30. Let’s Re-examine the Tradition of and/or Traditional Morning Circle Time!

Speaker: Karen M. Kangas, OTR/L, ATP; Nora Connell, M.A., CCC-SLP

Session Handout:
*These speakers will be presenting virtually.
**This session is available for in person and virtual attendance.

Circle time is a well-known routine in classrooms for students with CCN. However, it has not truly been adapted to encourage student interaction and participation for these students. This session will re-examine our circle time routines. This session will provide a framework to identify methods of independent communication that can be used by students as well as strategies to facilitate natural communication

Credits: Act 48, ASHA

Audience: Special Education Teachers; Teachers who work with students who are blind or visually impaired; Teachers who work with students who are Deaf-Blind; Teachers/other professionals who work with students who have sustained traumatic brain injury; Speech therapists; Assistive Technology Specialists; Occupational Therapists and/or Physical Therapists; Paraprofessionals

Speakers' Bios:


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Karen Kangas is currently in private practice,within which she continues to treat both children and adults directly, provides consultation to local school teacher/therapy teams and their students, works with state-wide multi-year projects with students with complex bodies and their teams in the use of AT within the classroom, as well as provides education through clinical workshops. She is currently writing and developing a course study on Seating, Mobility, and Access, as well as completing a book on seating, access, and powered mobility. She has worked as an OT in pediatrics since 1973 in many and varied settings including the school system, early intervention programs, home health ,rehabilitation centers, and long-term care facilities. In 1985 she was invited to develop programs to support inclusion and increased independence through the use of seating and access with assistive technology through the PA Board of Education, Bureau of Special Education, PA’s Assistive Device Center. In 1990 she was invited to initiate an Assistive Technology Assessment Program at Pennsylvania State University’s Hershey Medical Center in Rehabilitation. She has been actively teaching since 1985 on Seating and Positioning; Sensory Processing and Sensory Integration as it relates to Seating for Function; Alternative Access and Powered Mobility; Assessment and Integration of Assistive Technology all over theUSA , as well as in Canada, Sweden, Israel, Ireland, Scotland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. She teaches a summer graduate course on Pediatric Seating at Misericordia University in PA.
Email: 
kmkangas@ptd.net

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Nora Connell
currently works for the Delaware County Intermediate Unit as a Professional Development Specialist.  She supports teams working with students with complex learning/communication needs.
Email: 
nconnell@dciu.org