The research is clear. People who are neurodiverse spend more time online than pursuing any other leisure activity. Combined with a high unemployment rate and a services cliff when adolescents leave school this unfettered access to the internet can lead people down a rabbit hole that crosses social and legal boundaries. This presentation will identify two areas of current concern- accessing illegal images and radicalization and what we, as behavior analysts, can do to support families in cultivating different interests and developing healthy technology habits through education, collaboration and applied behavior analytic strategies.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Relate the social and legal implications of concerning online behavior with characteristics of neurodiversity which increase vulnerability.
  2. Synthesize information from the National Institute of Justice on reducing contact with the criminal justice system with behavior analytic practices
  3. Compile a list of strategies to implement in their clinical practice.

About the Presenter

Laurie Sperry
Dr. Laurie Sperry is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst- Doctoral and the Director of Autism Services And Programs in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. She has worked as a developer of the Neurodiverse Student Support Program at Stanford University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Prior to joining Stanford, she was an Assistant Clinical Faculty at Yale University, Department of Psychiatry. She consults with the Behavior Analytics Unit of the FBI on cases involving people with autism. In 2006 she was added to the Fulbright Scholarship’s Senior Specialist Roster for Autism. She moved to Australia in 2010 and worked at Griffith University in the Department of Arts, Education and Law. Her research focuses on people with ASD who come in contact with the criminal justice system to ensure their humane and just treatment. She has served as a Special Interest Group Chairwoman at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) providing mentoring and leadership in the field of criminality and ASD. She has provided training to secure forensic psychiatric facilities across the globe and presented at the International Conference for Offenders with Disabilities. She has published numerous articles and book chapters and was an expert panelist at the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law conference where she spoke on Risk Assessment, Management and ASD. She has completed ADOS evaluations in prisons, has testified as an expert witness in sentencing hearings, has written amicus curiae briefs and participated in cases that have been considered before state supreme courts.

Course information

  • Title: Promoting Internet Safety
  • Presenter: Laurie Sperry Ph.D.
  • CEUs: 2 Learning - Ethics
  • Duration: 1 hour and 40 minutes
  • Customer Rating: (89)
$39.00

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