Building Attention and Self Awareness for Individuals with Autism Using Mindfulness

Course Overview

Individuals with ASD tend to present with difficulties to sustain attention when engaging in task / activities and low self-awareness (awareness of their thoughts, feelings and actions). Difficulties  in sustaining attention frequently affect their learning and performance in school as well as at work. Low self-awareness may also pose challenges to regulate emotion at times of anxiety and anger.

Mindfulness is a helpful method for individuals with ASD to learn to focus on the present moment instead of their pre-occupation. It also helps individuals to build awareness to their state of mind and body sensations.

This workshop teaches strategies using mindfulness to help individuals with ASD to direct attention and build self-awareness. All the participants will be guided through the practices progressively, from easy-to-do practices to the more difficult practices that will be helpful to build attention span. The easy practices can be taught and understood by individuals with ASD of all ages and across the whole spectrum.

This workshop is designed especially for parents and professsionals working with individuals with ASD. The practices taught are relevant for individuals with ASD of all age level and across the whole spectrum.

This skills training has 3 major components.

• Part 1 covers challenges of individuals with ASD in attention and self-awareness
• In Part 2, participants will be taught the basics of mindfulness and how mindfulness can be helpful for individuals with ASD. Participants will get to practice and experience varied mindfulness practices.
• Lastly in Part 3, participants will be taught progressive steps in using mindfulness to help individuals with ASD to build attention.
  
  

Course Duration: 8 hours

Target Audience

This workshop is designed especially for parents and professionals who would like to learn specific strategies specially to build attention and awareness for individuals with ASD. The strategies taught in this workshop is relevant for individuals with ASD of all ages and across the whole spectrum, eg individuals with ASD who are studying /working and those studying in mainstream school / special school.

It is suitable for:

1. Professionals working with individuals with ASD eg, Teachers, Counsellors, Allied Educators, Therapist, Psychologist
2. Parents of children or adolescents with ASD of all ages and across the whole spectrum
   
   

Educational Institutions and Schools will especially benefit from this course.

Topics

• Understanding ASD difficulties in Attention and Self-awareness 
  • Implications of these difficulties

• How Mindfulness is helpful in building Attention and Self-awareness
  • What is Mindfulness
  • Practices for participants to experience what mindfulness is about
  • How will mindfulness help individuals with ASD

• Step-by-Step activities to build attention and self-awareness in individuals with ASD
  • Easy to Difficult mindfulness exercises for individuals with ASD – with practices
    
    

• Case Study discussions 
  – What to expect
  – How to plan mindfulness practices
  – Pitfalls and how to address