L-E-A-P Autism Information & Support Seminar

L>E>A>P
Into Understanding Autism™
With Sharone Lee, M.A. Professional Autism Consultant
Doctoral Researcher in Human & Organizational Systems & Development

OUR INITIAL AUTISM ORIENTATION SEMINAR
This initial mentoring group is for new Autism family members and all our novice Autism service providers who must live, work, and cope with the reality of the Autism Spectrum across home, school, and/or community long term. L>E>A>P helps us all begin to get oriented to the initial kinds of knowledge, awareness, resources and strategies we will need to provide better care, services, and intervention programs for people with and without Autism across the full developmental spectrum and throughout our life spans.L>E>A>P participants report to us: " I finally get it--I am really beginning to understand people with and without Autism now. I can see a real way ahead for myself and my children/students the first time!"

Your local/online guide will be Sharone Lee, M.A. a family and service provider who lives and works with people with Autism and related conditions 24/7/365 across home, school and the workplace. She has twenty years of ongoing education experience in developmental models of adult education in parenting and teaching settings. She designed the L>E>A>P orientation based on provider feedback and established best Autism practices, and brings to it the knowlege, awareness, skills, and abilities needed to help family and services providers find our own way.

To make this LEAP you will meet with your provider peers locally and/or online in your own co-constructed work group spaces with access to our growing online knowledge brokering resource. This will help you take your initial tour the world of Autism, moving at the speed that works for you.

LEARN about the Physical, Mental, Cultural, and Emotional Realities of Autism Spectrum Conditions
EXPLORE the Mutual Impacts of Autism on Individuals, Families, Organizations, and Communities
ACCESS the Resources We All Need to First Survive Autism and Then to Thrive in All Our Lives and Work
PRACTICE Useable Problem-Defining and Solving Strategies and Universal Best Autism Practice Strategies

While this series is founded on what are acknowledged to be well-establisehd universal best practices for adult family and service provider development for parents and professionals, it can also help any Autism providers determine which particular intervention methods and models we may wish to pursue next. We begin all here.
As you get to "P" part of LEAP you will also begin to work on our C-A-L-M foundational model of universal best Autism PRACTICE. This will help prepare you for more advanced kinds of Autism trainings later.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THRESHOLD'S ONLINE L>E>A>P SERVICES

No person, family member, or service provider is prepared when Autism first impacts our daily living, working, and coping. None of us has the knowledge, awareness, skills, and ableness we need to survive it, let alone thrive in the face of it all. We all need useful information and real support to be successful on our journey. L-E-A-P is designed meet those needs.

In this series we will be using Threshold's public and private web resources and self-selected Autism texts.
We will work together in small groups in interactive online community spaces constructed for people with Autism, and our family members and our service providers. Individuals and groups will have both separate work spaces and shared large community discussion spaces based on our diverse functional needs and cultural realities.

Threshold's online knowledge systems and community networks are designed for adults with Autism/Asperger's and our adult providers (parents-therapists-teachers-vocational counselors) who are seeking to build new knowledge, awareness, skills, and ablities to understand the Autism Spectrum. Participants must have weekly access to email and the internet.

Students may be able to arrange for continuing education or independent-study college credits for L-E-A-P.
Separate contract arrangements must be made to access this additional educational service in advance.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT L>E>A>P

"What do the letters in L-E-A-P stand for?"
We L-E-A-P into basic to intermediate to advanced levels of useful and accurate information that will facilitate everyone's LEARNING how to better understanding Autism, EXPLORING the impacts, and optimum growth potentials of, Autism for us all, ACCESSING the resources we all need, and PRACTICING best Autism practice strategies that help us grow, change, and gain back the stablity that this condtion is now threatening for us all. If you take this L-E-A-P you can reach the other side of real understanding and relief from the mutual impacts of Autism.

"What do the three sessions cover?"
Threshold provides L-E-A-P, a brief, inexpensive, introductory information and support series to help us get oriented to this new world. It is structured around the most frequently asked questions from new families and novice service providers with the answers coming from every level of well-established Autism research and reliable resources. We provide learning, exploration, access and practice in relation to multiple dimensions of knowledge and progressive levels of information so that people in the Autism community will have a shared map of what they may be conscious and unconscious of, and knowing and unknowing about, the realities of Autism. We find that granting new folks a full view of the whole picture of Autism information provides great relief to us as people with and without Autism and as family and service professionals who feel overwhelmed by a lack of real understanding. We all must grapple with this paradox of needing information and yet feeling overwhelmed from the beginning of our journey into the world of people with Autism spectrum conditions. L-E-A-P provides a map of how to manage the information we provide.

The beginning level of information and support in the first sessions offers a broad base of basic information about Autism and universal best Autism practices. However we structure a "beginners mind" map of information in ways that are dynamic, useful and understandable, rather than just presenting "the usual" Autism facts that most of us already know. This creates the useful model for structuring the later levels of information we may each need, expect, or want.

The the second level of L-E-A-P we make available intermediate information about the three causes and effects of the three developmental domains of of Autism and the main intevention models that can help us helppeople with Autism. This information creates a strong foundation for learning more about Autism over time.

In the final level we will link you to key community sources of advanced information on human development theory and current research on the biomedical, cognitive and psychosocial aspects of this complex condition for your future use.

"Is this training for me?"
It is, if you feel that you do not yet fully understand the developmental patterns and needs of people with and without Autism in a way that lets you know what to do and become aware of who you need to be to achieve real success, then,Yes! This group is for you. You will Learn about the Physical, Mental and Emotional Aspects of Autism Spectrum Conditions--Explore the the Cultural Realities and Mutual Impacts of Autism on Individuals, Families and Communities--Access the Resources We All Need to Survive Autism & Thrive over our life spans--Practice Useful Problem Defining and Solving Strategies and Universal Best Autism Practices. For all family and service providers who must live, work and cope with the reality of Autism across home, school and/or community. It is designed for adults (parents and all other intervention providers) who are seeking to build their knowledge, awareness, skills, and ablities to understand and reach a consensus about how to relate with people with and without Autism across the full developmental spectrum and across our life spans. While this series is founded on universal best practices for adult family and service provider development for parents and professionals, this series can also help any adult provider determine which Autism intervention method they wish to pursue next. Participants report that " I finally get it--I really understand Autism now."