OARacle Newsletter

Since 2018, OAR has been pleased to offer free webinars for parents, autistics, educators, and professionals from the autism community. These archived webinars are an excellent way to gain expert information and get answers to your topical questions, with the flexibility to fit your demanding schedule. Check out these webinars discussing neurodiversity inclusion. 

Business Practices and Soft Skills that Lead to Employment Success 

Presented by Alissa Brooke and Jennifer Todd McDonough from Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Webinar description: Neurodivergent individuals face numerous barriers to employment as they transition into the workforce. Teaching social skills in real work settings is key to successful employment, as is educating businesses on how to recruit, support, and make necessary accommodations for their employees. Webinar presenters share specific examples of supports implemented in the workplace to assist individuals in obtaining and maintaining competitive integrated employment. 

Participatory Research with Autistic Adults 

Presented by Christina Nicolaidis, M.D., M.P.H. 

Webinar description: Dr. Nicolaidis provides an overview of the types of participatory models and how they may be applied to conduct research in partnership with autistic adults and other stakeholders. She also offers practical examples, lessons learned, and recommendations from her work with the Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE) and other participatory research projects over the past two decades. 

Autistic Adults and Other Stakeholders Engage Together (AASET) for Suicide Prevention 

Presented by Stephen Shore, Ed.D., Teal Benevides, Ph.D., M.S., OTR/L, Brenna Maddox, Ph.D., and Shari Jager-Hyman, Ph.D. 

Webinar description: The autism community has identified suicide prevention as a top priority, yet there is a large evidence gap about best practices to reduce suicide risk in autistic individuals. Webinar presenters highlight the value of stakeholder engagement and describe effective practices for meaningful and authentic inclusion of autistic individuals and their family members as research partners. They describe how autistic co-researchers have contributed to study design decisions and study considerations in instrumental ways and highlight strategies that can be used by other stakeholders to promote meaningful partnerships. 

For More Webinars

Check out the full list of OAR’s archived webinars on our website and don’t miss our Spring 2023 webinar series covering the topics of relationships, sexuality, and social skills for autistic individuals.