 | Jade Powers comes the Ability Society with a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master of Arts with a focus on Creative Arts Therapies. Jade’s main area of specialization has been to work with young children with Autism. Over the last six years, Jade has worked in various roles, starting as a PA and moving up to supervisory roles with agencies who focused on working with preschool aged children with autism in Toronto, Montreal and with a young child in Bermuda. Training for Jade began with the principles of ABA, particularly the Lovaas’ approach for working with preschool aged children with autism, with a steady progression into alternative approaches and other means of developing a child’s skill level including Carbone’s Verbal Behaviour and the use of art as an approach to treatment. Currently, trained as an Art Therapist, Jade has always considered herself to be a Behaviourist, where she believes that developing communication skills, be it through verbal speech or an augmentative communication system is often the avenue for improving a child’s behaviour. For her Master’s thesis, Jade worked with a group of 12 year old boys with autism, using art as the medium for communication for non-verbal children, with exceptional results. Jade works developmentally to build on the skills that a child currently possesses, focusing or using the interests of that a child, as a way to encourage interaction and to further skill development. The mandate of the Early Birds Program to use a Play Therapy approach works well with Jade’s training and ideologies of working with children with autism.
Jade enjoys and has a lot of experience in working with families over the years. The child is always at the center and the panicle of her treatment plan, but she is always aware of the needs of the family and the support that the family requires. Her counseling background and experience helps her to be a strong advocate and support for parents of children with disabilities. |
