Autism: What are the Causes?

Autism: Why the Increase in Cases?

Autism: Redefining Standards of Care - the New ICDL Clinical Practice Guidelines

NOVEMBER 10, 11, 12, 2000
Hilton Tysons Corner, McLean, Virginia
703-847-5000
(Washington DC Metropolitan Area)
NOTE: special conference rates for hotel rooms are no longer available.
Overflow hotel rooms:  Tysons Corner Marriott (703) 734-3200 or (800) 228-9290 for conference sleeping rooms.  Complimentary shuttle bus will be available between the two hotels.

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

Thursday, November 9
6:00 – 8:00 pm 
Registration
Avoid the lines Friday morning, register early.

Friday, November 10
7:00 am
Registration Opens

8:00 – 8:15 am
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D., Chair, Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental & Learning Disorders
Mark Rosenbloom, M.D., President, Unicorn Children’s Foundation

8:15 am – 3:00 pm (with mid-morning & lunch breaks) 
Redefining the Standards of Care: The New ICDL Clinical Practice Guidelines for Infants, Children & Families with Special Needs
Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D. Principles of Assessment and Intervention
Elizabeth Tsakiris, Ph.D. A Developmental Analysis of Intervention Research
Jane Madell, Ph.D. The Evaluation of Hearing and Auditory Processing
Gordon Williamson, Ph.D. A Developmental Approach to Motor and Sensory Functioning
Rebecca Shahmoon Shanok, Ph.D. Assessment and Intervention With the Family
Serena Wieder, Ph.D. and Barbara Kalmanson, Ph.D. A Functional Developmental
Approach to the Education of Children with Special Needs
Ricki Robinson, M.D. Biomedical Evaluation and Interventions
Barry Prizant, Ph.D. and Sima Gerber, Ph.D. A Developmental Approach to
Assessment and Intervention with Speech and Language Challenges

3:30 - 5:30 pm Afternoon Panel
The Frontiers of Biomedical Treatment In Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Ricki Robinson, M.D., Chair
Michael Chez, M.D. The Use of Steroids and Aricept for Treatment of Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Eric Hollander, M.D. The Choice of Neuropharmacologic Agents and Treating Target Symptoms
Nancy Minshew, M.D. MRI Studies in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Andrew Zimmerman, M.D. Recent Evolution and Autism: Fetal and Maternal Immunity and the Rapid Expansion of Human Cognitive Skills

5:45 – 7:00 pm 
Parent Panel
A panel presentation by parents. Parents and professionals are welcome to attend. The ICDL Parent Steering Committee panel will discuss the challenges of raising a child with developmental difficulties and implementing a multidisciplinary, floor time based program that evolves, as the child's needs change. Parents at different points on the journey, who have children at different points on the developmental spectrum, will share their personal experiences and provide their unique perspective.

7:00 pm Reception
Welcome Reception
An informal opportunity for conference participants to meet each other

Saturday, November 11

7:00 am
Registration Opens

8:00 am – 5:00 pm (with mid-morning, lunch & mid-afternoon breaks)
Panel - AUTISM: The Causes and Increase in Cases
Andrew Wakefield, M.D. Autistic Entercolitis and the Possible Relationship to Measles Virus Vaccination
Philip Landrigan, M.D. The Impact of Environmental Toxins on the Development of Children
Theo Colborn, Ph.D. Endocrine Disrupters: Pre-Natal Impacts
Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, M.D. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Epidemiologic Studies of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Brick, New Jersey, Atlanta and Others
Lisa Croen, Ph.D., The Epidemiology of Autistic Spectrum Disorders, California and Others
Judith Grether, Ph.D., Neonatal Biochemical Indicators of Autism and other Developmental Disorders
Sallie Bernard, Autism: A Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning
Margaret Bauman, M.D. Genetic and Neuroanatomical and Biochemical Pathways
Stanley Greenspan, M.D. Defining the Syndrome: Clinical Features, Underlying Mechanisms and Subtypes
Discussion Among Panelists with recommendations for a comprehensive investigation of possible causes for the increase in cases (especially in high risk locations)

Sunday, November 12

7:30 am 
Registration Opens

8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Concluding Panel - RAISING THE BAR: Increasing Abstract Thinking, Empathy, Peer Relating
and Academic Achievement in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Other Special Needs
Serena Wieder, Ph.D., Chair, Increasing Abstract Thinking Through Symbolic Play
Carol Gray, Ph.D. Enhancing Creative and Abstract Thinking Through Social Stories
Nancy Bell, MA, Imagery and the Language Processing Spectrum: Dyslexia, Hyperlexia and Autism
Harry Wachs, O.D., Promoting Visual-Spatial Thinking and Executive Functions
Stanley Greenspan, M.D., Enhancing Intelligence and Academic Achievement Through Working with Emotional Interactions

12:30 pm
Conference Concludes
Participants will receive a course certificate verifying 20 hours of instruction

FACULTY
Margaret Bauman, M.D. Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard University Medical School
Sally Bernard, Summit, NJ
Nancy Bell, M.A., Director, Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes
Michael Chez, M.D., Assistant Professor in Neurology & Epilepsy, Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center
Theo Colborn, Ph.D., Sr. Program Scientist, World Wildlife Fund
Lisa Croen, Ph.D., Epidemiologist, California Birth Defects Monitoring Project
Sima Gerber, Ph.D., Professor of Linguistics & Communication Disorders, Queens College, CUNY
Carol Gray, Ph.D., Creator of Social Stories
Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences & Pediatrics, George     Washington Univ. Medical School and Chair, ICDL
Judith Grether, Ph.D., Epidemiologist, California Birth Defects Monitoring Project
Barbara Kalmanson, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist
Eric Hollander, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, and Clinical Director, Seaver Autism Research Program, 
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Phillip Landrigan, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Community Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Jane Madell, Ph.D., Director, Hearing & Learning Center, Beth Israel Medical Center
Nancy Minshew, M.D., Associate Prof. of Psychiatry & Neurology, Univ. of  Pittsburgh School. of Med.
Barry Prizant, Ph.D., Director, Childhood Communication Seminars, Adjunct Professor, Brown University
Ricki G. Robinson, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Prof. of Pediatrics, Univ. of Southern California School of Medicine
Mark Rosenbloom, M.D., President, Unicorn Children's Foundation, Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Northwestern Medical School
Rebecca Shahmoon Shanok, Ph.D., Director, The Early Childhood Group Therapy Service and Training Programs
Elizabeth Tsakiris, Ph.D., School Psychologist, Montgomery County Maryland Public Schools
Harry Wachs, O.D., Director, The Vision and Conceptual Development Center
Andrew Wakefield, M.D., Reader in Experimental Gastroenterology, Departments of Medicine & Histopathology, Royal Free and University College Medical School
Serena Wieder, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and Associate Chair, ICDL
Gordon Williamson, Ph.D., Director, Project ERA, John F. Kennedy Medical Center
Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, M.D., Medical Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control
Andrew Zimmerman, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School