|
WesternU's FACE: A Team Approach to Autism
POMONA, CA, Jan 10, 2013 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
Western University of Health Sciences faculty members are
addressing the fragmented approach to autism by forming a new
organization on campus, FACE: Faculty for Autism Collaboration and
Education. Website: http://www.westernu.edu/face.
The goal of this interprofessional team of educators, clinicians and
researchers is to promote integrated perspectives, activities, and
resources that serve to enhance the lives of individuals with ASD and
their significant others, to help optimize function and promote the
highest possible quality of life.
"We're coming together to figure out what we can do as an
interprofessional health sciences university," said FACE Chair Gail
Singer-Chang, PsyD, MA, MS, Assistant Dean, Interdisciplinary
Professional Education, Chair of the Department of Social Medicine
and Healthcare Leadership, and Director, Institute for Medical
Educators. "We feel we have a really unique culture here at WesternU
that lends itself to being able to integrate very diverse
perspectives, and if there's anything that needs that integration,
it's autism."
FACE brings together educators, researchers and clinicians from
WesternU's nine colleges so they have a better understanding of each
other's work. One of FACE's goals is for researchers to see what a
clinical assessment looks like, as opposed to it being an abstract
idea. In return, clinicians gain a better understanding of how and
why researchers are coming up with their research questions,
Singer-Chang said.
The first major project by FACE is the show "Autism Intersection,"
which debuts today, Jan. 10, 2013, on the Autism Channel,
http://theautismchannel.tv/. The show depicts WesternU faculty
members interacting with children with autism and problem-solving in
a multidisciplinary way in the moment.
"We're hoping in the diversity of what we've put together and in the
critical thinking process as we work collaboratively, everyone will
see something that will resonate with them," said FACE Co-Chair Dee
Schilling, PT, PhD, Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy
Education in the College of Allied Health Professions. "Not
everything will resonate, but maybe one little thing, and they will
say, 'That's my child. That's my life. That's me.'"
For children with autism, each day is a new day. What worked
yesterday may not work today, Schilling said. FACE is a group of
individuals who have experienced that frustration and the realization
that things have to be done differently.
"We have to become a community. It takes a village to raise a child
with autism and to do it well," she said. "We live our lives going to
these siloed individuals who continue to tell us what our children
can't do. And what we're all really looking for is for that
collective group that instead points out what our children can do,
and shows them all the possibilities."
Click here for more information:
http://wsprod.westernu.edu/news/nr_detail.jsp id=15887&groupname=AllNews.
Contact:
Rodney Tanaka
Office: (909) 469-5402
E-mail: rtanaka@westernu.edu
SOURCE: Western University of Health Sciences
mailto:rtanaka@westernu.edu
[ Back To greentechnologyworld.com's Homepage ]
|
