Event Calendar

Developing Friendships: at Home, School, and in the Community

The presentation will include models for facilitating friendships for children/adolescents/students in these settings.

•Tools for improving social skills (i.e.: joining a group, introducing oneself, greeting others, maintaining appropriate eye contact, etc.), affective behaviors (when hugs/affection are appropriate), verbal communication (i.e.: expressing oneself, listening, verifying, considering the other person), and nonverbal communication will be addressed.

•Role plays and vignettes will be used to promote learning for caregivers. Additionally, strategies for those that have greater difficulty with making friends will be addressed (i.e.: building rapport between friends, video modeling, social stories, etc.).

Presented by: Christen Russell, MS, BCBA is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Her clinical experience consists of providing services in the home, school/academic, community, vocational and residential setting.

She has worked with children, adolescents, and adults (ranging from 6 months old - 65 years old) with autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, ODD, OCD, FAS, anxiety, developmental and physical delays.

Christen has also been providing staff and parent training for ten years.

She is a professional member of Autism NJ, the Association for Professional Behavior Analysts, and the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. Christen has her Master's of Science in Psychology with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis from Kaplan University. She has her BA from Rutgers University.

With an understanding of procedures in early child development, for developmentally and functionally delayed and autism and working in the field for over 14 years, Christen provides a broad spectrum of clinical expertise.