Hidden Dangers - Keeping Children and Adults with Developmental Disabilities Safe, Garfield

A Free Workshop

About the Workshop

Think you know everything you need to know about safety, think again. This training is for parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, and anyone involved with the care and education of a child or adult with autism. Safety, emergency, and crisis intervention are topics that are sometimes uncomfortable to think about. Being prepared for such situations is the best way to minimize the negative effects. This workshop will help prepare for emergencies and lower risk for children and adults at all levels of functioning. These issues and more will be addressed:

How to address wandering
How to use new and existing technologies
How to reduce risk from sexual predators
Easy things you can do to save time and reduce risk in an emergency
Tips for making travel safer
How to access existing safety mechanisms and how to create new ones
911 data base alerts
Sharing de-escalation techniques
Addressing bullying
Applying safety techniques in the school setting
How to avoid problems on the school bus
Resources for ongoing support and assistance (free safety packet included)
Tips and techniques for real life interactions involving teens and young adults with developmental disabilities
Working proactively with schools and law enforcement agencies

This training provides concrete solutions for risks our children and adults are exposed to every day.

About the Presenter

Gary Weitzen is the Executive Director of POAC Autism Services, which is the largest provider of free autism training and education in the state of New Jersey. Mr. Weitzen, comes to POAC with 20 years experience in the risk management field. He is a Masters Level, safety and education expert with over fourteen years experience in special needs program provision and education. In addition to his duties at POAC, for the past thirteen years he has worked for an autism program teaching life skills to adults with autism. Mr. Weitzen currently serves on the New Jersey Governor’s Council for Biomedical Research. In the past he has served as New Jersey representative for Unlocking Autism, and Vice President of Princeton Autism Technology. He has appeared on virtually every major network and local news station as an expert on autism and has given presentations to tens of thousands of people across New Jersey. Mr. Weitzen has three children. His eldest son Christopher has autism. He has been a passionate advocate of children and adults with autism for well over a decade.