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Feb 14, 2025

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Ocean County Library Hosts 3 POAC Programs

TOMS RIVER, NEW JERSEY – Ocean County Library will host three programs about autism at several of its branches this fall.

The programs are presented by Parents of Autistic Children and funded through a Youth Services Commission Grant for the library’s Tools for Teens series.

Professional Development Certificates will be available to participants.

The programs are free and open to the public. Registration is recommended. More information about these and other POAC programs is available at http://poac.net/default.asp?pid=100

“Hidden Dangers – Keeping Children with Autism & Other Developmental Disabilities Safe in the Community, School and at Home” presents issues related to safety, emergency preparedness and crisis intervention. It will offer concrete suggestions and strategies that can be applied immediately to increase their safety and decrease risk.

In addition each participant will also receive a free safety kit that includes many important resources and tools.

The program, designed for parents, family members and professionals who work with children and adults with autism and other special needs, will cover:

  • Emergency and Disaster Preparedness
  • Fire Safety Issues
  • Sexuality and Personal Safety
  • Internet Safety
  • How to address wandering
  • Bullying
  • Behavioral interventions including social stories, activity schedules, visual cues, and more
  • School and Transportation Issues
  • Resources for ongoing support and assistance
  • Physical modifications to the home and classroom.

The program will be offered 6:30 p.m. at the following branches:
Toms River, 101 Washington St., Monday Sept. 29
Manchester, 21 Colonial Dr., Tuesday Oct. 28
Pt. Pleasant Borough, 834 Beaver Dam Rd., Monday Nov. 24.

The “Teaching Functional Communication Skills – How to Teach your Child to Ask for the Things They Want” workshop will demonstrate how incorporating analysis of verbal behavior and understanding how to capture and contrive motivation promotes the development of communication.

Parents and caregivers will be given the following:

  • The technical definition of “positive reinforcement” & strategies for identifying their child’s reinforcers
  • An explanation of each of B.F. Skinner’s verbal operants
  • Criteria for determining if a child would benefit from an augmentative communication system
  • Guidelines for selecting functional “mand” targets
  • Teaching, prompting, & error-correction procedures to be utilized when conducting “mand” training.

The workshop will be presented 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 1 at the Plumsted branch, 119 Evergreen Rd., New Egypt.

“Teaching Daily Living Skills to Children and Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder” is an introductory level workshop designed for parents and educators who are new to teaching or interacting with children with autism.

Daily life skills such as hygiene, dressing, and household chores can be challenging for families of children with autism. This workshop will help participant utilize the principles of applied behavior analysis to teach adaptive life skills in the home, with the primary goal being to foster independence.

Participants will:

  • Learn ways to improve student’s self-help skills
  • Learn to develop and use task analysis for teaching self-help skills
  • Learn how to collect data on self-help skills
  • Receive information about adaptive behavior assessments
  • Receive information on how to determine which skills to teach

The workshops will begin 6:30 p.m. at:
Little Egg Harbor branch, 290 Mathistown Rd., Thursday Oct. 16
Berkeley branch, 30 Station Rd., Monday Oct. 20.