Training for Parents & Professionals
Introductory Training: Fostering Peer Play
Fostering Peer Play and Friendships in Children on the Autism Spectrum
Blending the Integrated Play Group and Friend 2 Friend Models
Presented by Pamela Wolfberg and Heather McCracken
Seminar Description
The Integrated Play Groups (IPG) and Friend 2 Friend (F2F) models come together in this two-day seminar to address the unique social, play and friendship needs of children with autism spectrum and related disorders. These complementary models draw on best practices to support children on the autism spectrum develop to the best of their ability through play and socialization with their peer groups.
About the Speakers
Heather McCracken is the founder and executive director of the Friend 2 Friend Social Learning Society in Vancouver, BC and is a mother of three children, one with autism spectrum disorder. As the creator of the Friend 2 Friend Model, she is a sought after international speaker. She actively delivers programs to children in schools and other community settings as well as lectures at the University of BC and San Francisco as well as other post-secondary institutes. Heather is widely published and the author of That’s What’s Different About Me: Helping Children Understand Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Pamela Wolfberg, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Special Education at San Francisco State University and co-founder of the Autism Institute on Peer Relations and Play.
Her current research, grant activities and practice center on supporting children with ASD in the areas of peer relations, play, childhood culture and social inclusion. She earned her doctorate in Special Education from the University of California, Berkeley with San Francisco State University in 1994. Prior to pursuing a higher degree, she studied and worked with children in various capacities within the U.S. and abroad, including as an educator and play therapist. While teaching children with autism in the San Francisco public schools, she originated the Integrated Play Groups model. She now actively leads efforts to develop inclusive peer play programs at the local, national and international level.
