Event
Autism and the predictive mind: practical implications for support, interventions and education
Description
About this Workshop
Autism expert Dr Peter Vermeulen (PhD) presents a full-day professional development workshop exploring how autistic people predict the world differently, and how this affects communication, social interactions, sensory processing, and daily life.
Why This Topic Matters
Traditional ideas liken the brain to a computer — input, processing, output — but new discoveries show that the brain is not a computer; it is a prediction machine. It constantly uses context to make smart guesses about what is happening around us.
But for autistic individuals, reduced contextual sensitivity means the world is experienced in more absolute and less contextually-guided ways. This explains challenges in communication, social understanding, sensory processing, and flexible thinking.
You’ll leave with a powerful understanding of why many traditional programs (emotion recognition training, generic social skills training, sensory reduction approaches) often don’t work, and what to do instead.
What You Will Learn
By the end of the workshop, participants will:
● Know why the traditional model of understanding the brain (stimulus-response model) is not correct.
● Understand what predictive processing is and what the role is of context in predicting the world.
● Understand the effect of a reduced contextual sensitivity in predicting the world on social interaction, communication; theory of (own) mind and sensory processing.
● Know what ‘pushing the context button’ means and how it is pivotal for communicating with autistic people and for teaching social cognitive and social behavioural skills.
● Identify strategies to help autistic people to cope with the sensory environment.
● Know the ingredients of autism friendly communication.
● Understand what is lacking in traditional interventions for emotion recognition and social skills in order to help autistic people navigate the social world.
● Reflect on the extent to which their own practice (teaching, therapy, ….) supports their clients/students in predicting the world.
About the Event
Registration from 8.30am
Morning tea, Lunch and Afternoon tea provided
