We've been very delighted to have run 3 previous Red Door Autism Conferences. Our inaugural one was held in June 2006, and it attracted over 300 parents and professionals who were able to hear leading ABA experts, both national and international, make presentations on a variety of subjects.
Held in Trinity College Dublin, the conference provided 3 concurrent streams of presentations, each delivering presentations under the headings "The Early Years", "THe Middle Years" and "Teenagers and Beyond". Speakers included:
- Dr. Bobby Newman, New York, USA
- Dr. Peter Gerhardt, Washington USA
- Helen Bloomer, New York, USA
- Meredith Needleman, New York
- Steve Noone, Wales
- Duncan Fennemore, London
- Dr. Ian Gray, Dublin
- Olive Healy, Cork
- Claire McDowell, Coleraine
- Jennifer O'Connor, Dublin
- Brian McClean, Roscommon
- Ken Kerr, Kildare
Subject matters addressed included:
- Challenging Behaviour
- Verbal Behaviour
- Functional Analysis of Behaviour
- Transitioning into Primary School
- Precision Teaching
- Social Skills
- Transitioning towards Adolescence and Adulthood
- Sexuality
- Positive Behaviour Support
The following year, we were able to get most of these speakers back for our second conference, again in Trinity College in June 2007. The theme was "Education within an Applied Behaviour Analytic Framework". It was another successful 2-day event, attracting many of the existing ABA Tutors from all of the ABA schools around the country.
As well as many of the first year's speakers, the conference enjoyed these new speakers:
- Joanne Gerenser, New York, USA
- Sandy Toogood, Bangor, Wales
- Carl Hughes, Bangor, Wales
- Neil Kenny, Dublin
- Katherina Duffy, Mullingar
Our third conference took place in December 2008 in UCD, University College Dublin. You can link to the web-site that contained all the relevant information for that event.