Professionals

Educators

Children and Teens on the autism spectrum—even those who are very smart and enjoy learning—often find school very challenging. They may find it difficult to deal with the sensory environment (noises, lights, smells), with social demands (working in groups, and unstructured times of day), and with gross and fine motor tasks. It may be hard for them to remain attentive, organized, and calm throughout a long, varied school day.

Educators work incredibly hard each day to try and help all their students learn. Let AANE help you help your students.

**AANE provides continuing education and professional development credits for social workers, educators, licensed mental health clinicians, psychologists, and physicians at specified conferences, trainings, and other programs. See program descriptions for details.**

Essential Resources and Information:

Strategies and Support for Students

Educator’s Toolbox
Transition to Adulthood
College
First-Person Stories

Select AANE Services:

Training and Consultation for Professionals
Asperger/Autism Professional Coaching Association
Speakers Bureau: Individuals on the spectrum available to present on different aspects of the Asperger/autism experience.
Conferences, Webinars, and Workshops

For everything AANE has to offer professionals, visit our main professionals page.

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Finding Connection, Companionship, and CommunityLessons from Simpatico- AANE’s New Pilot Mentorship Program

03/07/2023
Compatibility and shared interests are the roots of a relationship that can evolve into friendship. While friendship often arises organically, finding and maintaining friendships can be a confusing and painful process for some autistic individuals due to communication differences and social anxiety... more

Fostering Interdependence: A Roadmap for Professionals

02/07/2023
Building an independent life is a self-defined and self-determined process. Independence looks different for everyone and will be informed by each individual’s lived experiences, neurotype, culture, age, sexuality, gender, race and ethnicity. There is no universal definition of independence, but... more

Are Autistic Students Traumatized in School?

11/03/2022
TW: This article discusses trauma, including school-related incidents. Most of an autistic child's time is spent in school, and that time can be very toxic to them due to the everyday trauma of repeated misunderstanding, invalidation, overstimulation, stress, rejection, and humiliation. Autism,... more

Interests Drive Dynamic Learning

09/08/2022
Our interests are at the foundation of much that we are driven to do. When thinking about our own passions, we often light up enthusiastically; we do not consider these chores or obligations. They are the subjects, experiences, and people that we derive meaning from, that keep us invested in... more

Trust the Client

06/09/2022
The question often arises, how to best support transgender people? How to best support autistic people? People with ADHD? People who are otherwise neurodivergent? To answer this question, I draw from my experiences in these communities and from my education as a therapist. When I was working on the... more

Gender Identity and Autism: Strategies for Supporting Autistic Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Diverse Individuals

06/09/2022
The higher likelihood of being transgender, nonbinary, or gender diverse among autistic individuals (and vice versa) has been a growing area of study in recent years (see Sala et al., 2020; Warrier et al., 2020), which has prompted much needed discussions about how professionals can better serve... more

Shifting the Paradigm: Recognizing the Needs of Disabled Parents as Advocates

04/05/2022
I am a formally diagnosed autistic woman and the parent of an autistic adult who I parented through early intervention, public school, post-secondary experiences and now, into adulthood as I support him navigating through rehabilitation services. I am a social worker and researcher, but when it... more

Executive Functioning Explained

09/09/2021
Recent years have witnessed an intensified interest in the neuropsychological construct of “executive function.” In short, executive functioning is a multidimensional concept referring to higher-order brain functions necessary for individuals to execute, or perform, tasks. Examples of these... more

Emotional Regulation: Helping Our Students and Ourselves

05/04/2021
Our Students Everyone can agree this last year has been difficult in so many ways. If you are an educator, the stress has been especially significant. When speaking with educators, many say that much of their time these days is spent on helping students manage the wide array of emotions they are... more

Professional Development: Learning from First-Person Perspectives

01/06/2021
Making the decision to enter into the healthcare, mental health or education field is often sparked by a personal experience. Whether your own experience, or the experience of a loved one, healthcare professionals, educators, and mental health providers can often cite one or many personal reasons... more

La Educación y la Disciplina en los Niños con Autismo

Video
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Special Education Advocacy During COVID-19

Article
Families are under unprecedented stress as they grapple with the impacts of school closures. Many are worried about what will happen with their child’s education when school resumes. For children with Asperger profiles who depend on the routine and structured environment at school, these times... more

Digital Kids: How to Balance Screen Time and Why it Matters

Webinar
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First You Need A Vision: Transition Planning for Teens with Asperger Profiles

Webinar
... more

Helping Educators and Parents Understand Generalization Strategies for Social Skills

Webinar
... more