Videos

Assistive Technology (AT) is an essential component of success for transition-age students with complex needs. Students who have the opportunity to experience and use a variety of tools in school for such tasks as communication, organization, navigation, and recall are more likely to transition successfully to adult life. This session will provide participants with a fresh perspective on the role of AT in transition as well as provide guiding questions and suggestions for addressing AT during multiple points throughout IEP development.

This session will explore comprehensive emergent literacy instruction and assistive technology options for students with complex instructional needs. Emergent literacy is the foundation upon which conventional literacy skills develop, but the nature of complex disabilities creates barriers to participation in early literacy experiences. Students with significant disabilities stagnate in their literacy growth unless school teams systematically create access to comprehensive instruction. This session will demonstrate how school teams can analyze the nature of a student’s disabilities to create access (both with assistive technology and with changes to their instruction) to participation in shared reading, listening comprehension, alphabet instruction, phonological awareness, word study, and writing for all students.

This "hands-on" lab will be a continuation of the morning workshop titled Configuring and Teaching AT Tools for Complex Computer Access. Knowing how to integrate systems is critical to creating more efficient and independent learning environments for students with complex bodies. The most commonly available powered chairs, with computers and on-screen keyboards, will be available to allow participants to work with the remote programmers, joysticks, and alternative head array access for use with the computer, using "Bluetooth" access, as well as wireless and hard-wired access. The presenters will focus on mouse emulation, directed mouse access, as well as scanning in this session. In this "lab" experience, the presenters will focus on both configuring the equipment and teaching its use.

Assistive technology removes barriers and increases access for students with disabilities. Assistive technology includes a wide range of devices, as well as services to support the selection, acquisition, and use of AT devices. AT consultants play a crucial role in these services.

Educational interpreters are called upon to interpret physical education classes, team sports and classroom content that may include sporting events. The setting for these events is extremely varied, including the classroom, gymnasium, athletic fields, swimming pools and stadiums. To provide quality interpretations that meet the needs of the student athletes who are deaf or hard of hearing, knowing the sign vocabulary associated with that sport is not enough. Setting up the plays, defense, offense and strategies is vital to provide access to the information and to enable the student to participate and perform to the best of her ability and potential. Participants will discuss and practice not only the vocabulary associated with sports, but also the discourse structures that may be used by the PE teacher or coach.

This session covers general findings from the Behavioral Health survey LEAs completed in early 2024 and current options for supporting behavioral health needs through SBAP. Additionally, OMHSAS staff share current initiatives outside of SBAP that can also support LEA needs for behavioral health, including suicide prevention and awareness, crisis initiatives, and the use of Board-Certified Behavior Analysts to support students with autism spectrum disorder. This session additionally covers some of Pennsylvania’s plans for expansion of behavioral health services within SBAP. This session is recommended for Directors of Student Services and other administrators of behavioral health services.

Join us as we discuss evidence and ethics for SLPs.

This session will focus on nesting multilingual students (MLs) ecologies within the testing, assessment, and evaluation continuum to support teams in developing more equitable decision-making processes. Current assessment practices continue to privilege white and middle-class students while focusing on MLs perceived deficits. First, laying the foundation for reliable and valid practices for all learners will guide the discussion as we clarify the differences between evaluation, assessment, and testing. Then, we will examine the types of assessments used within an MTSS framework to make instructional decisions for MLs. Instructional questions will be posed to model aligning them to the types of assessments to answer the questions across the MTSS tiers. Finally, collaboration across various stakeholders in data-based decisions making will be highlighted.

While educators often speak about multilingual learners (MLs) as a group, the reality is MLs vary on many factors. Knowledge of student level factors help to align instructional practices to meet ML students' unique needs. To answer the question of whether academic challenges are rooted in second language acquisition differences or a true disability, all students must have access to high-quality core instruction matched to their specific backgrounds. We will examine the typologies of this heterogeneous group and discuss specific instructional factors to consider. Then we will review the MTSS tiers and how data collected across the tiers by a collaborative team guide appropriate referral decisions. Finally, special education programming for MLs will be highlighted.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is acknowledged as a best practice approach to providing educational and clinical services to children with autism spectrum disorders; however, ABA consists of individually tailoring interventions to meet the educational and clinical goals of each child and diagnosis is not particularly pertinent. This address will discuss systematic evaluations of clinical and teaching procedures conducted with persons with autism for building independent living skills and treating problem behavior.