Title: New Discoveries About Vitamin D and Probiotics Show Health Benefits For You and Your Children, Mayer Eisenstein, MD, JD, MPH
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
Dr. Eisenstein will present the recent scientific studies on Vitamin D and Probiotics which have shown the following health benefits, plus much more:

• Less autism symptoms
• Less cavities
• Less digestive issues
• Less arthritis
• Less infections
• Less colds & flu
• Less asthma & more...
  

Title: Elijah's Cup: Raising My Autistic Son, Our Involvement Together in the Advocacy Community, and My Own Ultimate Diagnosis with Asperger Syndrome, Valerie Paradiz, PhD
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
This session offers practical strategies for families, educators, and professionals who care for and work with children and adults diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, high-functioning autism, and PDD-NOS. Participants will learn about the life span of individuals with AS/HFA/PDD-NOS from early childhood to adult life. With an introduction to her new book, The Integrated Self Advocacy® Curriculum, Dr. Paradiz offers practical strategies in the areas of self-monitoring/self-regulation, self-advocacy, and creating safe, supportive home and school environments that foster social development and emotional confidence.

Title:How To Understand and Explain The Connection Between ASD, Seizures/Epilepsy, And Cognitive Dysfunction In Many Children Today, Michael Goldberg, MD
Abstract and Learning Objectives: We are in the middle of a major medical epidemic affecting children in this country. Supported by peer literature, while presenting with “labels” being applied to multiple dysfunctions in children, unlike the "labels" would imply, the underlying common denominator is that of an immune (and viral) based disease. The purpose of this presentation will be to explain and support this statement. This in turn changes completely how to look upon therapy, potential outcomes, and future hope for many children presenting today under these "labels."

Title: New Insights into the Treatment of Autism, Mark Geier, MD, PhD and David Geier
Abstract and Learning Objectives: This presentation will provide a clear and concise overview of new research evaluating the importance of targeted treatments to improve clinical outcomes among patients diagnosed with autism. Special emphasis will be placed on examination of hyperactivity/impulsivity, stereotypy, aggression, self injury, abnormal sexual behaviors, and/or irritability behaviors that frequently occur in those with an autism diagnosis. Further, the presentation will examine the importance of high levels of androgens in patients diagnosed with autism and explore how high androgen induces clinical symptoms observed in many children diagnosed with autism. Finally, attendees will be presented newly published peer-reviewed clinical studies on over 200 patients diagnosed with autism showing that interventions designed to lower or significantly reduce the functionality of androgens were observed to significant improve clinical outcomes. The new information presented may provide an important alternate treatment course for many patients diagnosed with autism that are presently administered psychiatric medications.

Learning Objectives:
1. Understand the clinical symptoms observed in autism and how they relate to the hormonal status of patients diagnosed with autism.
2. Understand the biochemical basis for how patients diagnosed with autism have elevated levels of androgen.
3. Understand how clinical treatments for elevated androgen in patients diagnosed with autism have been observed to significantly improve clinical outcomes.

Title: Teaching Children to Talk About Experiences to Establish Social Interaction Skills, James W. Partington, PhD, BCBA
Abstract and Learning Objectives: Parents of children with a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often feel frustrated and disappointed by their child’s inability to develop friendships and participate in daily interactions that most families take for granted, such as discussing the day’s events, and listening to their child interact with siblings or peers as they engage in leisure activities. To develop these interaction skills, it is usually necessary to teach a variety of specific advanced language skills that are often not adequately addressed in many intervention programs. Additionally, in order to develop meaningful social interactions and friendships, it is also necessary for the child to attend to the interests and activities of others. Finally, if the child does develop the necessary language skills and learns to attend to others, it is still necessary for the interactions to result in enjoyment for the child so that he will want to have further interactions with those individuals in the future.

Title: The Brain, Thinking and Behavior: Understanding Executive Function, Mary Jo Lang, PhD
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
Executive Function describes a collection of brain processes that control and manage other cognitive processes. Psychologists credit executive function as responsible for planning, cognitive flexibility, abstract thinking, rule acquisition, initiating appropriate actions and inhibiting inappropriate actions, and selecting relevant sensory information. This session will examine the Brain activity related to executive function, the influences on Thinking, and the resulting Behaviors that can occur when executive function is impaired. Studies have shown that age-related improvements in executive function from childhood to adolescence can occur in children with autism. This indicates some degree of brain plasticity and suggests a window for delivering effective treatment. Mature executive functioning is limited in autism, but with proper treatment, we can maximize a child's ability to grow and function.

Title: Vision and Autism: More Than Meets the Eye, Gary L. Etting, O.D., FCOVD
Abstract and Learning Objectives:

• Topics to be discussed include:
• The difference between “vision” versus “eyesight;”
• How vision develops in typical individuals and what goes wrong in autism
• The two types of vision ”focal” or central vision and “ambient” or peripheral vision, and why many individuals with autism have difficulty integrating them
• Symptoms of visual problems in autism spectrum disorders
• Visual readiness abilities
• Options of vision care for individuals with autism, including how to find the right vision specialist
  

Title: Why You Absolutely NEED a Financial Plan, Grady Jennings
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
What would happen to my special needs child if I was gone? What benefits are there for people with disabilities? How can I efficiently provide for my loved one both now and in the future? Do I know what a special needs trust can do? Sixty percent of parents don't expect their child with special needs to be financially independent, but 68% of parents haven't written a will, and 29% have done nothing to plan for the child's financial future, according to a survey conducted for MetLife, an article from Forbes reported. Having a child with special needs adds challenges that not every parent goes through, including complex economic and legal issues. Due to the lack of information available, families with special needs loved ones do not know what resources are available to them or which important legal documents they need, or how to obtain them. I felt I had nowhere to turn for financial answers when my son with Down Syndrome was born 19 years ago. This session will discuss the following:
Learn the importance of economic and legal planning.
Discuss the problems and benefits of financial planning.
I will address your families’ financial planning standings and where to go from there.

Title: TBA
Abstract and Learning Objectives:

Title: Using Video Modeling to Teach Play (and Language and Social Skills) to Children with Autism, Sarah Clifford Scheflen, MS, CCC-SLP
Abstract:
One of the hallmark deficits of children with autism is play. Although children with autism usually acquire play skills in the same order as typically developing children, their acquisition of play skills is often delayed when compared to, and their play is not as frequent, varied, abstract or imaginative as, their more typically developing peers. Because many parents aren’t familiar with the developmental order in which children acquire play skills, they are unable to identify these deficits so they can be effectively addressed. Video modeling is often an effective methodology for teaching children with autism a variety of skills, including play. This course will review the developmental sequence of play as well as the use of video modeling as an instructional technique, and then provide examples of utilizing video modeling techniques to teach play, language and social skills. Findings from a case study in which video modeling was used to effectively teach play skills to children with autism will be reviewed.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand the importance of play to children’s development.
2. Review the development sequence in which children acquire play.
3. Identify the ways in which the play skills of children on the autism spectrum are typically impacted.
4. Recognize what are, and are not, developmentally appropriate play actions.
5. Understand why video modeling is often an effective instructional methodology for children on the spectrum.
6. See how video modeling can be used to teach play skills, as well as a speech and language and social skills.
7. Identify ways parents can implement video modeling on their own to target specific skills or issues for their children on the spectrum.

Title: House Calls: First Steps to Healing Your Child, Jerry Kartzinel, MD, FAAP
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
1. To discuss the probable roles of toxicity in autism
2. To discuss the possible biological pathways that that cause a susceptibility in Autism
3. To discuss the effects of diet and supplementation in children with autism
4. To discuss the biological effects of targeted nutritional interventions

Title: Breakthrough Developmental Strategies, Raun Kaufman
Abstract and Learning Objectives: Mr. Kaufman, CEO of the Autism Treatment Center of America™, will provide concrete, bold strategies you can implement now for your child’s immediate gain. As a child, Mr. Kaufman was diagnosed with severe autism and recommended for lifelong institutionalization. Instead, his parents developed The Son-Rise Program, which enabled their son to completely recover from his autism. Now an international speaker and Ivy League graduate with a degree in Biomedical Ethics, Mr. Kaufman bears no traces of his former condition (and is the subject of a book and movie). His lecture focuses on some innovative, outside-the-box techniques you can use today to help your child: move beyond stimming (without you stopping or discouraging your child’s behavior), learn new skills (without you having to push or pressure), and, most especially, to form meaningful, caring relationships with others.

Title: An in Depth Look Into Dietary Interventions and Digestive/Gastrointestinal Problems, Phillip DeMio, MD
Abstract and Learning Objectives: The vast majority of persons on the Autism Spectrum (ASD) who make significant gains
from biomedical treatments will require care that address dietary interventions and digestive/gastrointestinal problems. Thus an understanding of these issues is paramount to the success of the biomedical approach for virtually all patients. This discussion will include the major aspects of these areas, and how this leads to insights into the biomedical basis of symptoms and treatment of the ASD.

Learning objectives:
1. Practical approaches to implementation of treatment programs will be given, including such diets as gluten-free/casein-free, specific carbohydrate, low oxalate, pigment restriction (eg, phenols and salicylates), and others. Particular situations in which one diet would be chosen over another will be highlighted. Pitfalls must be avoided in order to foster greater ease of implementation, success (symptom control), and reduction in the complications that can occur with each diet.
2. Digestive and gastrointestinal (GI) topics will touch upon overgrowth of yeast and other dysbioses (abnormal GI microbes), leaky gut (intestinal barrier dysfx), abdominal pain, chewing problems, swallowing difficulties, acid reflux, diarrhea, constipation,
malabsorption of nutritional substances, and how these all connect to symptoms in our children and adults with spectrum disorders.
3. Detoxification, an often misunderstood phenomenon, will be described.

Title: Laser Energetic Detox & EDS in Treating Autism, Lee Cowden, MD
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
Some health practitioners believe that autism often results from brain and gut inflammation apparently caused primarily by pathological microbes and/or toxins in the brain and gut. The possible causative toxins and microbes will be discussed along with a novel method (Laser Energetic Detox) that appears to rapidly improve brain/body toxicity and subsequently reduce microbial load and related inflammation. A novel method for quickly, inexpensively and non-invasively identifying toxic and microbial causation in autism (Quantitative Automated Electro-Dermal Screening) will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives:
1) To understand the basic principles of Laser Energetic Detox (LED)
2) To understand the basic principles of Quantitative Automated Electro-Dermal Screening (QA-EDS)
3) To examine the possible role of toxins and pathological microbes in causation of autism

Title: Marlo Payne Thurman, MS
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
All children on the spectrum have a variety of unique needs. However, those children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome often receive the least support. This session will discuss the following:

1. How do we identify the challenges and needs of our high functioning populations?
2. What supports and intervention areas must we address to create success in learning and in life?
3. How do we understand the unique learning styles and needs of this population and advocate for appropriate instruction and support in our schools?
4. What can be done to prevent bright kids on the spectrum from falling through the cracks?
   
   In line with USAAA’s commitment to meet the needs of all individuals affected by autism, this session will be the first of many, that is specifically designed with our High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome populations in mind.
   

Title: Nourishing Hope: Nutrition and Diet Intervention for Autism, Part I: Nourishing Hope, Julie Matthews, CNC
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
This 2 hour/2 part presentation will allow parents and professionals to learn essential autism diet and nutrition fundamentals, gain tools to implement diet, and how to evolve diet for those experienced with nutrition intervention. These presentations will include information regarding the biochemistry of the body, the gut-brain connection, and autism as a whole body disorder. It will explain how dietary intervention helps ameliorate symptoms and engage healing, and will focus on nourishing children.

Learn why proper diet and nutrition is essential for those with autism. Julie will present the scientific rationale for nutrition intervention and provide an overview of the respective therapeutic applications of the many ASD diet options including GFCF, SCD, Body Ecology, Feingold, low oxalate, and more. Julie will discuss nutrient dense foods and how to make them more digestible, including the concepts of broths, vegetables, grass-fed animal protein and fats, soaking grains and seeds, and fermented and probiotic rich foods. She’ll discuss the foundations of a healthy diet, making changes that work for the whole family, and tips for picky eaters.

Title: Part II: Cooking To Heal: The “How To” of Implementing an Autism Diet, Julie Matthews, CNC
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
Julie will discuss the implementation of an “autism diet,” focusing on the GFCF diet and including common meal ideas and substitutions for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and others. From her clinical experience, Julie understands that many children with autism are very finicky eaters, so she will provide food and meal ideas that are nutrient dense and kid-friendly. You'll learn time saving tips, get meal ideas, and receive kid-friend recipes for implementing the GFCF diet, as well as learn how to evolve the diet for experienced families.

Title: Rachel's Journey From Infancy to Adulthood; Targeted Research Brings Hope For The Future, Theresa K. Wrangham
Abstract and Learning Objectives:
Theresa presents her family’s journey with autism and her daughter Rachel’s progress in the recovery of her health and improvement in autism symptoms. This story inspires hope as it is shared that even in coming late to the diagnosis, behavioral treatments and much later to biomedical treatments that substantial gains are possible. Theresa will discuss understanding the role of the environment in autism, learning about promising areas of research, understanding Federal action on autism research agenda, and advocating for your ASD individuals needs.

Objectives Participants shall
1. Understand the role of the environment in autism
2. Learn about promising areas of research
3. Understand Federal action on autism research agenda
4. Receive knowledge on advocating for their ASD individuals needs and in the broader community

Title: For Physicians Only - American Medical Autism Board (AMAB) Biomedical Course
Abstract and Learning Objectives: Please click here to learn more about AMAB or call 216 901 0441 for more information about the course.