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Engaging your Autistic Student
February 6 @ 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Date: February 6, 2024
Time: 9:00am-3:00pm
Location: WRESA
200 Ridgefield Ct, Suite 206
Asheville, NC 28806
Fee: $45 WRESA Members
$70 Non-Members
**NOTE: We have a No Refund policy for our WRESA courses. However, you are welcome to send a
colleague in your place. Contact LaDonna Sluder at lsluder@wresa.org or 828-774-5681 (ext 102)
if you need to change the name of the person attending.
Audience: K-12 EC Teachers, Classroom Teachers and Administrators
CEUs: 5 Contact hours
Limit: 50 Participants
What to Bring: Your own charged device
Training/Workshop Description:
Are you trying to find ways to reach and teach your students with autism?
This full day training/workshop will focus on providing strategies for teachers and
counselors to use with their students on the autism spectrum and students with behavior
challenges. This training will discuss evidence-based social emotional learning programs to
support students’ academic and long-term success. Topics of discussion will include autism
characteristics in relation to environmental classroom design, utilizing visual supports,
work systems and the importance of teaching replacement activities/routines for
challenging behaviors.
Bio: Marlou de Vera, M.Ed. – Autism Specialist
Buncombe County Schools Asheville, NC
Marlou is an autism specialist with 28 years’ experience working in the educational setting.
Marlou is currently serving grades K-12 for Buncombe County schools in Asheville, North
Carolina. As an autism specialist, Marlou coaches and trains instructional staff regarding pro-active
programming and emotional/behavioral supports in the classroom. In addition, she conducts
and facilitates social groups for K-12 students with special needs, in collaboration with
speech and occupational therapists as well as special education teachers.
Prior to being an autism/behavior specialist, Marlou was an exceptional children’s
curriculum specialist. She also worked as a middle school intensive intervention teacher for
students with autism and was program director for a mainstreaming program for K-12
students with high functioning autism.
Marlou is a certified TEACCH professional practitioner with University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill. She also received clinical training from Social Thinking (Michelle Garcia Winner
– San Jose, California). Marlou holds a master’s degree in Education (Curriculum and
Instruction) from the University of the Philippines.
Marlou has a passion for constantly improving the educational experience of her students
as they reach their potential in school and be the best they can become. Most important
of all, she is a mom of a consistently happy adult son (Vidal) with autism who currently
works at a restaurant as a busboy and at an ice-cream shop. His positive cheerful attitude
is what drives Marlou to advocate for all individuals with special needs.
Additional questions contact Candie Sellers at csellers@wresa.org