Posted December 20, 2013
By NWC News Desk
POWELL, Wyo. - Powell Valley Healthcare and the Northwest College Center for Training and Development will brighten the coming year by offering presentations on autism for professionals and for community members.
The first program, geared toward professionals who work with clients diagnosed on the autism spectrum, is scheduled Thursday, Jan. 2. A larger program will be presented the week of March 17 for parents, families and friends of autistic persons, educators and interested community members.
Both programs feature Beverly Morgan. When Morgan was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at age 42, she discovered there were few if any resources for adults on the autism spectrum. She and Lorraine Steppe, director of social services at Powell Valley Healthcare, will discuss Morgan’s story of resilience and advocacy in the Jan. 2 program and also share insights on working more effectively with autistic individuals.
The three-hour presentation begins at 6 p.m. in the Sun Room at Powell Valley Healthcare. The $10 admission cost will include dinner to better accommodate the busy schedules of working professionals.
Through personal testimony and examples, Morgan will offer an understanding of autism spectrum disorders and specific traits. The information she and Steppe provide is designed to help professionals discover individual “blueprints” and pathways to building connections and specific treatment plans for individuals on the autism spectrum.
After her diagnosis, Morgan discovered that in this country most, if not all, services for individuals with autism are dedicated to children. Because of her age, she had to travel outside the United States to even receive a diagnosis. She’ll recount the challenges she and those around her face in a world not set up to accommodate adults on the autism spectrum.
She’ll also share the upside of navigating the world as an individual with autism and the distinct advantages it has given her in finding a career working with animals.
As an animal solutions consultant specializing in “impossible” canine behavior cases, Morgan is the subject of a TCT West award-winning documentary called “Bridging the Gap: The Beverly Morgan Story.”
In the movie, Morgan explores her insight into the animal world as a high-functioning autistic person while she illuminates the crisis in American animal shelter systems. The video can be viewed online.
Three credit hours of National Association of Social Workers Continuing Education Units (CEU) can be earned by attending the program. Total cost for the CEUs is $45.
For more information or to register for the Jan. 2 “Working with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Beverly Morgan’s Story of Resilience and Advocacy,” email or call Lorraine Steppe at 307-754-1274.
Contact Steppe as well to reserve space at or request more information about Morgan’s March program.
