Essential Online Courses for Parents of ASD Children
Over the past few years, learning has become flexible and easily accessible thanks to technology. Online courses have become an important element of learning and education. With these online courses, we can now learn at our own pace, time, and convenience.
Many universities and institutes now offer online courses specifically designed for parents and caregivers of children on the autism spectrum. These courses are geared towards the education and guidance of parents with ASD children to equip them with the necessary tools and understanding needed to deal with the unique challenges that come along with autism.
In this feature, we’ll introduce you to a few of these amazing courses that might be beneficial for you –
The Parent Playbook (by VCU Autism Center)
The Parent Playbook is an online self-paced course provided as a collaboration between the Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Excellence and the Virginia Autism Council.
The course covers various learning objectives like – common challenges parents face in raising a child with ASD, ways of organizing important information and paperwork for your child, changes in the definition of ASD and updates to the DSM-5 criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder, and much more.
The course is divided into various modules that include presentations, videos of experts in ASD, and multiple website and document resources. A Certificate of Completion is also awarded upon the successful completion of the course.
Course Duration – 5 hours approximately
Access the course here – https://vcuautismcenter.org/te/courses/parent_playbook.cfm
Autism Awareness Course for Parents – Autism Training (by Udemy)
Specifically designed for people who are caregivers for autistic children, this course offers training to help parents reduce the challenging behaviors associated with Autism and to learn to understand and manage Autism.
The course also guides parents towards the right educational programs and schools for the child, helps them learn about the various therapeutic treatments and methods to help teach someone with autism how to better communicate and relate to the world and touches upon recognizing symptoms of autism.
Duration of the course content – 3h 56m
Access the course here – https://www.udemy.com/course/understanding-autism/
ASD Strategies in Action (by Autism Certification Center)
This free course takes on a practical perspective of dealing with ASD. The course aims at equipping parents with real-life skills necessary to care for and support loved ones with autism spectrum disorder from early childhood through young adulthood.
The course addresses the challenges faced by ASD families on social, communication, and behavioral levels. The learners also get to hear directly from children, students, and adults with ASD and their families about their experiences.
There are two different courses available under this – (i) Foundations of Evidence-Based Strategies and (ii) Behavior Assessment and Planning with Evidence-Based Interventions.
By the end of the course, the learner will be equipped with real-life, practical, and evidence-based strategies necessary to deal with ASD.
Course Duration – (i) – 10.5 hrs (ii)- 40 hrs
Access the course here – https://autismcertificationcenter.org/families
