Handouts

The session provides updates on national trends for individuals who work with persons with TBI, best practices for providing information to families and professionals, current thinking about TBI as a chronic condition, concussion, cognitive, and social communication aspects, and suggestions for providing support in the classroom and community will be discussed. This session will be discussion based with audience participation expected. Participants are encouraged to share information about clients on their caseload, to actively question, and provide input throughout the session.

Presenter: Roberta DePompei, Ph.D.

This session will provide an in-depth review of several key apps to support students who are blind and visually impaired. Participants will be guided through key features of each app to then apply that knowledge for instructional planning with students. A functional hands-on approach will be facilitated.

Presenter: Multiple

In this session, we’ll be discussing the use of eye-gaze with students who have visual impairment, as well as other challenges. Additionally, this presentation will focus on techniques to enhance communication skills, leisure skills, assessments, and social interaction skills in Early Childhood and Elementary settings for students with diverse needs, including students who are blind/visually impaired and students who are living with multiple challenges. More specific topics featured in the presentation include proper seating and positioning, as a means to allow for consistent working distance and ease of access for students using adaptive and assistive devices; best practices for the use of portable devices, including laptops and tablets, to allow for portable customization of the learning environment; the role portability plays in creating an environment of sharing between students by using multi-profile configurations and mounting solutions; and communication devices available. Finally, the technology-based teaching methods to be covered in the presentation will focus on communication, leisure and play skills, as well as involving students with multiple challenges in more advanced communication opportunities, such as turn-taking and cause-effect activities.

Presenter: Multiple

Join us to gain insight into the statewide parent network. Meet with parents and professionals from the Commonwealth and discuss current strategies for improving access to the general education curriculum for all students.

Presenter: Multiple

Educators are often limited in their access to different assistive technologies and commercially produced curriculum. We can advocate for new technologies and curriculum, but we also need to maximize the value of what is already available or even mandated in our classrooms. This session will help educators evaluate the features of the products that are currently in your teaching toolbox to ensure we have the tools we need to provide comprehensive literacy instruction to students with complex needs and intellectual disabilities. Just as important, we will evaluate the weaknesses of the supports we already have access to, so we can strategically plan how to augment our toolbox to provide comprehensive literacy instruction.

Presenter: Erin Sheldon

For students that are hard of hearing or deaf, a real-time transcription system can be a crucial part of their access to instruction. Presenters will cover several real-time transcription approaches and describe the benefits and limitations of each method. As a result of attending this session, you will learn about the various real-time transcription approaches that are available today and those that are coming in the near future; which systems to consider for use in differing situations; the cost of implementing and using these various approaches; and recommended best practices for deployment in your setting. You will also receive information on how you can sign up for a trial of some of the various systems to determine suitability for your specific situation. Please bring a smartphone or laptop to the session to view a real-time transcription of the presentation directly on your own device.

Presenter: Robert Palmquist, and Debora Cunningham

Being an itinerant teacher is like being a race car driver. Factors such as use of time, speed of progress, amount and type of collaboration, and number of participants in the race all affect the teacher’s ability to be successful. This session will help itinerant teachers fine tune their skills and get better gas mileage. Attendees will follow a sequential plan based on the school calendar. Ideas presented will be applicable to all school ages, intensity of service, and types of students. Let’s get on track with the best car ever.

Presenter: Lynne H. Price

A 2009 survey stated that only 24% of deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing adults advocate for needs related to hearing. In addition to language, literacy, and vocabulary, children need to learn advocacy skills to fully access information and communicate in a global setting. Steps to Success presents a scope and sequence of skills, instructional strategies, activities, and assessments to enable a student to be an effective listener, a successful communicator, a proficient reader, and a knowledgeable consumer of goods and services related to hearing needs.

Presenter: Lynne H Price

PA’s Alternate Eligible Content is the cornerstone of standards-aligned content, instruction, and assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities. This session will provide participants an opportunity to examine content and practices that lead to meaningful, challenging, yet attainable targets for lifelong learning and success for students eligible for the PASA. Participants will explore and develop content targets aligned to alternate eligible content, review essentialized examples, and learn how to apply them to meaningful instruction. Changes with the 2018 PASA will be shared and discussed.

Presenter: Lynda Lupp

The rate of recovery and the range of neurological, behavioral, social, and academic consequences following a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) varies significantly from child to child. As a result, assessing the educational needs of children who return to the educational setting with a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be challenging. Understanding the dynamics of recovery and applying a systematic approach to assessing the educational needs of children returning to school following a moderate or severe TBI helps multidisciplinary teams develop effective school-based interventions. The TBI-SNNAP is a systematic, solution-oriented, problem-solving approach to the assessment of children who have sustained a moderate or severe TBI. This session will present information on recovery following moderate to severe TBI, common functional impairments that can adversely affect educational performance, domains for evaluation, and the TBI-SNNAP model.

Presenter: Paul B Jantz