Drs. Michael Giangreco and Stephen Broer, from the Center on Disability and Community Inclusion at the University of Vermont, developed a manual called Guidelines for Selecting Alternatives to Overreliance on Paraprofessionals which was published in 2003. It is a manual for school professionals to follow to conduct a self-assessment regarding their current practices related to the use of paraeducators, develop a list of priorities for change and an action plan, and evaluate the impact of the implemented changes.

There was a study conducted on the use of this tool within 26 schools across six states. The results indicate there was a positive impact on most of the schools with common improvements being “changes in special educator caseloads and paraprofessional utilization, extension of inclusive opportunities, and improvement in classroom collaboration and practices”. This seems like it would be a useful tool for schools who are attempting to effectively included students with disabilities in the general education classroom but are having limited success potentially due to overreliance on paraeducators.

Guidelines for Selecting Alternatives to Overreliance on Paraprofessionals Manual

Guidelines for Selecting Alternatives to Overreliance on Paraprofessionals Article

Teaching Tools are pre-programmed pages available on DynaVox Series 5 devices.  They contain a variety of learning and communication activities that can support participation in the classroom.  You might find these pages to be useful when teaching new concepts or supporting on-task behavior.

HINT:    The Teaching Tools folder can be found in the Page Navigator of the Maestro, V+ and Vmax+.

If your child has a DynaVox Series 5 device, make sure that you spend some time exploring the Teaching Tools pages.  If your child doesn’t have a device, but you are interested in exploring the DynaVox Series 5 Software, download the free Semesterware 90-day trail.

TIP 1: USE THE READING, WRITING AND SPELLING PAGES TO SUPPORT LITERACY INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING.

The Reading, Writing and Spelling pages offer many activities to support reading and writing practice and exploration.  Activities include:

• News from Home/News from School
• Spelling Pages
• Symbolate
• Phoneme Keyboard
• eBook Reader
• Writing Templates
• Word Families

TIP 2: USE VISUAL SUPPORTS TO SUPPORT STUDENTS WHO DEMONSTRATE OFF-TASK OR CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS.

• Schedules
• Positive Behavior Supports

TIP 3: EDUCATIONAL GAMES CAN SUPPORT THE CLASSROOM CURRICULUM AND PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH A WAY TO PRACTICE NEW CONCEPTS.

Concentration Game

• Math Reveal
• Calculator
• Skeletal System

To learn more about Teaching Tools and other classroom tips, please visit the AAC in the Classroom Learning Path available on the DynaVox website.

This toolkit is a set of resources for people to confront bullying of children with special needs from all angles – from talking to your children to knowing your rights to teaching tolerance in schools. Start by reading the Top Ten Facts to know about bullying and children with special needs, and then learn about the unique challenges children with special needs face when encountering bullying. 

Now you have the facts, but want to DO something to help create a bully free world? Getting started is as easy as writing a letter to your child’s teacher, or asking your Principal to post your school’s anti-bullying policy in public places around the school building. It could mean talking to your child about how he or she has experienced bullying, or reading about the roles of bullying and identifying your personal place in the cycle of bullying. (from the Bully Project website)

Go to their website to checkout all the anti-bullying resources for parents, educators and students.

This training offers an overview of the FRIEND Program, an inclusive social skills program for preschool-12^th grade students which provides increased awareness of autism spectrum disorders, and how to create learning opportunities for individuals with ASDs to engage appropriately with typical peers in the natural setting at school during lunch and recess. Participants will develop an understanding of ASD learning challenges that may impact social interactions with peers. A discussion of how to implement the lunch and playground program will be reviewed. Innovative materials will be shared to include the FRIEND Program manual, children’s book Wings of Epoh, DVDs, an educator activity guide, informational tips useful for peer sensitivity training to promote awareness of ASD and social differences, and appropriate strategies for facilitating social interactions for school age students.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to discuss the justification of a social skills program for students with ASD during lunch and recess.
• Participants will learn the step-by-step process to implement the FRIEND Program.

When:
Friday, June 15, 2012

Time:
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Where:
SARRC Vocational & Life Skills Academy
2225 N. 16th Street, Phx, AZ 85006

Cost:
$50 per attendee

Arizona Autism Coalition Parent Members: You are eligible for a 20% discount on all SARRC trainings using a discount code provided by the Coalition.  If you have a discount code, click the Discount? link above (to the left of the Get Tickets button) to enter your code and apply the discount.  For more information about the Coalition and this discount program, please visit their website at www.azautism.org or contact them via email at jessica@azautism.org.

Payment can be made online via credit or debit card or you can register online and choose “Other Payment Options” to pay with check, or purchase order.  If you select “Other Payment Options” you will be contacted to complete payment prior to the day of the event.
Contact & Registration:
Sheri Dollin at (480) 603-3284
or email training@autismcenter.org

Raymond G. Romanczyk, PhD, BCBA-D
SUNY Distinguished Service Professor
Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, SUNY Health Sciences Center, Syracuse

Laura B. Turner, MS
Doctoral Candidate, Department of Psychology
State University of New York at Binghamton

Significant changes will be made to diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorders with the release of DSM-V. This presentation will provide an update on DSM-V criteria and release as well as a comparison to current criteria. Each time there has been a version change to DSM, significant impact has been seen for consumers, service providers, and researchers. Preparation for DSM-IV is essential, and many basic practices will require significant change. The presentation will highlight some of these, including the increased importance of diagnostic/assessment strategy, co-morbid disorders, and treatment planning. Several illustrations concerning co-morbid disorders will be provided.

When:
Friday, June 8, 2012

Time:
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Where:
SARRC Main Campus
2225 N. 16th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85006

Cost:
$15 per person

Arizona Autism Coalition Parent Members: You are eligible for a 20% discount on all SARRC trainings using a discount code provided by the Coalition.  If you have a discount code, click the Discount? link above (to the left of the Get Tickets button) to enter your code and apply the discount.  For more information about the Coalition and this discount program, please visit their website at www.azautism.org or contact them via email at jessica@azautism.org.

Payment can be made online via credit or debit card or you can register online and choose “Other Payment Options” to pay with check, or purchase order.  If you select “Other Payment Options” you will be contacted to complete payment prior to the day of the event.

Contact & Registration:
Sheri Dollin (480) 603.3284
or email training@autismcenter.org

The six dimensions of special education are that it is (1) individually planned, (2) specialized, (3) intensive, (4) goal-directed, (5) uses research-based methods, and (6) is guided by student performance. If a student’s program meets all of these criteria it is most likely that the student is going to be making maximal progress. Dr. Heward asserts, however, that there are ten “misguided notions about teaching and learning that impede the systematic use of research-based instructional practices and hinder the effectiveness of special education”. He views these 10 notions as damaging to the practice of special education. The misguided notions he describes are:

• Structured curricula impede true learning
• Teaching discrete skills trivializes education and ignores the whole child
• Drill and practice limits students’ deep understanding and dulls their creativity
• Teachers do not need to (and/or cannot, should not) measure student performance
• Students must be internally motivated to really learn
• Building students’ self-esteem is a teacher’s primary goal
• Teaching students with disabilities requires unending patience
• Every child learns differently
• Eclecticism is good
• A good teacher is a creative teacher

Dr. Heward posits that these faulty notions are not only present in special education, they are equally present in general education which may negatively impact the efficacy of inclusive education because general education teachers may be even more prone to engaging in weak instructional practices based on these notions.

Date: Monday, June 25th, 2012 from 9:30AM—11:00AM

Location: 3901 Greenspring Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21211

Description: The presenter will lead this discussion and take your questions about getting a diagnosis, finding services, the education system and more! This is an introductory training for parents. This is a free training for parents and professionals.

Presented by: Cathy Groschan, LCSW-C, Clinical Social Worker.

Register by visiting: http://kennedykriegercard.eventbrite.com/ or by calling Stacey Duvall at (443) 923-7680

Assistive technology is defined on AccessIT as “technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. Assistive technology can include mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, as well as hardware, software, and peripherals that assist people with disabilities in accessing computers or other information technologies. For example, people with limited hand function may use a keyboard with large keys or a special mouse to operate a computer, people who are blind may use software that reads text on the screen in a computer-generated voice, people with low vision may use software that enlarges screen content, people who are deaf may use a TTY (text telephone), or people with speech impairments may use a device that speaks out loud as they enter text via a keyboard.”

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month and is dedicated to raising awareness about communication disorders and to promoting treatment that can improve the quality of life for those who experience problems with speaking, understanding, or hearing.  Visit the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for some great resources for you and your child.

Understanding Speech-Language Pathology Fact Sheet http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/BHSMParentsFactSheet.pdf

Typical Speech and Language Development

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/

Late Blooming or Language Problem?

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/LateBlooming.htm

Activity Book for Kids

http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/BHSM-Activity-Book.pdf

Just because someone is different doesn’t mean they don’t need and deserve to be accepted with open arms by members of their community. We all look, act, learn and behave differently but we should all be treated equally and be afforded the same opportunities. Just because a person with autism may be considered “low functioning” and teaching them to communicate may be difficult doesn’t mean they can’t learn to communicate or that they don’t have something important to say.

When I was in graduate school the most profound experience I had was when a woman came to speak to my class about parent training. Her PhD dissertation was on teaching parents the skills they need to support their children with special needs. The speaker was severely impacted by cerebral palsy and could not communicate through verbal means but when she was young she was taught to communicate via morse code eye blink. An interpreter would then relay her communication to whom ever she was speaking. This woman was and continues to be the inspiration for why I do what I do.

This experience opened my eyes to so many things, the most important of which was that you can never, ever assume anything and no matter how hard it is you should always try. To say it more positively, you should always presume competence. The only thing you should assume is that the person is capable of learning and communicating. If a person can’t do something, the assumption should always be that it’s because they haven’t been taught not because their incapable of learning.

In the month of May we’re going to be talking about inclusion. This is an important concept when talking about acceptance because true inclusion involves interacting with, communicating with, teaching, befriending and accepting each and every person not because they’re different but because they’re the same. We are all human. We are all on this planet to learn and grow and support each other. There is no rational reason to exclude individuals with differences or their families. They, just like each and every one of you, deserve to be included in the community, given the same opportunities and accepted fully without hesitation.

I look forward to a month full of wonderful conversation around this topic. In our forum you’ll find the topic “What does inclusion mean to you?” in which I’d love to hear your stories!