Event

ECHO-Autism "Diagnosis in ASD": Psychiatric Evaluation in the Preschool Clinic

Thursday, September 16, 2021 14:00to15:30

The ACAR Clinic is offering an 8-session online professional development opportunity via Zoom starting June 17 to December 9, 2021 from 2 to 3:30 pm (EST). 

About the ECHO Model: The Extension of Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) modelTM consists of a platform for both delivery of services and outcomes research, with the purpose of reducing health disparities by erasing barriers between specialty and primary care, particularly in underserved and remote areas. Using a simple videoconferencing system, Project ECHO achieves this goal by using a hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing approach where teams of expert specialists lead virtual clinics catered to health professionals in local communities. Each session includes a short didactic lecture on a specific topic followed by a case presentation by an attendee and a case discussion.

About ECHO-Autism “Diagnosis in ASD”: This program aims to connect specialist teams with local care teams to increase the skills of diagnosticians to perform diagnostic assessments for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and thus benefit and empower autistic individuals and their advocates. The program is open to clinicians who can diagnose ASD (pediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists) and who see patients with NDD/query ASD in their clinic/service and want to enhance their training to perform diagnostic evaluation for ASD. Attendees must be prepared to present a case for discussion during one session. It is strongly suggested that attendees have already completed an ADOS-2 training with a certified trainer prior to this round of ECHO and registrants with ADOS-2 training will be prioritized. 

Attendees will:

  • become familiarized with the components of ASD assessment, including remote/virtual assessment options, and best practices for diagnostic evaluation
  • gain knowledge about medical considerations, including genetic testing
  • learn about considerations to make in differential diagnosis
  • learn how to make appropriate recommendations for different profiles of patients.

Program information:

 

Dates and Times 

Details

Session 1:
June 17, 2021
2 to 3:30 pm (EST)

Title: The Autism Spectrum

Presenters: Hub Team Members

Learners will:

  • understand the range of symptoms displayed in ASD over the lifespan and the overlap of these symptoms with other neurodevelopmental disorders;
  • learn how to apply knowledge of heterogeneity and developmental trajectories of ASD symptoms to clinical patients.

Session 2:
July 8, 2021
2 to 3:30 pm (EST)

Title: Components of ASD Evaluation and Remote Options

Presenter: Dr. Julie Scorah

Learners will:

  • learn the steps involved in ASD assessment, and what can be done remotely (via telepractice) during the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • know what complementary evaluations and components of the ASD assessment to use with different patient profiles.

Session 3:
August 26, 2021 
2 to 3:30 pm (EST)

Title: Medical Evaluation for ASD

Presenter: Dr. Emmett Francoeur

Learners will:

  • learn what medical and genetic conditions to be aware of when evaluating patients for ASD;
  • know what types of medical investigations or referrals could be made to identify and/or manage medical or genetic conditions in patients with ASD.

Session 4:
September 16, 2021
2 to 3:30 pm (EST)

Title: Psychiatric Evaluation in the Preschool Clinic

Presenter: Dr. Baudoin Forgeot-d’Arc

Learners will:

  • learn what signs and symptoms indicate ADHD and other psychiatric conditions in preschool aged patients and how to evaluate these;
  • learn about treatment options for psychiatric conditions, including psychopharmacological management in preschool aged children.

Session 5:
October 7, 2021
2 to 3:30 pm (EST)

Title: Cognitive Assessment & ASD Diagnosis

Presenter: Dr. Mandy Steiman

Learners will:

  • gain knowledge about assessment of developmental, cognitive, and adaptive functioning as a part of ASD evaluations
  • learn more about using the results from developmental and cognitive assessments to inform ASD differential diagnosis.

Session 6: 
October 28, 2021
​​​​​​​2 to 3:30 pm (EST)

Title: Psychiatric Evaluation in School Age and Adolescence

Presenter: Dr. Baudoin Forgeot-d’Arc

Learners will:

  • learn what signs and symptoms indicate psychiatric conditions in school-aged children and adolescent patients and how to evaluate these;
  • learn about treatment options for psychiatric conditions, including psychopharmacological management in school-aged children and adolescents.

Session 7:
November 18, 2021
​​​​​​​2 to 3:30 pm (EST)

Title: Beyond Diagnosis

Presenters: Geneviève Côté-Leblanc, Ina Winkelmann

Learners will:

  • learn what treatments, interventions, and resources are available to address the range of needs of ASD patients and their families;
  • understand the realities of families’ and patients’ journeys following ASD diagnosis.

Session 8:
December 9, 2021
​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​2 to 3:30 pm (EST)

Title: Advanced Topics in ASD Evaluation

Presenters: Hub Team Members

Learners will:

  • Have an opportunity to select a topic of their choice for this session to learn more about additional considerations to make when performing ASD differential and comorbidity evaluations.

 

Registration is now closed.

Contact: jessica.charlebois [at] muhc.mcgill.ca (Jessica Charlebois, ACAR Clinic Research Coordinator)

 

 


About ACAR: The Neuro’s Azrieli Centre for Autism Research (ACAR) transforms research, training and care to improve the quality of life of autistic people and their families. Established in 2017 thanks to the Azrieli Foundation, ACAR operates in the spirit of Open Science, inclusion and community collaboration. The state-of-the-art research centre is committed to advancing understanding of the mechanisms underlying autism and related conditions, developing new diagnostic tools and effective interventions through translational research and integrated care, and training the next generation of fundamental and clinical autism researchers.

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