What will be covered

This comprehensive workshop equips you with the knowledge and tools to confidently take someone through the Davis Life Concepts for Autism Program in order to help them to participate more fully in life in the ways they choose. 

By the end of the workshop, you will come away with:

• a personal set of tools (mental strategies) to help you remain calm and relaxed while working with the individual

• the ability to help the individual to become more present in the world; develop accurate perceptions; gain an awareness of self; and develop the ability to regulate their focus, stress, and energy levels 

• the ability to teach and actively create (using the engaging hands-on method of modeling with plastilina clay) the fundamental life concepts of:

  • change, consequence, cause and effect, before and after, time, sequence, order and disorder

  • continue, survive, perception, thought, experience

  • energy, force, emotion, want, need, intention

  • motivation, ability, control, responsibility

• an understanding of how to create meaningful, positive learning experiences in the home, school, or external environment to actively explore these life concepts. This enables the individual to integrate their experiences into their personal identity, as a framework for understanding the world and creates a solid foundation for stimulating positive and lasting change.

• knowledge of how to help an individual establish order in their physical environment by learning how to use the concepts to establish order, determine order, and create and maintain order

• the ability to support an individual to develop self-responsibility. You will learn a strategy to foster self-responsibility through identifying which life concept/s are missing and thereby preventing or limiting that individual’s capacity for self-responsibility

• how to facilitate social awareness by exploring the different types of relationships and behaviors we have with others. 

Outcomes experienced

Individuals who have completed the Davis Life Concepts for Autism Program have experienced many changes, including:

• less anxiety

• increased ability to be able to take part in daily activities and create order in their life

• willingness to try new things

• greater capacity to cope with change

• an ability to cause a positive change in their life

• a reduction in sensory overload symptoms

• reductions in meltdowns

• a greater sense of self, and

• being better equipped to manage relationships and social interactions.