Why Didn’t They Just Say That? – Helping Students with Autism Decode the Social World Using PEERS – Jennifer M. Schmidt, M.Ed.

Whether you are a teacher of general education, special education, or inclusion classrooms, you will find this webinar invaluable. Jennifer Schmidt, a teacher for over 25 years, knew there had to be more than basic IEPs, and teacher conferences. This led to the development of PEERspective. Through this webinar, you will learn how to provide support and give details and justification to institute an academic class in a middle or high school setting and how to improve relevant social skills for ASD students.

Jennifer outlines why a social skills curriculum is needed, how it works, the course design, and details of the curriculum itself, in step-by-step units. She will explain why it is so important for ASD students to have true interaction with their peers. Also, she will discuss applicable IEP goals, sample letters to administration and parents with a lot of evidence-based research. Her book, “Why Didn’t They Just Say That?” will make it easy to see how establishing and following this program will make a significant difference to students, their families and teachers.

See how PEERspective can provide amazing ideas that will help students who struggle to consider the perspectives of others, how to navigate difficult social situations, and how to self-reflect.

Learning Objectives:

1. Provide support and give details for an academic class.
2. Why a curriculum for social skills is important.
3. How imperative it is for students to interact with their peers.
4. How to self-reflect.