Improving Support of Autistic Children and Families

This presentation is designed to improve understanding and support of autistic individuals, including children, teens, and caregivers, using a strengths-based, trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, and anti-oppressive lens. Participants can expect to engage via lecture, multimedia content, reflective exercises, discussion, and web-based resources. Teaching will prioritize lived experiences and perspectives of the autistic community alongside traditional evidence-informed approaches.

Learning objectives:

• Understand autism as a multi-faceted spectrum that varies from person to person, involving differences in thinking, communication, emotion, sensory experiences, movement, and more, and the impact of neuronormativity, ableism, and other forms of oppression on mental health and broader wellbeing.
• Learn strategies that prioritize felt safety, connection, and autonomy to flexibly adapt to autistic individuals’ needs during crisis.
• Reflect on preexisting assumptions, beliefs, and expectations toward autistic individuals to improve empathy and perspective taking.

Bio:

Haeli enjoys blending knowledge and experience from a variety of disciplines, perspectives, and experiences, including psychological science, a near-decade in community mental health, teachings from various sociopolitical movements (e.g., decolonization, neurodiversity), historically silenced voices, and traditional practices that connect us to the more-than-human world, while weaving in reflections as a late-identified neurocomplex human and mother. Haeli is trained in Attachment & Biobehavioral Catch-up, Circle of Security Parenting, Conscious Discipline, and Managing and Adapting Practice, and she prioritizes compassion, authenticity, and humility in her work. Haeli encourages folks to remember that professional services and supports are just one way to create the village it takes to raise a child, and we’re all in this together.