Autism Summit On-Demand

Not sure what your schedule will be like on the day of the live Summit or want to keep your options open? No problem —Pearson’s Autism Summit is available for on-demand learning so you could learn at your own pace, when it works for you. This summit will feature distinguished presenters, including the ever-popular Dr. Cecil Reynolds and Dr. Randy Kamphaus, and will offer an unparalleled opportunity for professional development for psychologists, SLPs, OTs, educators, and allied professionals.

Whether you're working in schools, clinical settings, or anywhere in between, this summit will give you practical tools, evidence-based strategies, and profound understanding to support autistic individuals. Sessions will be available for viewing until June 30, 2026.

Sessions include:

Objective Rating Scale Data in ASD Diagnosis: The BASC™-4 Example
Cecil Reynolds, PhD and Randy Kamphaus, PhD; BASC co-authors

Overview
In this advanced training session, attendees will learn about the advantages of using objective behavior ratings across multiple settings and observers in the accurate diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Actuarial profiles and their accompanying sensitivity and specificity data will be presented to enable attendees to apply these profiles to enhance accuracy of their diagnostic practices. This data will be contrasted with data from more subjective assessments. Functional impairment will be emphasized as a measure of severity.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize clinical profiles on the BASC-4 related to ASD
2. Distinguish secondary characteristics commonly associated with ASD
3. Rule in/out common comorbidities in ASD diagnosis
4. Differentiate ADHD behavioral profiles from ASD behavioral profiles
5. Apply the Functional Impairment Index as a measure of severity

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Understanding the Wider Mental Health Landscape for Autistic Individuals
Fiona Gullon-Scott, PhD

Overview

This session focuses on mental health issues commonly experienced by autistic people that sit beyond the core features of autism. It will explore depression, anxiety, suicide risk, hoarding behaviors and eating differences, including restricted eating. Dr. Gullon-Scott will review current knowledge about prevalence, including important differences across gender and age, and examine how these conditions may present differently in autistic individuals’ daily lives at home, school, work, and in the community. By the end of the presentation, participants will be better equipped to recognize co‑existing mental health conditions in autistic individuals and apply more informed, compassionate, and practical approaches to assessment and intervention.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe at least three mental health conditions that commonly co-occur with autism
2. Express how often these conditions occur in autistic people and what we know about differences across gender and age
3. Explain how these conditions may present in autistic individuals' daily lives
4. Articulate at least three important considerations when addressing co-existing mental health issues in autistic individuals

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Living with Autism: What Clinicians Should Know- A Lived Experience Panel
Moderated by Clay Richey
Panelists Susie Raiford, PhD, Kevin Lyons, and Krina Patel, MPH

Overview
This panel features Autistic adults and parents of Autistic children who share their lived experiences with diagnosis, services, and intervention across various settings. Panelists discuss what was helpful, challenges encountered, and what they wish clinicians understood about communication, sensory needs, identity, and daily life. Throughout the session, panelists will highlight how evidence-informed frameworks and neurodiversity-affirming practices support ethical, person-centered care. Guided questions and audience Q&A offer participants practical insights for strengthening rapport, reducing barriers, and partnering respectfully with Autistic individuals and families. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to enhance clinical interactions, collaborative goal-setting, and shared decision-making.

But first, Sensory! How to optimize client participation using a nervous system lens
Laura Petix, MS, OTR/L

Overview
Autistic individuals often communicate stress and safety through their bodies long before they can put it into words. In this practical, neuro‑affirming course, you’ll connect the “why” behind behavior to the nervous system and sensory processing—so you can respond with confidence in real time. You’ll learn how the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems shape regulation, attention, and participation; how to recognize common behavioral clues of atypical vestibular, proprioceptive, and interoceptive processing; and how to choose sensory strategies that support smoother sessions. Walk away with an actionable toolkit for managing in‑session challenges—meltdowns, low energy/low engagement, and tricky transitions—while preserving dignity, autonomy, and felt safety for autistic clients.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the way both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems directly shape behavior
2. Articulate at least three behaviors that may indicate atypical vestibular, proprioceptive or interoceptive processing
3. List at least three sensory strategies that may be useful when managing in-session/classroom issues such as meltdowns, low energy/low participation, or difficulty transitioning in/out of session

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

The Importance of Fostering Adaptive Behavior Skills to Enhance Independence in Adulthood
Celine Saulnier, PhD; Vineland™ author

Overview
Delays and deficits in adaptive behavior or everyday practical skills are common in ASD. Although strong language and cognitive skills have historically been associated with better adult outcomes, research has shown that even very bright and capable autistic adults are struggling in areas of life such as completing college, holding down jobs, living independently, and maintaining successful relationships. This talk will outline how important adaptive skills are for self-sufficiency, and how direct instruction to learn, practice, and apply practical skills to everyday routines and contexts is imperative.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Define adaptive behavior and differentiate it from cognition/intelligence
2. Discuss common adaptive behavior profiles in ASD
3. Apply coaching strategies and direct instruction to foster adaptive behavior throughout life

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Power. Delight. Autonomy: The power of play for PDA
Kelsie Olds, MOT, OTR/L

Overview
Pathological demand avoidance (PDA) is a behavioral profile characterized by extreme, neurologically-driven resistance to both internal and external demands and is often seen in autistic individuals. Play is the work of childhood, the primary occupation of children. What does that look like in practice for PDAers? This session provides an introduction to PDA and how it shows up in everyday life. It describes different developmental stages of play, what they do in a child's brain and body, and how playfulness empowers and equips children whose nervous systems are highly attuned to the injustice of being disempowered and unequipped for the challenges they encounter in everyday life.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Distinguish authentic, child-led play from adult-led activities
2. Implement opportunities for children with a PDA profile of autism to experience powerful autonomy through play
3. Develop more authentically play-based strategies for supporting PDAers in therapeutic practice

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Person-Centered Care & Ethics: Equity, Culture, and Systems Impacting Autism
Kyomi Gregory Martin, PhD, CCC-SLP

Overview
This intermediate-level session reviews person-centered care and ethical practice in work with autistic individuals and families. It considers how systemic inequities affect outcomes and will discuss care provider cultural capability as ongoing humility, reflection, and responsiveness to diverse identities (race, culture, language, disability, gender, socioeconomic status). Participants will examine bias, diagnostic disparities, access barriers, and institutional policy, and discuss practical strategies to support equity and center autistic voices.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Apply culturally responsive, person-centered frameworks to collaborative goal setting, assessment, and advocacy efforts that support ethical, inclusive, and equitable outcomes for autistic individuals and their families
2. Demonstrate strategies for integrating autistic voices, lived experiences, and family perspectives into ethical decision-making, care planning, and systems-level advocacy

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Tools for Explaining Autism to Kids and Caregivers
Liz Angoff, PhD, Licensed Educational Psychologist

Overview
Explaining autism to caregivers and kids can be tricky. Families may feel overwhelmed, worry about stigma, or get stuck in confusing, deficit-focused language, while kids may not even have the language to describe their experiences. To help, this workshop gives clinicians a clear, practical way to guide these conversations. You’ll learn how to start this conversation at the intake session, reduce overwhelm with a structured feedback flow, and explain autism in an affirming way that highlights both strengths and support needs. You’ll leave with kid-friendly scripts, metaphors, and tools - from analogue to AI - that you can use immediately.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Create neurodiversity-affirming ways of describing autism in kid-friendly language
2. Create strengths-based descriptions of autism using AI tools
3. Use developmentally appropriate scripts, metaphors, and tools to affirmingly explain autism to children and caregivers

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Language assessment in autism beyond childhood: Focus on adolescents and young adults
Teresa Girolamo, PhD

Overview
Effective assessment and service delivery requires understanding developmental norms, but there is little information on language in older autistic individuals. This session will present language assessment data from autistic adolescents and young adults, as well as considerations in interpreting this data to guide service delivery.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. List three obstacles to clinical language assessment for autistic adolescents and young adults
2. Identify how to interpret and use assessment data to guide service delivery

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Communication Is Not Just Speech: Integrating Assessment and Real-World Context
Nathalie Lebrun, MA, CCC-SLP

Overview

Assessment data provide critical insight into the strengths and needs of autistic young people, yet professionals across disciplines often face challenges translating results into meaningful, everyday support. This session explores how assessment findings can be strengthened through ethnographic interviewing, contextual observation, and intentional inclusion of input from the individual and their communication partners across daily environments. Participants will learn how gathering meaningful perspectives from home, school, work, and community settings deepens understanding of communication as participation, access, and autonomy for the individuals we support.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Explain how ethnographic interviewing and contextual observation complement formal assessment data in understanding autistic communication and participation.
2. Identify meaningful sources of input from Autistic individuals and their communication partners across everyday environments.
3. Apply interdisciplinary strategies to integrate assessment findings, observations, and lived experience into functional support planning.

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Unstuck and On Target: Improving Executive Function, On-Task and Flexible Behavior in Neurodiverse Youth Ages 8-22
Lauren Kenworthy, PhD

Overview
This intermediate-level session will teach attendees about executive functions and why they are important for success in activities of daily living. Dr. Kenworthy will discuss how to recognize specific executive functioning challenges and identify appropriate supports to help neurodiverse students stay on task and manage common challenges within daily life. Attendees will leave with practical strategies that can be applied immediately.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe at least three commonly observed executive functioning weaknesses in neurodivergent children
2. Apply specific techniques to support improvements in executive functioning at home or in school settings
3. Apply targeted scripts or vocabulary to facilitate the development of executive function skills in neurodivergent youth

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

Deficit to Dignity: Bridging the Medical Model and Neurodiversity-Affirming Care
Megan Helmen, PsyD, LP

Overview
How can we expect autistic individuals to thrive when we define them by a set of symptoms? This session explores the tension between the traditional medical model and the neurodiversity movement. Clinicians must often meet diagnostic requirements while striving to provide humanized, strengths-based, identity‑affirming care. This session introduces a framework for integrating both medical and neurodiversity-affirming approaches—empowering clinicians to deliver humanized care within medical settings. By blending theory with practical examples like providing feedback, report writing, and framing recommendations, participants will gain tools to bridge medical requirements with affirming, individualized assessment and care.

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the core differences between the medical model and neurodiversity-affirming approaches in clinical practice
2. Apply a framework for integrating symptom-based and strengths-based perspectives in clinical feedback, report writing, and discussions with clients
3. Utilize the model to compose recommendations that aim to reduce symptoms, embrace individual traits, support strengths, and build self-advocacy

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

ASD Characteristics in Infants and Toddlers: Recommended Areas of Focus
Presented by Elizabeth Crais, PhD, CCC-SLP

Behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can emerge in the first year of life, with many key characteristics observable between 12 and 24 months. This session examines early social, communication, play, sensory-regulatory, and repetitive behaviors that are most informative for identifying infants and toddlers at higher likelihood for ASD. Participants will review real-world video examples to compare typical development, developmental delay, and autism, with a focus on behaviors that are present, missing, or atypical. Practical implications for early identification, referral, and intervention planning will be emphasized. 

Learner Outcomes
Based on the content of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the core differences between the medical model and neurodiversity-affirming approaches in clinical practice
2. Apply a framework for integrating symptom-based and strengths-based perspectives in clinical feedback, report writing, and discussions with clients
3. Utilize the model to compose recommendations that aim to reduce symptoms, embrace individual traits, support strengths, and build self-advocacy

View the course overview, learning outcomes, agenda, presenter information, and disclosure.

What professional organizations will award credits for these sessions? 

While the topic of Autism is relevant across the clinical landscape, the 2026 Autism Summit is best aligned to meet APA, NASP, AOTA, and ASHA requirements. Other national organizations are not included in this offering, but we encourage registrants to use their professional judgement in submitting to their applicable local, state, or national organization for appropriate credits. Pearson will be able to provide certificates of attendance for each complete session attended live. If you will be needing CEs for ASHA, please have your ASHA ID Number available when registering. 

How many CE/CPD credits can be earned? 

Continuing Education is being coordinated and sponsored by Pearson Assessments. CE/CPD credits will be available if all eligible sessions are attended. The number of CE/CPD credits provided for a session is commensurate to its length in hours.

Can I receive a certificate upon completion of the course instead of a CE?  

Yes, upon successful completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion.  

Can more than one person watch the recordings and earn CEs? 

Each learner in attendance needs a purchased seat to get CEs. 

Who is the course for? 

While the topic of Autism is relevant across the clinical landscape, the 2026 Autism Summit is best aligned to meet APA, NASP, AOTA, and ASHA requirements.  

How long is the course duration, and can I complete it at my own pace? 

These recordings are self-paced, allowing you to progress through the material at your own speed. Each session is 1 hour, plus plan on additional time to complete the knowledge check if you would like to earn applicable CE Credits.