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Mansfield University Autism Center is planning two summer institutes. These will be held July 11 through July 14 and July 25 through July 28, from 9:00 am to 12 noon in Retan Center on the Mansfield University campus. These Institutes are intended to work on transition skills for those students on the autism spectrum, other health impairments, or mild sensory needs who receive learning support services or are fully included in the general education setting. This is designed to work toward meeting the transition requirements of the IEP. Participants will address areas of post-secondary, employment, and independent living/safety without missing classroom time.

Social Skills areas will also be addressed using the PEERS curriculum. The Program for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is a manualized, group-based social skills curriculum developed at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. It is designed to help participants with ASD, ADHD, and other social challenges make and keep friends. Some skills addressed through the curriculum are finding common interests, trading information, sharing the conversation as well as initiating, maintaining, and ending conversations, handling teasing and bullying, and using humor (https://www.gvsu.edu/autismcenter).

The areas of employment, independent living and post-secondary education will be addressed using the Choicemaker curriculum as well as other activities using materials developed by the Organization for Autism Research (OAR). University and community resources will be utilized when appropriate and needed.

The new Autism Center at Mansfield University is made possible through a grant for $126,000 from AllOne Foundation. AllOne Collaborative Centers of Excellence serve 13 counties in Pennsylvania by supporting community hubs that provide diagnostic and medical services, public health care information, behavioral services, advocacy resources, parent/caregiver support, vocational and community living skills and training programs.

Cost for this institute is $100 per student. Parents and school districts are invited to enroll students or to contact university staff to further explore this option. Please contact Dr. Alison Polly at Mansfield University for further information (apolly@mansfield.edu).