Curriculum & Training

The ascendigo way curriculum & training

Ascendigo aims to educate and empower current and next generation professionals, paraprofessionals, community leaders, and parents in learning and applying our teaching methods via in-person and online trainings delivered through the Ascendigo Academy.

Our main goals are three-fold:

• Promote autism advocacy, awareness, and acceptance.
• Deliver comprehensive and engaging industry-recognized training solutions.
• Develop an industry model for internal staff training and professional and personal development.

What is the Ascendigo Way? 

For the last 18 years, Ascendigo has brought together industry-leading experts from multiple therapeutic disciplines, with innovative educators and clinicians to develop a unique approach for teaching people on the autism spectrum. This approach was created by and for people with autism, but we have found it to be equally effective with all types of learners, especially those that may identify or present as neurodivergent. We call this method the Ascendigo Way. The core pillars include:

1) Fostering trust-based relationships.

2) Harnessing intrinsic motivation.

3) Guiding participants toward exploration, curiosity, and self-discovery.

4) Cultivating independence, growth, and expanded capacity.

Applying the evidence-based methodologies of the Ascendigo Way allows us to create a learning environment where the environment itself does much of the teaching. The student is constantly engaged, motivated, and challenged. Similar to how video games interact with the reward circuits of the brain, when in this environment at Ascendigo the student is constantly reinforced to make good decisions and create positive outcomes. Good decisions are defined by the student learner, care provider, and family. The result of this intentional learning environment is a flow-state learning experience for our participants. The brain becomes more neuroplastic and we are able to see huge breakthroughs in multiple domains, simultaneously.

We have developed a full curriculum to teach our method to other therapist, professionals, parents, sports instructors, and others. Ascendigo’s curriculum includes both online e-learning courses, as well as in-person training retreats.

Elements of The Ascendigo Curriculum & Certification

• A comprehensive academic textbook & glossary
• Cutting edge PowerPoint presentations to support the academic textbook
• Online learning modules with quizzes & interactive-learning exercises
• An online video-training portal (video modeling for both instructors and participants)
• Three Tiers of Certification – including a pathway to become a certified trainer
• Immersive hands-on training experiences
• State-of-the-art Teaching Tools, Lesson Plans, and Data Collection Systems to set Instructors up for success in challenging and demanding environments
• On-Going developments to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern Autism Professionals