• Short Share: Multi-Tiered System of Supports

    Posted by Michele Neumann on 1/17/2017

    Short Share:  Multi-Tiered System of Supports

     

    This week we’ll take a little break from our Transition IEP Compliance series to bring you a Short Share video from the DOE’s Office of Special Education focusing on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).  These comprehensive systems feature multiple components of classroom and school-wide learning and behavioral supports with a focus on academic, behavioral and social-emotional learning and development.

     

    Click on the link to view Short Share #5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TsffR9q2kk&feature=youtu.be

     

    And to learn more about merging academic and behavioral systems within a transition-focused approach that takes into consideration student engagement, get a copy of the book Universal Design for Transition: A Roadmap for Planning and Instruction, by Colleen Thoma, Christina Bartholomew, and LaRon Scott. Check your local library or find it on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Design-Transition-Planning-Instruction/dp/1557669104

     

     

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  • Transition IEP Compliance: Postsecondary Goals Updated Annually

    Posted by Michele Neumann on 1/13/2017

    Transition IEP Compliance: Postsecondary Goals Updated Annually

     

    Welcome back to Tuesday’s Tips, where we’re in the midst of a 9-week series, delving into each component of a Transition IEP.  The series, created by the Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center, assists Indiana’s school districts and transition teachers working to understand requirements and expectations, and it supports teachers and teams as they write quality, compliant Transition IEPs.

     

    Each week, we’re featuring one question from the Indiana Transition Requirements Checklist. We’ll take a look at that question and provide an explanation and example of what it means to meet compliance for that particular component.

     

    Please join us for Week 6, Measurable Annual Goals:https://connect.iu.edu/p6gvyz9pld2/

     

     

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  • Camp "Yes And..."

    Posted by Nikki Rankin on 12/9/2016 7:30:00 AM

    Camp Yes Logo Do you love going to improv clubs or watching improv on TV?  Do you love it when actors make-up their own lines in a movie or play?  Do you love to laugh?  Did you know that students with autism spectrum disorder can be taught improv as a way to develop social communication skills?  

    Camp “Yes, And…” was created for pre-teens and teens in middle school and high school who are on the autism spectrum or a similar disability to facilitate and support social communication skill building.  The camp is free for students and also provides a free professional learning opportunity for teachers, special educators, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, behavioral specialists, paraprofessionals, supervisors, and just about any other professional working with students K-12 in public, private, university, and community-based settings.  The camp is sponsored by the Center on Education and Lifelong Learning and the Indiana Resource Center for Autism at Indiana University.  This past summer week-long camps were held in Bloomington and Indianapolis.

    The camp was created and led by Dr. Jim Ansaldo and Lacy Alana, LCSW.  Jim is a Research Scholar at the Center on Education and Lifelong Learning, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Indiana University Bloomington.  He has 15 years experience facilitating school change and creating  professional development for teachers.  He also has over 25 years experience teaching and performing in improv comedy.  Lacy is the Special Needs Program Director at the Hideout Theatre in Austin, Texas where she is a an improv performer and instructor.  She has focused on working with youth on the autism spectrum by providing improv classes in connection with her therapy services.

    I had the amazing opportunity to attend Camp “Yes, And…” the last two summers, and I had a memorable learning experience both summers.  Last summer, camp was five weekdays Monday-Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm with an hour-long showcase for family and friends on Friday afternoon.  I attended the Indianapolis camp which was held at IUPUI in the University Library.  We had about 12 students and about 8 teachers and facilitators.  Each day of camp began with a ½ day teacher training in the morning, and the students arrived at 1:00 pm after our hour lunch break.  On the first day of camp, teachers were given a binder of over 160 pages that included training objectives, definitions of improv, possible student challenges and improv interventions, camp goals, curriculum including 12 modules with lots of games, exercises and activities, positive behavior supports, and resources.  The trainings for the teachers each morning were a time for us to learn the improv activities and games that would be taught to the students that afternoon.  At the end of the camp, each participant was given a certificate and earned a camp patch.  Teachers were also given a certificate showing 40 hours of professional development.

    Camp Yes Kids Even if you did not have improv experience, Jim and Lacy met you at whatever level of improv experience you had and led you through the learning experience.  Because I had no improv experience when I began, I was hesitant to jump right into the activities.  The facilitators and other teachers, however, made me feel comfortable and part of the “cast.” Then I was able to enjoy my experience and share the joy with the students.  Each summer we had a different group of students with different levels of abilities and willingness to participate.   It was amazing the transformation we saw as our students started coming out of their shells to communicate what they had learned through the improv games and activities.  Several times I had pains in my stomach muscles from laughing too hard.  I cannot wait to see what my third summer of Camp “Yes And…” may bring!

    Also, Jim Ansaldo has started 2-hour classes on Saturdays once a month in Bloomington or Indianapolis throughout the school year for teachers and students who have attended Camp “Yes And…” as a way to keep us current on the improv activities and games.  I have attended one class so far, and I plan to go to more.

    Melissa Wilkinson, SLP

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  • Transition IEP Compliance: Postsecondary Goals

    Posted by Michele Neumann on 12/7/2016

    Transition IEP Compliance: Postsecondary Goals

     

    Welcome back to Tuesday’s Tips, where we’re in the midst of a 9-week series, delving into each component of a Transition IEP.  The series, created by the Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center, assists Indiana’s school districts and transition teachers working to understand requirements and expectations, and it supports teachers and teams as they write quality, compliant Transition IEPs.

     

    Each week, we’re featuring one question from the Indiana Transition Requirements Checklist.We’ll take a look at that question and provide an explanation and example of what it means to meet compliance for that particular component.

     

    Please join us for Week 4, Postsecondary Goals: https://connect.iu.edu/p7sdxppr078/

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  • Learning with LiPS

    Posted by Nikki Rankin on 11/18/2016 7:30:00 AM

    LiPS

    During the first week of September, I had the opportunity to attend a training provided by Franklin Community Schools for The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech (LiPS). This was a four day training for special education instructors and assistants, teachers, and speech pathologists, where we learned about speech sounds, how they are made, how they feel in our mouth, and then how we can incorporate this knowledge into helping our kiddos blend, segment, read, and rhyme!

    Through this training, I learned that by using LiPS early on, we can not only target reading struggles, but we can teach strategies and methods in pre-readers to combat those later struggles with reading. With a caseload of preschool through 4, I knew that the LiPS program would be applicable for some of my students, but not all of them. I was mainly concerned about the fact that the LiPS program sounded great, but some of the card matching, letter identification, and sound matching require more knowledge than some of my preschool, kindergarten, and first graders might have. However, after introducing this program to two kindergarten twin boys with speech-only IEPs, I realized that not only was I teaching them all about their ‘speech sounds’ and how they are made and feel, but they were learning to read!

    I enjoyed taking a step back and learning how to think about sounds and speech from a ‘back to the basics’ standpoint, but I also enjoyed learning how to teach this to some of my younger students. The LiPS program uses some of the fun “lip pooper” and “tongue cooler” labels with sounds, which make it easier to teach and appealing to some students, but unlike some other phonemic awareness programs that only go as far as teaching students to make the sounds, LiPS then teaches students how to USE them. While I have had some exposure to phonemic awareness programs, I had not witnessed a program that could be carried over into a high school student’s curriculum for reading.

    The LiPS program is also based off of a ‘learn as you work’ approach, in that everything that is learned by the student through the program is first ‘discovered’ by the student. Instead of instructing and lecturing, professionals using the LiPS program are taught to allow students to discover what you are trying to teach them on their own. This concept alone taught me a lot about the learning process, and how we can allow students to be more incorporated into their own growth and learning. I learned about the discovery process as it relates to speech sounds, reading fluency, rhyming, and even error strategies.

    After the training, while I was mentally drained, I was professionally motivated to look at speech as it relates to reading through a new lens. As a speech and language professional, I highly recommend attending any LiPS training that may be in the area. While I may not have been as open to the program in the beginning, I learned way more than I anticipated, and my perspective on speech sounds and reading was definitely broadened. For more information on Lindamood Bell and the LiPS program, visit http://lindamoodbell.com/program/lindamood-phoneme-sequencing-program!

    BT Britani Turner, Speech-Language Pathologist

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  • Introducing the Transition IEP Compliance Series

    Posted by Michele Neumann on 11/8/2016

    Introducing the Transition IEP Compliance Series

     

    As we work around the state, we’ve noted that teachers are interested in writing both a compliant and quality Transition IEP.  To support this effort, the Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center is launching an 8-week series that will provide a description of each Transition IEP component.

     

    Each week we will feature one question from the Indiana Transition Requirements Checklist and provide an explanation and example of what is required to meet compliance. The series is designed to support teacher and district efforts in understanding the expectations for a Transition IEP.

     

    Please join us for week one: https://connect.iu.edu/p1njvfnzwz8/

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  • Working with Indiana VR- The Fact Sheet Series in English and Spanish

    Posted by Michele Neumann on 11/1/2016

    Working with Indiana VR—the Fact Sheet Series in English and Spanish

    Have questions about VR referral or eligibility? Need to explain the VR process to a student or family member?  The Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center has a few fact sheets for you.

    The Working with Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services series includes:


    Need the student info sheet in Spanish?  We’ve got that too:


    And don’t forget the Working with Indiana VR video! Find that on our home page, on YouTube, or click on the link here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS9Hvf7Fglo.  And, hot off the presses, we now have a new Spanish version of the video!: https://youtu.be/0H8pdsQJk3w 

    Quick tip:  If you’re looking for Spanish resources, go to the INSTRC Resource Search page and type “Spanish” into the search bar (don’t check any of the criteria boxes).  All the resources we currently have in Spanish should come up.

     

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  • The New Age Appropriate Assessment Matrix Tool Is Ready

    Posted by Michele Neumann on 10/4/2016

    The New INSTRC Website!

     

    Finally!  We know some of you have been waiting.  We certainly have been!  For the past several months we’ve been hard at work redesigning and rebuilding the Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center’s website.  Today it’s up and running!

     

    This shiny new INSTRC contains innovative resource collections for new teachers, administrators, and more; blink-of-an-eye responsive search capabilities; and easier navigation. Plus, your favorite features are still there—The Transition Assessment Matrix, the current collection of Tuesday’sTransition Tips, and archived trainings and materials.

     

    Ready, set, click!  https://instrc.indiana.edu

     

    We’re still tweaking (it’s a never ending process!), so we’ll be adding and updating things in the coming months. We’d love to hear what you think. Send your comments to:  cclc@indiana.edu

     

    And don’t forget to bookmark the site!

     

    It is also uploaded on the SSJCSS website!

     

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  • Sheltered Workshops and the Subminimum Wage

    Posted by Michele Neumann on 9/13/2016

    Sheltered Workshops and the Subminimum Wage

     

    Our Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services agency is governed by the national Rehabilitation Act and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014). Recently, the law provides provisions around prevocational transition services and subminimum wage for transition-age youth. The intent is to ensure that young adults are not transitioning from high school directly to “sheltered workshops” or other employment arrangements where they could be paid a subminimum wage without having had the opportunity for training or to explore supported employment in their communities.

     

    Teachers, parents, and vocational rehabilitation counselors need to be aware of Section 511 (b) (2) of the Rehabilitation Act. It states: 

     

    • School districts may not enter into arrangements with employers that hold a 14(c) certificate and would pay subminimum wage to individuals who are age 24 or younger. Sheltered workshops hold these certificates.
    • Youth who have completed secondary school but who are still younger than 24 years old, cannot start working for less than minimum wage until they have applied for Vocational Rehabilitation Services and have had the opportunity to receive pre-employment transition services.
    • If a young person is already working at subminimum wage, WIOA recommends he/she be referred to Vocational Rehabilitation Services to have the opportunity for pre-employment transition services.

     

    For more information visit: the Workforce Innovation Technical Assistance Center athttp://www.wintac.org

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  • New Information from SE DOE- Short Shares

    Posted by Michele Neumann on 8/23/2016

    A Message from the State Director and Mark Your Calendars: Regional Transition IEP Training

     

    Welcome back to another year of Tuesday’s Transition Tips for Teachers! We are excited to continue to provide information, resources, and supports to you via the Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center. We have many new things to share with you this year, as well as the opportunity to revisit some of our most widely used resources.  

     

    We’re going to start the year by announcing a message from our State Director of Special Education, Dr. Pam Wright, who will be distributing a series of Short Shares throughout the year. Click here for the first Short Share.https://youtu.be/jUZHX8c-Te0

     

    We also are sharing information about our annual Regional Transition IEP Training schedule. Please see the attached flier with dates, locations, and registration instructions. There is a new, shorter version of the IEP Training, available as an online webinar option, if you are not able to attend any of the other sessions in person. We hope to see many of you there or talk to you online!

     

    Don’t forget:  If you have teachers new to Transition, please forward this email to them so they can sign up to receive Tuesday’s Tips!

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