CIGNA’s Autism Education Series Continues with Fall and Winter Sessions

*Monthly telephone seminars for parents and care givers continue Sept. through Feb. 2012
*One-hour programs at 1 p.m. Eastern time feature expert guest presenters, live Q&A sessions
*Listen to any or all programs in the series, playback available
*U.S. and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.431.5314, enter passcode 1150266

BLOOMFIELD, Conn., - CIGNA’s (NYSE: CI) free monthly autism education series will continue in September with fall and winter sessions scheduled through February 2012.

The series, which started September 2010, helps people better understand the physical, mental, and emotional challenges in children who may display the symptoms of developmental disorders like autism and Asperger syndrome. These one-hour seminars are open to any parent or care giver who is interested in learning more about autism and autism spectrum disorders.

Registration isn’t required and people can choose to listen to the entire series or any individual program that interests them. Each session features an expert guest presenter who will speak for about 40 to 45 minutes, followed by a question and answer session. Playback of each session will be available for people who are unable to listen to the live sessions.

Each program in the series begins at 1 p.m. Eastern time so that it’s convenient for people in all time zones to listen and participate. To listen to a seminar in the U.S. and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.431.5314 and enter passcode 1150266 when prompted.

Schedule for first three sessions:

*Sept. 8: “Teaching Children How to Think (what does it mean)?” Guest presenter: Richard E. Laitinen, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Executive Director, Therapeutic Learning Consultants.
*Oct. 13: “Classroom Programming for Students with Autism.” Guest presenter: Danielle Liso, Ph.D., BCBA, Director, EQPT Parent Training Program.
*Nov. 10: “Elopement and Wandering in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.” Guest presenter: Paul Law, M.D., MPH, FAAP, Director, Dept. of Medical Informatics, Kennedy Krieger Institute.


Click for the complete schedule (http://apps.cignabehavioral.com/web/basicsite/consumer/educationAndResourceCenter/autism/autismAwarenessSchedule.pdf). Click for information about the series (http://apps.cignabehavioral.com/web/basicsite/consumer/educationAndResourceCenter/autism/autismAwareness.jsp), including playback information and seminar handouts.

CIGNA’s autism education series is intended to provide general information to the public. People who have specific questions and have CIGNA behavioral health care benefits should contact their health advocate.

About CIGNA

CIGNA (NYSE: CI) is a global health service and financial company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. CIGNA Corporation’s operating subsidiaries in the United States provide an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance. CIGNA maintains sales capability in 30 countries and jurisdictions and has approximately 66 million customer relationships throughout the world. All products and services are provided exclusively by such operating subsidiaries and not by CIGNA Corporation. Such operating subsidiaries include Life Insurance Company of North America, CIGNA Life Insurance Company of New York, and Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. To learn more about CIGNA, visit www.cigna.com.