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Introduction
Dr. Peter Szatmari will deliver a full-day workshop across two days - Friday 13th and 20th September 2024 on mental health challenges in autism across the life-span.
Workshop Outline
Mental health challenges are common among people with autism and impact quality of life across the life-span. These mental health comorbidities include most commonly anxiety and depression but include a range of other challenges as well such as ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder, and self-harm. There is a growing evidence base concerning the etiology, course and treatment of mental health comorbidities in autism. This presentation will cover these topics as well as suggestions to support differential diagnosis and assessment. Finally, case studies will be presented to integrate the information in a practical way.
Learning Objectives
Attendees will:
1) Learn about the prevalence of comorbid mental health challenges in autism across the life-span.
2) Learn to appreciate the overlap between core autistic symptoms and more common mental health symptoms.
3) Understand the importance of assessing distress and added impairment in deciding which mental health challenges are truly comorbid and which might be due to measurement error
4) Learn about the course of comorbid mental health challenges in autism across childhood, adolescence and early adulthood
5) Be able to evaluate the evidence for both pharmacologic and psychosocial interventions to address mental health challenges in autism.
6) Be given a framework for how to approach dealing with mental health challenges in autism across the life-span
About the Presenter
Until October 1st 2021, Dr. Szatmari was the Chief of the Child and Youth Mental Health Collaborative between CAMH, the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto and held the Patsy and Jamie Anderson Chair of Child and Youth Mental Health. He has worked in the field of autism for over forty years. He is well known for his work in the areas of diagnosis and classification, in genetics and in outcome studies. He has more than 450 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has had continuous research funding since 1991. Currently, he is the Director of the Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), a research centre dedicated to discovery, dissemination and global leadership in the field of child and youth depression. He is also the co-lead of the Precision Child and Youth Mental Health Initiative at the Hospital for Sick Children. He has been editor of several important journals and has consulted to government agencies in Canada, the USA and the UK in autism. He is the author of two books; “A Mind Apart; Understanding Autism and Asperger Syndrome” published by Guilford Press and “Start Here; A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Through Mental Health Challenges” with Dr. Pier Bryden published by Simon & Schuster. In 2021, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada for his contributions to autism and to mental health.
Training Modalities
Didatic content, Q&A and case studies
Who should attend
The event is suitable for clinicians with a good understanding of mental health, some experience of working with neurodiverse populations and some familiarity with evidence based interventions for children, youth or young adults.
Continuing Education (CE) Credits
Bespoke Mental Health Canada is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Bespoke Mental Health Canada maintains responsibility for the program.
After viewing this workshop live over 2 days on September 13th and September 20th, 2024, participants have the option to complete an evaluation form in order to be eligible to receive a certificate confirming the number of credits awarded. This certificate will be sent via email.
Participants who view this workshop as a pre-recorded event will need to complete an additional workshop knowledge quiz in order to be eligible to receive CE credits.
Participants who complete this workshop are eligible to receive 6 CE credits.
Fees
Professionals: $175 CAD +tax
Students*: $140 CAD +tax
* Proof of student status may be required in order to qualify for a student rate.
Key References
1: Lai MC, Kassee C, Besney R, Bonato S, Hull L, Mandy W, Szatmari P, Ameis SH. Prevalence of co-occurring mental health diagnoses in the autism population: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2019 Oct;6(10):819-829. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30289-5.
2: Lai MC, Lombardo MV, Ruigrok AN, Chakrabarti B, Auyeung B, Szatmari P, Happé F, Baron-Cohen S; MRC AIMS Consortium. Quantifying and exploring camouflaging in men and women with autism. Autism. 2017 Aug;21(6):690-702. doi: 10.1177/1362361316671012.
3: Rodrigues R, Lai MC, Beswick A, Gorman DA, Anagnostou E, Szatmari P, Anderson KK, Ameis SH. Practitioner Review: Pharmacological treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in children and youth with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2021 Jun;62(6):680-700. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13305.
4: Kassee C, Babinski S, Tint A, Lunsky Y, Brown HK, Ameis SH, Szatmari P, Lai MC, Einstein G. Physical health of autistic girls and women: a scoping review. Mol Autism. 2020 Oct 27;11(1):84. doi: 10.1186/s13229-020-00380-z.
5: Baribeau DA, Vigod SN, Pullenayegum E, Kerns CM, Vaillancourt T, Duku E, Smith IM, Volden J, Zwaigenbaum L, Bennett T, Elsabbagh M, Zaidman-Zait A, Richard AE, Szatmari P. Developmental cascades between insistence on sameness behaviour and anxiety symptoms in autism spectrum disorder. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 Nov;32(11):2109-2118. doi: 10.1007/s00787-022-02049-9.
6: Lord C, Charman T, Havdahl A, Carbone P, Anagnostou E, Boyd B, Carr T, de Vries PJ, Dissanayake C, Divan G, Freitag CM, Gotelli MM, Kasari C, Knapp M, Mundy P, Plank A, Scahill L, Servili C, Shattuck P, Simonoff E, Singer AT, Slonims V, Wang PP, Ysrraelit MC, Jellett R, Pickles A, Cusack J, Howlin P, Szatmari P, Holbrook A, Toolan C, McCauley JB. The Lancet Commission on the future of care and clinical research in autism. Lancet. 2022 Jan 15;399(10321):271-334. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01541-5.
More information coming soon.