A Strengths-Based Approach to
Supporting Autistic Kids
In this on-demand course, you’ll learn a concrete process to help you generate more relevant, effective, strengths-based interventions with confidence and ease. This is the self-paced, recorded replay of our 2.5 hour live workshop.
This course is registered for .25 AOTA CEUS (2.5 contact hours), .25 ASHA CEUs, and 2.5 NBCC hours.
Get one year’s on demand access when you register. Registration closes 12/16/25.
Continuing Education
from Learn Play Thrive
Learn a strengths-based process that will change
how you work
PART 1: Dive Deep into Autism Learning Styles
Go deep into how Autistic kids learn and experience the world based on the latest research and the experience of Autistic adults so that you can feel confident you understand your clients’ learning style way beyond the surface level.
PART 2: Take Your Clients' Perspective
Learn how to shift your perspective to truly consider the experience of your Autistic clients. This means looking beyond the behavior you can see and diving deep into how a child’s participation in daily routines is impacted by their learning style, interests, and strengths, as well as the demands of the environment.
PART 3: Plan Treatments with Confidence
Learn an autism-specific process that will allow you to generate a robust list of hypotheses and interventions every time you sit down with a new goal so that you can stop dreading treatment planning and start approaching it with confidence.
PART 4: Put It Into Action
Practice using this process together with Meg in using cases that are relevant to your own practice so that you walk away with fresh ideas to apply right away and experience applying them to your actual work. Even though it’s a replay, you’ll still have the time and space to come up with your own ideas and experience the process with the insight of a group supporting you.
EXTRAS: Get Resources to Support You
Get a workbook and a filliable PDF of the process to complete together with teachers and parents so that you can feel you truly have expertise in using an autism-specific, strengths-based lens, and so that your work can have the greatest impact possible.
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Access
Once you register, you’ll have access to the recorded replay of the live training for one year to complete on your own time.
Continuing Education
This course is registered for .25 AOTA CEUs (2.5 contact hours) and .25 ASHA CEUs, and 2.5 NBCC hours.
FAQs
Information about completion requirements, accommodations, and more can be found in the FAQs.
This course is
for you if...
You currently work with Autistic kids (note this is the preferred language of the autistic community) on functional daily skills and want to be more effective in your work
You are tired of writing “The purpose of the behavior is to gain attention” and you want to write more relevant and useful hypotheses that truly reflect the lived experiences of Autistic people and the needs of your clients
- You currently work with Autistic kids (note this is the preferred language of the autistic community) on functional daily skills and want to be more effective in your work
- You are tired of writing “The purpose of the behavior is to gain attention” and you want to write more relevant and useful hypotheses that truly reflect the lived experiences of Autistic people and the needs of your clients
You want concrete tools (and a workbook!) to help you shape your interventions based on the strengths of your neurodivergent clients so that they can experience more ease, authenticity, and joy in participating in their life
- You want concrete tools (and a workbook!) to help you shape your interventions based on the strengths of your neurodivergent clients so that they can experience more ease, authenticity, and joy in participating in their life
Meet your
Instructors
Meg Ferrell
Meg Ferrell
Meg continues to learn from Autistic adults with different intersectional identities through hosting the Two Sides of the Spectrum podcast, and paying Autistic consultants to review Learn Play Thrive courses.
She is the primary instructor in The Learn Play Thrive Approach to Autism, where she fills up the toolboxes of OTs, SLPs, social workers, school psychologists, and other professionals with strengths-based strategies to use in their work.
FINANCIAL: Meg is the owner of Learn Play Thrive and receives a salary.
NON-FINANCIAL: Meg has friends and colleagues who are Autistic.
Rachel Dorsey
Rachel Dorsey
Rachel holds a Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked in school, clinic, and community-based settings with children and adolescents of all ages.
FINANCIAL: Rachel is the owner of Rachel Dorsey: Autistic SLP, LLC and receives a salary. She is paid a consulting fee by Learn Play Thrive as the SLP consultant. Rachel was paid a speaking fee for her contribution to The Learn Play Thrive Approach to Autism. Rachel receives commission from her course, Goal Writing for Autistic Students and Let’s UNMASC. Rachel is a paid consultant for Responsive Feeding Pro, LLC. Rachel receives commission from Learn Play Thrive for sales of the Neurodiversity Summit.
NON-FINANCIAL: Rachel is Autistic and has friends and family members who are Autistic.
Sarah Selvaggi-Hernandez
Sarah Selvaggi-Hernandez
Sarah’s previous professional experience includes: assistant professor of Pediatrics and Mental Health at Bay Path University, early intervention therapist in Springfield, MA, and occupational therapist at a psychiatric residential treatment facility in East Windsor, CT. She now works as a full-time Autistic advocate and sensory consultant. Sarah and her husband Jeremy also served as a therapeutic foster family for the State of Connecticut for nearly twenty years, and continue to provide therapeutic respite care for Autistic children. Sarah can be found happy-flapping with her family in Enfield, CT.
FINANCIAL: Sarah was paid a speaking fee for her contribution to the LPT Approach to Autism. She receives commission for the sales of Ethics & Neurodiversity: Let’s Talk Sex. Sarah is the author of a book, Melt Like Ice Cream, for which she receives royalties. She is also owner of Living Sensory Wellness, Inc. and receives compensation for consultation services.
NON-FINANCIAL: Sarah is autistic and has friends and family members who are autistic. Sarah is an unpaid advisory board member for NeuroClastic, Inc. and Disability Rights Connecticut.
Please note: disclosure statements are contained in the Bio page for each speaker. Click on "READ BIO" above to review the disclosures.
I feel confident that it will change your practice.
– Meg Ferrell, Founder of Learn Play Thrive
Course Objectives
A Strengths-Based Approach to Supporting Autistic Kids
Critique traditional models of behavior problem solving using the framework of the Double Empathy Problem and research on the mental health outcomes of masking
Develop six or more specific hypotheses about how a child's difficulty participating in a learning activity or routine may be related to Autistic learning styles
Generate six or more intervention strategies to teach new skills and adapt the learning environment based on a specific client’s strengths
- Critique traditional models of Autistic learning styles using the framework of the Double Empathy Problem and research on the mental health outcomes of masking
- Develop six or more specific hypotheses about how a child's difficulty participating in a learning activity or routine may be related to Autistic learning styles
- Generate six or more intervention strategies to teach new skills and adapt the learning environment based on specific client’s strengths
Training Agenda
PART 1: Autistic Learning Styles
30 minutes
Dive deep into what we know about how Autistic people think and learn based on the latest research and the lived experiences of Autistic people.
This includes the challenges that your Autistic clients are likely to experience as neurodivergent people in a world not designed for them, the harm of traditional behavioral approaches, and the strengths often associated with Autistic learning styles.
This portion is taught by OT and LPT Founder Meg Proctor with recorded contributions from Autistic SLP Rachel Dorsey and Autistic OT Sarah Selvaggi Hernandez.
PART 2: Interpret Learning Needs, Write Hypotheses and Generate Interventions
2 hours
Next, you’ll dive into the Interpreting Behaviors Process.
Meg will walk you through the interpreting behaviors process step-by-step using the example of a child who throws toys during free time. She’ll show you how to use Autistic learning styles to write hypotheses and generate interventions.
The next part is when the learning really happens. Using the experience of a child who has trouble transitioning into school after recess, we’ll all work through the process together. You’ll be amazed at the hypotheses and intervention ideas that you are suddenly able to come up with!
- Meg will walk you through the interpreting behaviors process step-by-step using the example of a child who throws toys during free time. She’ll show you how to use Autistic learning styles to write hypotheses and generate interventions.
- The next part is when the learning really happens. Using the experience of a child who has trouble transitioning into school after recess, we’ll all work through the process together live in the workshop. You’ll be amazed at the hypotheses and intervention ideas that you are suddenly able to come up with!
Frequently Asked Questions
This course is appropriate for professionals working with kids from early intervention through adolescence.
This is the recording of a live training that includes lecture, short recorded videos, a participatory process using the Zoom chat box.
If you’d rather attend the live version of this course, check out this link for the next live offering.
In order to get a certificate of completion, you must watch all of the video modules and pass a quiz at the end of the course with 75% accuracy. Multiple attempts at the quiz are allowed. You must also complete a coruse satisfaction survey. Only learners who complete the course, quiz , and survey will receive a certificate.
No refunds will be issued after you have registered. However you do have the option of transferring your registration to another learner.
All videos used in this presentation have closed captions and the live training will have live captioning enabled. If you need additional accommodation, please email admin@learnplaythrive.com prior to your training date. Accommodations will be made to support all learners in compliance with the Americans with Disability Act.
You can send an email to admin@learnplaythrive.com
To see our full complaint policy, please visit this page
Our courses are hosted in Thinkific’s web-based course platform. You can find the system requirements for Thinkific at this link.
Why enroll today?
Continuing Education Credit
Receive 2.5 hours of continuing education credit through a self-paced online course that you can work through over 4 weeks to feel totally confident in your ability to generate more relevant, effective, strengths-based interventions.
Discount to LPT Approach
You’ll get a limited time offer for $79 off our full training, The Learn Play Thrive Approach to Autism, as this content is also included in module 1 of the LPT Approach to Autism.
Build your skills and your confidence with a process truly grounded in Autism learning styles.
This course will be available for ASHA CEUs from June 13, 2023 until June 12, 2028. ASHA CE Provider approval and use of the Brand Block does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products or clinical procedures
The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.
Learn Play Thrive, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7586. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Learn Play Thrive, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
The recorded materials in this course were last updated on 6/11/2023.