Learn all about autism with this list of courses

Learn all about autism with this list of courses

A parent’s autism journey with their child typically starts with a lot of questions. Finding answers can empower you to make better decisions for your child and at the same time bring you peace of mind.

The unknown is always scary. But when you learn more about autism and you gain more experience with it, you can reduce your stress and anxiety and start to take control and advocate for what’s best for your child and family.

Parent training and online courses can be a great resource and comfort by providing you with the answers about autism that you’re looking for. A 2018 study in the Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment Journal tends to back this up. The study involved mothers of children with autism. After they received parent training, the researchers found that the training improved the mothers’ coping skills and decreased their anxiety and depression.

Parent training is encouraged for all families who have children enrolled in ABA therapy programs, the gold standard in autism care. In fact, most insurance providers require it. Parent training is typically provided by the same group that is providing ABA therapy to your child. It can be in-person training or online and is often provided to a group of parents at one time.

During training, parents are able to learn basic ABA therapy techniques they can use with their child. It can help improve the parent-child relationship as well as give children extra time to practice what they’re learning during their ABA therapy sessions.

Courses for parents of children with autism

In addition to parent training provided by your child’s ABA therapy provider, you can find free and fee-based courses online that can shed light on a variety of autism topics.

Here’s a list of courses about autism that might come in handy when searching for information online. Please note that this list does not represent an endorsement of any course. If something looks interesting to you, we encourage you to make sure the course is right for your needs by reading the course description and website, asking questions of the course provider, and reading parent reviews if they’re available.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of courses that could help you along your autism journey:

  • Caregiver Skills Training Program – This free program from Autism Speaks teaches parents and caregivers the day-to-day skills they need to help their children reach their full potential. You’ll learn how to use play and home routines to help build your child’s communication, engagement, positive behavior, and daily living skills. You’ll also learn essential problem solving and self-care skills to improve your overall well-being, all while learning how to better support your child. Learn more
  • ASD Strategies in Action – These free courses from the OCALI Autism Certification Center and Autism Speaks offer families practical information, real-life examples, and skills they can use to care for and support loved ones with autism. Learn more
  • Everyday ABA: Practical Strategies for You and Your Child – This free, six-part training series from the Boston Medical Center focuses on helping parents and caregivers learn about behavior, how to change behavior, and ways to promote skills in their children. Learn more
  • Autism Training Modules – These free, five video modules from the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment at the University of Missouri cover essential autism topics, including understanding autism in young children, the screening and referral process, evidence-based practices and interventions, the transition to adulthood, and building the family professional partnership. Learn more
  • Autism Distance Education Parent Training – This free 10-lesson training module from the MIND Institute at UC Davis Health provides parents with tools and training to more effectively teach their child with autism and other related neurodevelopmental disabilities functional skills using ABA techniques. Learn more
  • National Autism Association Webinars – The NAA provides free access to its webinar library that covers a variety of topics, from a 6-part called Nonspeaking Autism: It’s Not What You May Think! to Ready, Set, Potty! Registration is all that’s required to access its webinar library. Learn more
  • Caregiver Skills Training for Families – This free, 5-part online training from the World Health Organization aims to provide caregivers with skills they can use at home to improve their child’s engagement in activities and communication and promote positive behavior and skills for daily living. Learn more
  • Mindset Makeover – This fee-based, self-directed course from the National Autism Academy consists of five parts designed to help you create a closer bond with your child, make the most of the resources you already have, help you and your child feel better about life with autism, and teach you a simple way to change your prospective to gain more cooperation from your child. Learn more
  • Introduction to autism – a course for parents, families, and carers – This free course from the non-profit Beyond Autism in London, England is designed for parents who’ve recently received an autism diagnosis for a child to introduce them to autism and provide information on key topics. Learn more

Ultimately, the best sources of truly helpful insights and information about raising a child with autism will come from your team of doctors and early intervention providers. Please don’t be afraid to turn to them with all the questions and concerns you have. They’re there to support you!

If you live in North Texas or the Boulder area of Colorado, the autism and ABA therapy experts at The Behavior Exchange are ready to help. Reach out via email or call 972.312.8733 to make an appointment. Our highly accredited, fun, and caring ABA therapy programs have been the catalyst for meaning change in children and their families more than 20 years.

Recent Posts

Categories

Categories

Archives

Archives

Copyright © 2022 The Behavior Exchange. All rights reserved. |   Privacy Policy

Ashvina attended University of Bombay and graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce. She got her Montessori Diploma in 1985 and taught ever since. Ashvina came to TBE in January of 2016 as Admin Assistant. During the years she got the opportunity to learn and work in different departments such as HR, Finance, Office Manager and Executive Assistant. Last summer TBE bought billing in house and her current focus area is Revenue Cycle Management. She is detail oriented and enjoys working with people. Ashvina volunteers to deliver meals to seniors and local shelters on the weekend. She loves to spend time with her family and grandkids. Ashvina loves her job because she enjoys hearing different points of view, and she feels her contributions help fuel the direction of our company.

Working with children comes naturally to Angela. Her mom was a special education teacher for 30 years and often had Angela join her for Take Your Child to Work Day. And in high school, Angela spent every summer as the nanny for a little boy with an autism spectrum disorder. It was this experience where her passion for working with children with autism started to blossom.

From there, she went on to graduate from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences. She learned about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in a non-normative development class and from that moment knew that ABA would be her life’s work.

Angela moved to the DFW area shortly after and began working at The Behavior Exchange as a therapist. She worked on her Master’s in Behavior Analysis at the same time. A year after graduating, she earned certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Now, as a Clinical Director at The Behavior Exchange, she brings a life-long passion to her work, holding a special place in her heart for children with limited language skills and working closely with families to develop healthy sleep habits.

Danielle’s passion for working with families is deeply personal and from the heart. Her younger brother has an autism spectrum disorder, and through their journey as a family, she found her purpose in life as an advocate for individuals with special needs.

After graduating from the University of North Texas with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, Danielle began volunteering at The Behavior Exchange. She saw passionate therapists, meaningful change for clients, and families with hope for the future. After a summer of volunteering, she officially joined the team as Director of Admissions and found her home with The Behavior Exchange family.

With her extensive experience working as a client advocate with insurance providers, Danielle perseveres to help individuals of all ages and abilities receive the services they need to reach their full potential. She feels truly honored by each and every family who entrusts The Behavior Exchange to be part of their journey and is committed to the organization’s core values, mission, and goal of being a beacon of hope for the community.

Adam has always had a passion for helping individuals of all ages thrive and reach their full potential. He’s also an enthusiastic musician, songwriter, leader, and devoted family man, who has been helping children and team members grow with The Behavior Exchange since 2010.

Prior to joining the team at The Behavior Exchange, Adam was a mortgage loan consultant and grad student, pursuing his master’s degree in Education at the University of North Texas. He graduated in 2013 and also earned a graduate academic certificate in Autism Intervention. The following year, after years as a Behavior Therapist and seeing first-hand the power of ABA and the meaningful impact it can have on children and their families, Adam became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. He then commenced from the Stagen Leadership Academy after completing the Integral Leadership Program (ILP), a 52-week practice-based program designed to develop executives serious about transforming themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

Adam is truly grateful to be a part of a dynamic, inspiring and compassionate team, and he’s dedicated to bettering the lives of all children and their families through the delivery of the highest quality of ABA services, while supporting the amazing team at The Behavior Exchange.

Soraya is from South Africa and moved to Texas in 1996. She graduated from The University of Texas and pursued a career, at that time, in Education. Soraya taught at a Montessori school for a few years and then took on a leadership role.

During her time in the education system, Soraya realized her passion was to assist children with special needs. So she joined The Behavior Exchange as a therapist, transitioned into a supervisory role in 2017, and a year and a half later, was promoted to Clinical Operations Manager.

She quickly learned the ins and outs of ABA operations and scheduling and successfully collaborates across departments to ensure The Behavior Exchange continues to provide quality services to clients and their families. She’s thankful to be part of such an amazing organization and excited to see what the future holds.

You could say Walter’s career started when he spent hours as a young child drawing superheroes and coloring maps. This passion, along with extraordinary swimming skills, landed him a full swimming scholarship at Texas Christian University, where he graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Graphics.

During the next 13 years, his design and art direction skills, conceptual-thinking abilities, and marketing-savvy know-how were honed at a few prestigious advertising and marketing agencies around the Dallas area. In the mid 2000s, he helped his wife Tammy Cline-Soza (founder and CEO of The Behavior Exchange) create a unique and concise brand for her new business. From logos and websites to uniforms, brand voice and visuals, Walter has been the main creative force for all things The Behavior Exchange.

Aside from giving birth to The Behavior Exchange brand, Walter is helping Tammy raise two amazing, beautiful children, River and Sierra. In his spare time (the two minutes he’s got per week), you can find Walter illustrating iconic landmarks of Dallas and Texas or looking around for this next open-water swim. Once he gets back in shape.

After 20 years of building The Behavior Exchange, literally from the ground up,
Tammy couldn’t be more proud of the team, culture, and organization that it has become.

As a family helping families, The Behavior Exchanges looks for opportunities that will make the biggest impact and produce life-changing outcomes – for clients, families, and even for team members. Tammy believes that if a team, a family, a community takes care of each other, the possibilities are endless and the relationships built along the way can make life more enriching and challenges easier to navigate. You could say her goal has been to build a kind of utopia full of support, love, and expertise that brings the best services possible to the community and ensures more families have access to those services.

Tammy and her family have dedicated their lives to the mission of The Behavior Exchange and continue to grow, learn, cultivate, challenge, support, and create better models for success. To that end, she is committed to her own leadership development and actively participates in advanced training, mentoring, and deep self-exploration on how to live out her purpose to love and support her family and help others reach their full potential. She takes her position very seriously and tries to serve as a channel for what the universe wants to come to fruition.

She also loves travel, gardening, being creative, MUSIC!, tennis, yoga, meditation, journaling, reading, being in nature, adventures, and more than anything, spending time with her husband Walter and their two beautiful children, River and Sierra.