Please join the Autism Consortium of Texas for our February webinar!
Date: Friday, February 10, 2023
Time: 12-1:30 p.m.
1 Free CEU: Social Work, Diversity, LPC, LMSW, General Contact
Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://tinyurl.com/ACT-Feb2023
Topic: Autism Landscape in San Antonio
An estimated 68% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) engage in severe problem behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury, and property destruction) that limits their access to learning, social, and communication opportunities. Self-injury and aggression are the most prevalent types of behavior, and the most resistant to treatment. Access to evidence-based services for treatment of severe problem behavior is a nationwide issue, amplified in San Antonio where multiple structural factors limit service access and delivery. The presenters will discuss their seven-year partnership focused on building services for severe problem behavior in San Antonio. They will present the results of a couple of completed studies as well as discuss some ongoing projects.
About the speakers:
- Leslie Neely, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Director of the Bank of America – Child and Adolescent Policy and Research Institute, Associate Direct of the Brain Health Consortium. Dr. Neely’s research focuses on progressing the treatment of severe problem behavior for individuals with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities using the science of ABA. She currently has two lines: (1) investigation of novel technological applications such as telehealth, artificial intelligence, and virtual/augmentative reality in the assessment and treatment process, and (2) development of pre-emptive interventions for infants and toddlers aimed at preventing progression of symptomology.
- Hannah MacNaul, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology. Dr. MacNaul’s research aims to progress the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder as well as develop non-obtrusive interventions based on the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA).
- Melissa Svoboda, M.D., Chief of Pediatric Neurology at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, Director of Autism Program. Dr. Svoboda is a Board-Certified Child Neurologist who specializes in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. She obtained her MD from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and did her pediatrics residency there as well. She did a predoctoral fellowship at Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University in autism research. Her child neurology/neurodevelopmental disabilities fellowship was done at Oregon Health and Sciences University.
