Videos

Meet Stephanie Rogers, a School-Based Social Worker for Intermediate Unit 1, to hear why she chose a career in special education and what keeps her motivated in the field.

Meet Sarah Ditzler, an Accessible Media Producer (AMP) for Lancaster-Lebanon IU13, to hear why she chose a career in special education and what keeps her motivated in the field. For more information on Pennsylvania's Attract-Prepare-Retain (APR) initiative, visit www.tinyurl.com/PennsylvaniaAPR.

Meet Christina Portelli, an Adapted Physical Education (APE) Teacher for the School District of Lancaster, to hear why she chose a career in special education and what keeps her motivated in the field. For more information on Pennsylvania's Attract-Prepare-Retain (APR) initiative, visit www.tinyurl.com/PennsylvaniaAPR.

Meet Catalina Tobon, an Occupational Therapy Practitioner (OTP) for the School District of Philadelphia, to hear why she chose a career in special education and what keeps her motivated in the field. For more information on Pennsylvania's Attract-Prepare-Retain (APR) initiative, visit www.tinyurl.com/PennsylvaniaAPR.

The Short Term Loan (STL) Program at PaTTAN provides local education agencies (LEAs) with devices to assess the assistive technology (AT) needs of students with disabilities. AT kit categories include: augmentative and alternative communication, blindness/visual impairment, computer access, deaf/hard of hearing/deafblind, switch access/environmental access, and technology for print/reading/writing support. In this episode, Beth Christopher, Greg Gerhart, and Mike Onofrey provide an overview of the Short Term Loan program and tips for LEAs. Mike Onofrey is an Assistive Technology Support Specialist at PaTTAN. Mike has 30+ years of experience supporting LEAs through the Short Term Loan (STL) program. Mike processes STL orders and prepares them for shipping. He also provides technical support for the equipment that is borrowed through PaTTAN’s lending library.

Intensive behavior analytic intervention for young children diagnosed with autism can produce large gains in social, cognitive, and language development. One critical area to address is repetitive behavior such as stereotypy. Applied research on evaluating and treating stereotypic behavior will be reviewed, focusing on effective interventions for building core adaptive living and social skills, in addition to procedures for treating stereotypic behavior directly. Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD) research for treating stereotypy has shown that many variations of this procedure can be effective even with individuals with limited vocal, verbal skills. Variations of the procedure and when they are most appropriate will be discussed, along with videos depicting the procedure. This presentation will also describe repetitive behavior associated with anxiety and how to treat it.

The purpose of the training is to present information on assessment for deaf and hard of hearing learners across the cognitive, academic, and social, emotional, and behavioral domains. During the session, we will discuss the importance of multiple measures of assessment and the use of assessment information to make instructional decisions. We will also discuss how to accurately report and interpret assessment results, including how to avoid common mistakes.

The assessment of school-age students following a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) requires not only knowledge of TBI, but understanding of assessment and management strategies that are multidimensional in nature. The complexity of this multidimensionality is underscored in our understanding of executive functions. In general, our executive functions provide most of the regulatory capabilities that permit us to organize and manage our day-to-day functioning. This professional development session will provide an overview of the numerous definitions of executive functions, with a particular eye toward its multidimensionality and ultimate manifestations in school-age students following a TBI. The neurological underpinnings of executive functions will be presented and the importance of the neurodevelopmental process in understanding TBI at specific developmental time points. Attention will be devoted to both specific assessment strategies for measuring executive capabilities and the available intervention practices for executive dysfunctions. For the advanced BrainSTEPS professional, the day will conclude with ample time for discussion and questions.

The assessment of school-age students following a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) requires not only knowledge of TBI, but understanding of assessment and management strategies that are multidimensional in nature. The complexity of this multidimensionality is underscored in our understanding of executive functions. In general, our executive functions provide most of the regulatory capabilities that permit us to organize and manage our day-to-day functioning. This professional development session will provide an overview of the numerous definitions of executive functions, with a particular eye toward its multidimensionality and ultimate manifestations in school-age students following a TBI. The neurological underpinnings of executive functions will be presented and the importance of the neurodevelopmental process in understanding TBI at specific developmental time points. Attention will be devoted to both specific assessment strategies for measuring executive capabilities and the available intervention practices for executive dysfunctions. For the advanced BrainSTEPS professional, the day will conclude with ample time for discussion and questions.

This segment provides an overview of assessment strategies for critical precursor skills necessary for introducing a formal tact of parts and features program as well assessment procedures for identifying existing skills a child may demonstrate related to tacting parts and features.