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Supporting Children and Teens with Autism or other Special Needs when Someone they Love has Died

When
09 May 2019
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Location
NAGC Webinar

Registration

NAGC Member
Webinar Guest – $60.00
Webinar Guest with Continuing Education Credit – $75.00

Registration is closed

2:00 p.m. Eastern | 11:00 a.m. Pacific (1.5 hours)

Presentation Description

Death is a difficult topic for any child, but can be more challenging for people with unique learning and processing needs. Participants will explore issues of grief specific to children/teens with autism or other special needs, and will gain strategies to help navigate questions about death, dying and loss of a loved one.

About the Presenters

Meredith Polsky, MSW, LCSW, MS Special Education, has been working at the intersection of social work and special education for close to 20 years. She has a proven track record of recognizing an unmet need and creating a successful solution. Ms. Polsky is the co-author of the award-winning "I Have a Question" series, which explores complicated life transitions geared towards children, inclusive of those with special needs. I Have a Question about Death (2017) received a bronze medal from the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, and I Have a Question about Divorce was released in 2017. In 2000, she founded Matan, Inc. (www.matankids.org) in the year 2000, recognizing a significant gap in the Jewish community’s ability to include children with special needs and their families. She has successfully taken Matan from the idea stage to a nationally recognized non-profit organization that has changed the face of Jewish education for tens of thousands of families. She currently serves as National Director of Institutes and Training at Matan, and Developmental Support Coordinator at Temple Beth Ami Nursery School in Rockville, Maryland. Ms. Polsky is a 2017 Covenant Award recipient and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with her husband and 3 children.

Arlen Gaines, MSW, LCSW-C, ACHP-SW is a clinical supervisor and social worker with an advanced certification in hospice and palliative social work. She received a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland with a specialization in Aging. Ms. Gaines is the co-author of the award-winning "I Have a Question" series, which explores complicated life transitions geared towards children, inclusive of those with special needs. I Have a Question about Death (2017) received a bronze medal from the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, and I Have a Question about Divorce was released in 2017.She has worked at the Jewish Social Service Agency Hospice in Rockville, MD for the past ten years, and has developed a specialization in supporting families who have children with special needs around grief and loss. Ms. Gaines lives in Bethesda, MD with her husband and two children.

Objectives

1. Describe how developmental stages affect response to loss, and the applicability and limitations of using such stages for children and teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other special needs

2. Identify key challenges for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other special needs in processing the death of someone in their lives.

3. Identify four strategies that parents, caregivers and professionals working with children and teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other special needs can use in supporting them around loss.