ONLINE: Integral

press release: Wisconsin’s only adult autism conference, INTEGRAL, will be held Saturday, October 24. This is the second year of the conference, hosted by the Autism Society of South Central Wisconsin (ASC).  It will be held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual format opened the doors for the conference to include state, national and international experts as part of the planned “panel-table” discussions. 

According to Scott Allen, co-founder and coordinator of the conference, “INTEGRAL (Interactive Network, Talks, & Education for Growing Autism Legitimacy) is an autism conference like no other. It puts adults on the autism spectrum front and center, not as a subject for others to discuss, but for them to exchange perspectives with expert professionals and parents so that everyone can learn from each other.”

This year, due to the enormous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on everything from employment to online etiquette, the focus will be the effects of this pandemic on the adult autism community in Wisconsin. The conference will feature a keynote by autistic attorney and elected school board member Nicki Vander Meulen of Madison, Wisconsin, followed by nine breakout sessions with “panel-table” discussions – a combination that features a panel of experts in an open-ended, conversational format with participants, like a roundtable.

All stakeholders of the autism community are invited to attend – adults on the spectrum, parents, support workers, researchers, clinicians, therapists, educators, social workers, disability advocates, law enforcement, and business leaders, among others.

Scott said, “The biggest goal of INTEGRAL is to get lots of perspectives sharing ideas, educating each other, and forging a stronger community through direct interaction.”

Complete details can be found at https://integralautism.org/