How It Feels to Be Me: Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder

***BEFORE YOU REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR PLEASE REVIEW IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION BELOW***

Embark on a journey into the world of autism through the eyes of Jon Davis, an information services assistant at the Spartanburg County Public Library in South Carolina. Jon is an autistic person living in a neurotypical world, and he is pleased to have the opportunity to guide you. In this webinar, you’ll explore the history of autism—including various misapplied theories about its origin—learn appropriate terminology, gain insight into the facets of diagnosis and the diagnostic process, and examine both common and lesser-known characteristics. The webinar will also address the harmful effects of misinformation, as well as some of the challenges and joys experienced by members of the autistic community. You’ll discover elements of autistic culture and explore unique touchstones, including the impact of autistic creators and artists on the wider world, to better understand the realities of being autistic in a predominantly neurotypical society.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Better understand autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including what it entails, how it is “gotten,” and how it can manifest in a myriad of ways;
• Identify misapplied theories about the origin of ASD and the harmful effects of misinformation about this neurotype; and
• Discover some of the ways that autistic people have navigated throughout the world, including masking and camouflaging, along with cultural impacts made by autistic creators and artists.

Who Should Attend

This webinar has information that needs to be seen by all members of a library staff, from those who face the public every day to those who work behind the scenes or in administration.

Panelists

Jon B. Davis (he/him) has worked in reference for the Spartanburg County (SC) Public Library system for eight years. He is married with two college-aged kids, and a grumpy cat. When he can, he writes a blog on Medium dedicated to trying to understand his place as an autistic adult in a neurotypical world. He is an avid reader, has an MFA from the University of Memphis, and hopes to retire to Atlantic Canada someday (if they’ll have him).

 

Important Registration Information

Log into or create your ALA eLearning account

An ALA eLearning account is required to register. Don’t have an account? Create one for free by going to the “Log in” menu located at the top right corner of your screen. No membership is required to create the account. If you encounter any issues registering for this webinar, then please email ce@ala.org for assistance.

Redeem your signup code to complete your registration

Once you’ve registered for this webinar, a signup code will be added to your ALA eLearning account and emailed to you. Find the signup code on your signup code page, then redeem it on your account’s dashboard to complete your enrollment in this live webinar.

• Need to purchase registration on behalf of a colleague?
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Review the ALA eLearning FAQ if you need more information.

Accommodations

This live webinar will be captioned in English (United States). Zoom desktop client or mobile app is required to access captions.

Attendees using screen readers are advised to turn off speech prior to joining the Zoom event because PLA webinars make extensive use of chat functionality. Attendees who find chat distracting may wish to disable it in the Zoom event, as PLA moderators will verbally highlight important topics raised in chat and chat transcripts will be provided post-webinar.

If you have a physical or communication need that may affect your participation in this webinar, please contact us at plawebinars@ala.org or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752) at least two weeks prior to the webinar. Without prior notification of need, we may not be able to provide appropriate accommodations for the live event.

Archived Recording

If you're unable to attend this live webinar, an archived recording will be available to all registrants typically within 1–3 business of the live event. Access to closed captions will be provided in the webinar recording.

Tech Requirements

This webinar will be presented using the Zoom platform. Please review Zoom technical requirements and support information, and test your connection.

Once you've joined the webinar, there are two ways to connect your audio: via computer (VoIP) or via telephone. No microphone is required. PLA works with its webinar platform provider to assure the highest quality audio is being delivered to attendees. However, variables over which PLA has no control—such as the speed of your Internet connection or traffic on your local network—can affect the end quality of the webinar audio delivered by your computer. Each webinar’s audio is also available by telephone via a toll number, so we recommend you have access to a long-distance enabled phone as a backup in case you experience audio issues with VoIP. If you do encounter any problems during the webinar, you will receive a link to its archived recording within a week of the live event and can review anything you missed.

Contact

This webinar is presented by the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

Questions about this webinar? Please contact us at plawebinars@ala.org or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752).