Category Archives: Autism Videos at ACT

Addressing Mental Health in Autism : Should We Treat the Person with ASD, the Family, or the Community?

Filmed April 2017 – edited into 6 parts; total 90 minutes

In this fascinating keynote presentation, Dr. Jonathan Weiss, one of Canada’s leading autism researchers, describes the individual and contextual factors that increase the likelihood of mental health problems for individuals with autism. Drawing on the research, and his extensive clinical experience, Dr. Weiss offers important insights into the ways these problems can be  alleviated by working with individuals, families, and communities.

Learning Objectives
  • Recognize ways that mental health problems present in people with autism.
  • Identify individuals at risk and contextual risk factors for mental health problems.
  • Describe interventions to address mental health problems.
Jonathan Weiss, PhD, CPsych

Weiss_photoJonathan Weiss holds the Canadian Institute of Health Research Chair in Autism Spectrum Disorders Treatment and Care Research. He is a Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University in Toronto. Dr. Weiss’ research focuses on the prevention and treatment of mental health problems in people with ASD and/or intellectual disabilities across the lifespan. He is interested in their health service needs, their emergency service use, and their experiences of psychiatric crisis.

Families play a critical role in the health of people with developmental disabilities by providing them with care and enabling their access to health services, one of Dr. Weiss’ research interests is the experience of family caregivers. In addition, he is interested in program development and evaluation. Dr. Weiss has a specific interest in the impact of Special Olympics on the psychological well-being of participants, and of cognitive-behavioural and social skill interventions to promote resilience and improve the mental health of children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Part 1: Introduction and overview

Topics covered:
  • Transdiagnostic approach
  • Multiple baseline design research
  • Correlational Study

Part 2: Individual-contextual approach to mental health problems

Part 3: The individual as the target

Part 4: The family as the target

Part 5: The community as the target

Part 6: Discussion period

Questions
  • What research is being done on the relationship between environmental factors and anxiety? (Start of video)
  • Mindfulness group strategies? (2:49)
  • Trauma-focused therapy? (4:35)
  • Self-reporting and research by autistic researchers? (5:30)
  • Is there a link between personality disorders and autism? (6:47)
  • How do you incorporate siblings into the bio-social approach of care? (10:32)
  • Parental mental health? (11:57)
  • What should be measured to document the impact of an intervention so as to demonstrate that it can have positive health implications?
References cited:

Mental Health Challenges in ASD: Perspectives of adults with ASD and professionals who work with adults

Filmed April 2017 – edited into 4 parts; total 54 minutes

This fascinating panel discussion provides positive, practical insights offered by autistic individuals, clinicians and researchers on the complex realities facing individuals with autism with mental health conditions, primarily anxiety and depression.

This panel was recorded at ACT’s 13th Annual Focus on Research Conference held in 2017- Autism & Mental Health – Looking Beyond Autism – to provide a forum to discuss common co-occurring mental health conditions with the goal of encouraging equitable access to mental health services for people with ASD across the lifespan.

Panelists:

Kenneth Binnie & Allixe Galloway: autistic adults providing their personal insights

David Worling, PhD, Registered Psychologist, Director, West Coast Child Development Group, Vancouver 

Grace Iarocci, PhD, Registered Psychologist, Professor of Psychology, Simon Fraser University

Jonathan Weiss, PhD, Registered Psychologist, Canadian Institute of Health Research Chair in ASD Treatment and Care, Associate Professor of Psychology, York University

Part 1: Allixe Galloway – Impact of mental health on career and personal life

Part 2: Kenneth Binnie

Part 3: David Worling

Part 4: Q&A

  • Gender identity (Start of video)
  • Rates, risk, and prevention of suicide (1:53)
  • Differences in mental health between individuals with ASD and the general population (3:14)
  • Perspective of adults with ASD: Useful tools and therapy (7:05)
  • What would you have liked your family or peers to better understand about you when you were younger? (12:08)
  • What do you think is required to be an expert so that individuals with autism can become more involved? (14:09)
  • First Nations communities living with ASD and the impact of inter-generational trauma (18;35)
  • Thoughts on being an observer (21:34)
  • Suggestions for assisting people with anxiety to engage in treatment (26:19)

Challenges for Moving Forward – Adapting Existing Therapies for Individuals with ASD: Panel Discussion

This 30 minute panel discussion features researchers and clinicians discussing the adaptation of therapies for individuals with ASD, covering both practical strategies and research findings.

The discussion was recorded at ACT’s 13th Annual Focus on Research Conference which provided a forum for community professionals, researchers, individuals with autism and families to discuss co-occurring mental health conditions and consider solutions to the complex realities facing individuals with autism who rarely have ‘just autism’.

Panelists:

Jonathan Weiss, PhD – Registered Psychologist, Canadian Institute of Health Research Chair in Autism Spectrum Disorders Treatment and Care Research and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University, Toronto.

Krista Johnston, PhD – Resident, BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver

Dori Zener, MSW, RSW – Individual, Couple and Family Therapist, Toronto

Rashmeen Nirma, PhD – Registered Psychologist, Clinical Instructor in the University of British Columbia’s Department of Pediatrics, Vancouver

Christopher Gillberg, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Director, Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre

 

Part 1: Jonathan Weiss, Krista Johnston & Dori Zener

Part 2: Rashmeen Nirmal & Christopher Gillberg

Part 3: Q&A – Recommendations for dealing with lack of support funding after age 19

Not Criminally Responsible: Autism and Forensic Healthcare

Filmed April 2017 – edited into 3 parts; total 18 minutes

Forensic healthcare is a sub-specialty of mental health care that supports individuals who have come into contact with the legal system, typically the criminal justice system. Some attention has been directed to forensic service provision for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, research specific to ASD has only recently gained attention and has not yet been explored in Canada.

This presentation shares information on research to date, highlights potential practice and research gaps, and shares risk and protective factors and preliminary recommendations for improving forensic service provision for adults with ASD who may encounter this system. Risk and protective factors of interest to forensic service providers, mental health professionals, community professionals, and family members are shared supporting strengths-based preemptive practices that reduce risk of involvement in the criminal justice system.

While this presentation highlights a specific sub-speciality within mental health care, the implications can be beneficial in informing the broader context of Canadian mental health care, and the efficacy of mental health interventions and treatment programming for individuals with ASD.

Learning Objectives
  • Review international research relating to forensic healthcare and ASD.
  • Identify practice complexities, challenges, and gaps in forensic healthcare service delivery for individuals with ASD.
  • Reflect onsome risk and protective factors for individuals with ASD before, during, and after coming into contact with the forensic healthcare system.
Rae Morris, MSW, RCSW

Rae Morris is an Individual & Family Therapist in Vancouver and a PhD student in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia. She has worked in Forensic Healthcare settings across Canada and is conducting research on Canadian mental healthcare service provision (including forensic healthcare) with individuals on the autism spectrum.

 

 

Part 1: International research outcomes relating to forensic healthcare and ASD

Part 2: Risk and protective factors in the forensic healthcare system

Part 3: Complexities, challenges, and gaps in service delivery

Treating Selective Mutism in Children with ASD

Filmed April 2017 – edited into 2 parts; total 16 minutes

It is well-known that anxiety disorders co-exist with ASD but much less is known about how to treat anxiety specific to speaking – that is, selective mutism (SM) – in the context of ASD. This is problematic as SM compounds core social-communication deficits in ASD. While there is an urgent need to treat SM in youth with ASD, there is also a lack of skilled clinicians with expertise in both disorders.

This 15 minute presentation provides information about the treatment of SM in children with ASD, using evidence-based behavioural intervention for SM modified for ASD. This presentation offers suggestions for clinicians treating SM in youth with ASD.

Learning Objectives

  • Review the core aspects of Selective Mutism treatment
  • Examine how core symptoms of ASD may influence treatment
  • Review clinical considerations for the behavioural treatment of Selective Mutism in youth with ASD.
  • Explore the utility of this treatment approach for school-aged youth with ASD and Selective Mutism.

Ainsley Boudreau, PhD

Dr. Ainsley Boudreau is a Post-Doctoral Clinical Research Fellow at BC Children’s Hospital. She has a Master’s degree in School Psychology, and graduated from Dalhousie University with a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Her research aims to advance treatment and other clinical work in neurodevelopmental disorders (primarily ASD, as well as tic/Tourette disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

 

Part 1: Diagnostic Criteria; Selective Mutism Frequency; Importance of Early Treatment

Part 2: Evidence-based Treatment for Selective Mutism