date January 31, 2013. The Kentucky Board of Nursing approval of an individual nursing education provider does not constitute endorsement of program content. Participants must complete entire session, provide license and social security number and complete evaluation to receive contact hours.


Registration
Workshop fee: $50

To Register, Click Here


Refund Policy
Please submit requests for cancellation to Diandre Glover Thomas or (502)852-2467.


Driving Directions
For driving directions, go to http://www.mapquest.com


Learning Objectives
1) Indentify the shortcomings of our current autism diagnostic system.
2) Describe the development of social communication from birth through adolescence
3) Determine behaviors to assess in order to determine a person’s social communication skills
4) Recommend how social communication skills can be used to more precisely define and diagnose autism currently and, hopefully, in DSM-V (due out in 2014).
5) Apply the types of medications that may be effective for specific behavioral symptoms in individuals with autism.
6) Assess the side effects of medications used to treat behavioral symptoms in individuals with autism.
7) Discuss questions that parents/caregivers may ask their doctors and questions doctors should ask parents in order to facilitate treatment of behavioral symptoms in individuals with autism.


Special Services
If you need special accommodations due to a disability, or for an alternative form of course materials, please contact us at chse@louisville.edu. Continuing Health Sciences Education fully complies with the legal requirements of the ADA and the rules and regulations thereof.


Accreditation
The University of Louisville School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.