Training Programs
We translate our research into practice through education and training.
The Social Attention and Communication Surveillance (SACS) tool
Our Principal Research Fellow, Associate Professor Josephine Barbaro, has been working on the early signs of autism in babies and toddlers for more than 18 years. The SACS method identifies a set of behaviours or 'early signs' that are characteristic of children with autism, from as young as 12 months old.
Originally implemented in Maternal and Child Health services in Victoria, the SACS method is now used across more than 11 countries.
SACS Training options:
SACS-R+PR training equips professionals working with children under 42 months of age with the necessary skills to effectively identify children with autism, discuss their findings with families as part of routine care and provide a streamlined referral pathway for families.
The videos in this online module were recorded during a recent face-to-face workshop. We have included additional resources to support your knowledge and practice. This module includes additional readings and articles that are located within each section. These are available for you to download and keep as a resource.
| Format | Self-paced online, available 24/7 |
Access Period | 12 months |
Cost | $599.00 (ex. GST) |
Annual fee* | $59.00 (ex. GST) |
*There will be a yearly fee for access to the Intellectual Property of the SACS including access to the online resources and listing as a SACS accredited trainee. The first payment is due one year after training has been completed. This cost can either be covered by the institution an individual is working at, or the individual themselves, if they choose to leave the institution and want to continue using the SACS. | |
MODULESModule 1: Neurodiversity | WHAT WILL I LEARN?
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SUITABLE FOR:
Psychologists, Early Childhood educators, Allied Health Professionals, Maternal and Child Health Nurses.
For larger groups that want to be trained in the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R) and SACS-Preschool Training (SACS-PR). This training course can be delivered over multiple days depending on the size of the group.
MODULES
Module 1: Neurodiversity
Module 2: Introduction
Module 3: Foundation
Module 4: Part 1: Social Attention and Communication Study (SACS)
Module 5: Part 2: Social Attention and Communication Study (SACS)
Module 6: Videos Examining the Signs of autism in Preschoolers
Module 7: Videos Showing Typically Developing Child on the SACS Items
Module 8: How to use the SACS Checklists
Module 9: Discussing MoSAIC with Parents and Caregivers
Module 10: Referral Pathways
SUITABLE FOR:
Government agencies, Clinics with multiple sites, Psychologists, Early Childhood educators, Allied Health Professionals.
Terms and conditions
This comprehensive training module developed for Victorian Maternal and Child Health Nurses contains:
- Narrated slides recorded at a recent face-to-face workshop
- Additional notes and resources on each of the topic areas
- Videos of children with and without autism
- Downloadable resource sheets, brochures and additional readings.
How to complete the module
Detailed information is provided in the training home page. Please read through the instructions.
Certificates of Completion
Certificates of completion will be sent via email after the completion of the training module.
To access the module
Your username and password have been sent to via email.
Unless you have changed it, your username is most often your your work or student email.
Support: sacs.training@latrobe.edu.au
For overseas participants only, OTARC offers a SACS-R+PR Master trainer program that enables approved individuals and institutions to provide training to their staff. Please contact us for an informal discussion about whether this program could be suitable for your international organisation.
If you are from Australia or New Zealand please see our SACS-R+PR online and Teams & Groups options.
Supporting a Neurodiverse Workforce
Specialised workplace training created to close the gap in existing mental health training, tools, and processes in the workplace, by being explicitly designed to support Autistic employees.
Designed in collaboration with Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, DXC, ANZ Banking Corporation and Untapped.
The ‘Supporting a Neurodiverse Workforce: A Mental Health and Wellbeing Online Training Course’ presents current, evidence-based information, and strategies about mental health and wellbeing for Autistic individuals.
A world first online training course designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of all employees including those with autism.
Content is available for executives, supervisors, mentors, co-workers AND employees with autism.
By completing this 11-module training course you will learn:
- The importance of supporting well-being in the workplace
- What Autism is, and how to create Autism friendly environments
- How to recognise mental ill health more broadly as well as for those with Autism
- Strategies to support the mental health of yourself, your colleagues, or your employees with Autism
This training is based on the evidence-based content developed for the "Supporting a Neurodiverse Workforce: A mental health and well-being resource and training package" project. It was developed with generous support from DXC Technology and ANZ Bank in partnership with OTARC.
ADOS-2 Training and supervision at La Trobe University
The Childhood Autism and Parenting Team (CAPTeam), in the Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, offer training on the ADOS-2. Dr Kristelle Hudry is among a small group of established local Senior Trainers on the ADOS and offers regular professional development courses for clinicians and researchers wanting to incorporate this assessment into their practice and projects. Kristelle has extensive clinical and research expertise in identifying signs of Autism in toddlers and young children, and in undertaking ADOS-informed diagnostic assessment across the lifespan. She also has considerable experience with ADOS use in research.
You can register for the wait list to receive updates and the opportunity to register for a course using the link below.
For general enquiries please contact us on ADOSTraining@latrobe.edu.au
Please note:
- We do not offer training on the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADI-R)
- Trainees do not need to bring their own ADOS-2 kit to the course.
The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – 2nd Edition (ADOS) is a standardised, semi-structured observational assessment of features relevant to the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (Autism) across the lifespan. The ADOS is considered among the gold-standard tools to support diagnostic decision-making and, through selection among five Modules, can be used with individuals from as young as age 12-months and through adulthood, and at all levels of ability. More details about the ADOS assessment are available from: Western Psychological Services, Pearson Clinical Australia and the Australian Council for Educational Research website.
Dr Kristelle Hudry has worked to build capacity for use of the ADOS in Australia, growing a team of ADOS trainers who work together to support efforts to raise the standard of diagnostic practice and research rigour in the local region.
The La Trobe training team works in collaboration with other trainers, and includes:
- Dr Kristelle Hudry, La Trobe University
- Dr Cherie Green, La Trobe University
- Dr Catherine Bent, La Trobe University
- Dr Megan Grant, Monash Health
- Dr Emma Baker. Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
ADOS-2 training options:
What our training provides
Standard ADOS-2 training covers administration of ADOS Modules 1-4 and foundational skills for scoring the assessment. You will learn the administration protocols and fine-tune your observational skills for scoring/coding. Sessions are typically conducted as a 4 day intensive in-person workshop, and include hands-on practice of administration (with volunteer children/adults).
Please note that Standard ADOS Training begins with Module 1, for children aged 31 months and older. Separate training is required for the ADOS Toddler Module (used with infants aged 12-30 months).
Who is it for: Professionals
Length: Four days in a mixed large- and small-group format of ~16 trainees with 2 trainers.
Cost: $2000 (Incl GST)
Before training: You should familiarise yourself with the ADOS kit, basic administration practices and scoring procedures, and complete a practice administration of an ADOS assessment using the Module which is most relevant to your research activities.
You will also be provided with two video-taped assessments to watch and try coding before attending the course.
After the course: A certificate of Standard ADOS Training attendance and participation will be issued upon completion of the course.
What our training provides:
ADOS for Research Training includes administration of the ADOS Standard Modules (1 - 4) and establishes foundational skills for scoring the assessment.
You will learn the administration protocols and fine-tune your observational skills for scoring/coding. Sessions include hands-on practice of administration (with volunteer children/adults). Your specific needs and projects are taken into account, and activities are tailored accordingly. Ample time is provided for discussion on procedural and design-related issues as well as how to report ADOS results in publications. Note: During this time of COVID-19 restrictions, we have moved all training to online delivery. In this format, we are unable to include live practice administration, but supplement this with additional video coding experience, as well as some administration homework.
Following the course you will be provided with ongoing support to achieve reliability (see below).
Who is it for: Researchers
Next training dates: To be confirmed. Please ensure you are registered for the waitlist.
Venue: Due to COVID-19 our next scheduled course will be delivered online as an interactive workshop.
Length: Five days in a mixed large- and small-group format of ~16 trainees with 2 trainers. For the first 4 days, Research trainees participate in Standard ADOS-2 training alongside Professional trainees. The fifth day is for Research trainees only, allowing specific focus on aspects of the ADOS-2 for research and as will apply to trainees’ individual projects.
Cost: $2500 (Incl GST)
Before training: You should familiarise yourself with the ADOS-2 kit, basic administration practices and scoring procedures, and complete a practice administration of an ADOS assessment using the Module which is most relevant to your research activities.
You will also be provided with video-taped assessments to watch and try coding before attending the course. You should also come prepared to discuss how you wish to use the ADOS in your research.
After the course: You will be required to submit video-taped assessment/s using the Module/s most relevant to your research activities, and will receive detailed feedback on administration and scoring. You will also be provided with video material to complete and submit coding. Meeting a good standard of administration quality and research-level scoring reliability is required before you will be passed to begin using the ADOS-2 for research. A certificate of meeting the requirements for ADOS use for Research will be issued upon successful completion of training and Research-Reliability standard being met.
What our training provides
The ADOS Toddler-Module can be used as a structured observational assessment of features relevant to ASD in infants and toddlers aged 12 to 30 months. Training in administration and scoring of the Toddler-Module is considered highly specialised and so can only be completed after Professionals or Researchers have completed and had experience implementing modules covered in Standard (or Research) ADOS Training (i.e., Modules 1-4).
Who is it for: Professionals and researchers who wish to conduct diagnostic assessments with infants and toddlers, and who meet the prerequisites (below).
Prerequisites: ADOS Toddler Module training has prerequisite knowledge and skills. Trainees must have already completed Standard ADOS Training (on either the ADOS-2 or previous ADOS-G) and demonstrated competency in the use and scoring of this assessment (in particular, Module 1 for children aged 31 months + and/or older individuals who are minimally verbal). Trainees should also have good knowledge of typical early child development and experience interacting with infants and toddlers. Trainees who have not attended Standard ADOS Training at La Trobe University will be asked to supply evidence of having completed such training elsewhere. For trainees intending to use ADOS Toddler Module for Research, Research-level reliability in administration and scoring must have already been obtained on other associated ADOS Modules (i.e., ADOS Modules 1 and/or 2).