No presentation materials but please read abstract and objectives below

Poster Session: G. Elaine Beussink, M.A., CCC-SLP, and Connie L. Hebert, M.Ed.
This session addresses the dilemma that many public school educators need to defend the existence and impact of the ‘hidden curriculum’. The authors will relate the ‘social-thinking movement’ as a treatment consideration for individuals falling on the autism spectrum (ASD) by addressing the dilemma that many public school educators, especially public school speech-language pathologists, need to defend the existence and impact of the ‘hidden curriculum’. The authors share an abbreviated portion of a larger body of work demonstrating how Missouri’s “Show-Me Standards” for academic success can be cross-referenced with Social Thinking components.  Often, service providers have felt isolated in addressing the ‘academic impact’ of students’ social-communication deficits and have had to vigorously defend the position that depressed skills in social-cognition, particularly from middle-school age through post-secondary levels, adversely impact the level to which students successfully navigate and learn the curriculum content intended for accomplishing the Missouri state standards.

Learning Objectives

1.  To align Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MO-DESE) standards for academic success (aka  “Show Me Standards”) with Social Thinking components, defending the appropriateness of addressing the hidden curriculum within the public school settings.

2. Subjective measures of improved quality of life which can be documented by objective tracking in areas of social cognition, independent living skills and eventually employability.

Presenters

G. Elaine Beussink, MA CCC-SLP, is Director of The Tailor Institute in Cape Girardeau, MO.

Connie L. Hebert, M.S. Ed., is Director of the Southeast Missouri State University, Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment in Cape Girardeau MO.