PCFA Speaks

April is now receding into the past. As Autism Awareness Month, it is perhaps one of the busiest months of the year. I have just returned from Queretaro, Mexico, where PCFA alum Teresa Tassinari hosted an extraordinary conference called “Primer Encountro Internacional de Autismo y Desordenes del Desarrollo”, which I'm pretty sure means “First International Conference on Autism and Developmental Disorders”. Teresa was kind enough to invite me to deliver the keynote address, which I titled “Myths, Magic and Reality in the Treatment of Autism.” Also on the program were PCFA supervisors Stefanie Finney and Marta Marquez. Stefanie presented on “Implementation of ABA Programs in California: Methods of Intervention and Results” and Marta presented on “What is Autism and What are its Behaviors?” (Not sure if I translated Marta's title correctly from Spanish.) All of our presentations were very well received by the eager audience, composed of parents, students and professionals.
Earlier in the month I presented at the first autism conference in Armenia, providing a basic overview of the history, theory and techniques of Applied Behavior Analysis, and PCFA supervisor Arpi Arabian also presented on “Theory of Mind and Autism.” Arpi's presentation went extremely well.
In Mexico, one of the presenters in the two-day conference was a past PCFA therapist who went on to work for a school district. It was interesting to hear how many other past therapists were also working for school districts, and to play the “where are they now?” game with a group comprised of both current and past PCFA staff members. It is really interesting to think of how PCFA functioned as the training ground for so many professionals over the years, and how widespread their influence has become.