Videos

This video presentation by Dr. Deborah Reed is part of a series celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publication of Hollis Scarborough’s Reading Rope. This ten month series begins with an overview of the reading rope and follows each month with a focus on one strand of the reading rope from an esteemed literacy researcher. The intent is to discuss current reading research and transfer research-to -practice for each strand. Dr. Reed focuses on the literacy knowledge strand of the reading rope in this presentation.

This video presentation by Dr. Kate Cain is part of a series celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publication of Hollis Scarborough’s Reading Rope. This ten month series begins with an overview of the reading rope and follows each month with a focus on one strand of the reading rope from an esteemed literacy researcher. The intent is to discuss current reading research and transfer research-to -practice for each strand. Dr. Cain focuses on the verbal reasoning strand of the reading rope in this presentation.

This video presentation by Dr. Susan Neuman is part of a series celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publication of Hollis Scarborough’s Reading Rope. This ten month series begins with an overview of the reading rope and follows each month with a focus on one strand of the reading rope from an esteemed literacy researcher. The intent is to discuss current reading research and transfer research-to -practice for each strand. Dr. Neuman focuses on the vocabulary strand of the reading rope in this presentation.

School days are jam-packed with opportunities for students with communication needs to interact with their classmates. As SLPs, these interactions fall into our domain and are the ideal situation for the carryover of our speech and language targets. Let's stop there. When and how can we possibly add this to our insurmountable to-do list? Paraeducators can help! They receive the least amount of training and are typically paired with the most challenging students. By investing in paraeducators and their knowledge and skills for working with the students we serve, we can impact greater change throughout the school day. This session will review the benefits of positive peer relationships for students with communication needs, highlight physical and social environmental barriers to consider in the school setting, and guide SLPs towards feasible possibilities about how to incorporate training for paraeducators. We all know of a paraeducator who is a hidden gem in our school. We also know of paraeducators who have so much potential but lack the training, skills, or exposure of working with students with communication needs. By putting a little thought and energy into the training of paraeducators, we can impact big change throughout the day for our students with communication needs as they interact with peers.

In effort to help school districts provide the appropriate level of FAPE for students, special educators and related service providers must be savvy in their approach to determine student need. This session will review the two prong approach to eligibility of special education services under IDEA. There will be an emphasis on considerations when giving assessments in the virtual setting, when using a barrier such as a plexiglass “wall”, when wearing different types of face coverings, and when doing observations in classrooms. The session will also discuss the need (or lack of) for formal assessment as a component of the evaluation and highlight other parts of the battery needed to ensure a comprehensive evaluation takes place. The session concludes with a look at how related service providers can use the multi-tiered system of support as a tool to provide intervention, collect data, and determine need.

This session will extend topics introduced in Session 1 by providing case examples of how to use curriculum-based writing projects to develop language and literacy skills for all students. The emphasis will be placed on how to address problems across language levels for students with special needs, with examples of how to develop language skills and enhance lives.

We often think of our Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) in isolation. SLPs offer far more than articulation and can drastically help improve the ‘instructional diet’ we offer our students. Pennsylvania’s State Lead in Speech and Language, Elizabeth Christopher, shares how to collaborate with your SLP for increased student learning

Module 1 provides an overview of the series and materials. POWER:AAC is designed to build the capacity of those who serve students with complex communication needs who require the use of of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. The materials are appropriate for self-directed or professional learning community use.

Module 2 of the POWER:AAC series addresses common classroom practices with students who may have very low or no speech, who may need or already use AAC systems. A variety of effective classroom practices are introduced, including the use of flexible, generative, potentially powerful words known which are referred to as "core" vocabulary or "core words". As a means of identifying your current educational practices and adopting POWER:AAC classroom practices, you will be asked to complete a self-assessment profile.

Module 3 of the POWER:AAC series reviews the various multi-modal AAC options to consider for students who need/use AAC, from no-tech, through low-tech, to high tech. A guide for making one such option- a simple manual communication board – is introduced.