Supporting Young Children with Autism: Practical Strategies for Early Childhood
April 10 @ 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location
Kankakee Community College
100 College Dr
Kankakee, IL 60901
Registration 8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
This one-day training is designed for educators and families supporting young children on the autism spectrum. It provides practical, evidence-based strategies to enhance engagement, communication, and social development across both academic and home settings, while also addressing challenging behaviors. Participants will learn to implement developmentally appropriate teaching practices, play-based interventions, and sensory supports that promote regulation, structure, emotional safety, independence, and cognitive flexibility. The training emphasizes structured routines, visual supports, responsive interactions, communication strategies, and collaborative problem solving to support, understand, and respond effectively to challenging behaviors. Participants will explore how to identify underlying needs, support coping and self-regulation, and teach replacement skills that increase successful participation in daily activities in the least restrictive environment. By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify and apply evidence-based practices, integrate sensory, and play-based strategies into everyday routines, address challenging behaviors proactively, and collaborate effectively to create consistent, inclusive environments that foster social-emotional and developmental growth.
Presenter Christopher Simler
Learner objectives • Identify and explain evidence-based practices that support engagement, communication, social development, and positive behavior for young children on the autism spectrum. • Implement developmentally appropriate, play-based teaching strategies that enhance learning, interaction, participation, and behavioral regulation in preschool and home environments. • Use sensory supports, environmental modifications, and proactive behavior supports to promote self-regulation, emotional safety, and sustained engagement. • Establish structured routines, visual supports, and clear expectations that foster independence, flexibility, and successful transitions while reducing challenging behaviors. • Apply positive behavior support strategies, including antecedent-based interventions, reinforcement, and teaching replacement behaviors, within daily classroom or family routines. • Collaborate effectively with families and educators to develop consistent, individualized behavioral and instructional supports that facilitate inclusion in the least restrictive environment
Administrator, Developmental Specialist, Early Childhood Special and General Educator, Family Educator, Family Member, General Educator, Occupational Therapist/Physical Therapist, Other, Paraprofessional, Psychologist, Service Coordinator, Social Worker, Speech/Language Therapist, Teacher, Teacher Assistant
DEC RECOMMENDED PRACTICE ALIGNMENT
Instruction
GATEWAYS TRAINING STAGE
Stage 2 - Intermediate
TRAINING TOPIC AREA
DAP - Developmentally Appropriate Practice, GD - Guidance & Discipline, SN - Special Needs/Inclusion
Location
Kankakee Community College
100 College Dr
Kankakee, IL 60901
Registration
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
This one-day training is designed for educators and families supporting young children on the autism spectrum. It provides practical, evidence-based strategies to enhance engagement, communication, and social development across both academic and home settings, while also addressing challenging behaviors. Participants will learn to implement developmentally appropriate teaching practices, play-based interventions, and sensory supports that promote regulation, structure, emotional safety, independence, and cognitive flexibility.
The training emphasizes structured routines, visual supports, responsive interactions, communication strategies, and collaborative problem solving to support, understand, and respond effectively to challenging behaviors. Participants will explore how to identify underlying needs, support coping and self-regulation, and teach replacement skills that increase successful participation in daily activities in the least restrictive environment. By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify and apply evidence-based practices, integrate sensory, and play-based strategies into everyday routines, address challenging behaviors proactively, and collaborate effectively to create consistent, inclusive environments that foster social-emotional and developmental growth.
Presenter
Christopher Simler
Learner objectives
• Identify and explain evidence-based practices that support engagement, communication, social development, and positive behavior for young children on the autism spectrum.
• Implement developmentally appropriate, play-based teaching strategies that enhance learning, interaction, participation, and behavioral regulation in preschool and home environments.
• Use sensory supports, environmental modifications, and proactive behavior supports to promote self-regulation, emotional safety, and sustained engagement.
• Establish structured routines, visual supports, and clear expectations that foster independence, flexibility, and successful transitions while reducing challenging behaviors.
• Apply positive behavior support strategies, including antecedent-based interventions, reinforcement, and teaching replacement behaviors, within daily classroom or family routines.
• Collaborate effectively with families and educators to develop consistent, individualized behavioral and instructional supports that facilitate inclusion in the least restrictive environment
Details
Organizer
Other
Venue
Kankakee, IL 60901 United States + Google Map