NEWS

Follow the IIDC on Twitter!

QUICK SCAN

UPCOMING

TEACCH 5-Day Classroom Training Program

Research consistently indicates that individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) respond favorably to a structured environment. The TEACCH 5-day training workshop will provide participants with an understanding of how and why to implement structured teaching strategies, such as visual schedules, work systems and deliberately designed work materials. 

Training dates are June 17 - 21, 2013. All sessions will be held at the Edgewood Early Childhood Center, 8045 W. State Road 46, Ellettsville, IN 47429 (near Bloomington, IN). Attendance is required for all 5 days. The program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day, please make travel plans accordingly. Continental breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m.

Registration fee for this workshop is $1990.00. Payment may be made by credit card or purchase order only and the workshop is limited to 25 participants only. Certificates of Attendance for 37 instructional hours will be available at no charge and can be used for:

Professional Growth Points.

Indiana Professional Licensing Agency Continuing Education credits for occupational therapists and occupational therapist assistants licensing requirements.

Indiana Professional Licensing  Agency Category I Continuing Education credits for social workers, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, addictions counselors and clinical addictions counselors for licensing requirements.

Additionally, the workshop will be offered for 3 hours of Graduate Credit (registration and course information will be available on the first day). All questions about registrations should be directed to Donna Beasley (dbeasley@indiana.edu) or (812) 855-6508. Click to register. If you have questions about the workshop content, please contact Catherine Davies (daviesc@indiana.edu) at (812) 855-6508. TEACCH is presented by the Institute’s Indiana Resource Center for Autism in collaboration with with Forest Hills Special Education Cooperative.

ACROSS THE COURTYARD

Evaluation of Indiana’s First Steps Early Intervention Program

The Institute’s Early Childhood Center (ECC) recently completed its annual evaluation of Indiana’s early intervention program serving infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. The Center has worked with the state’s First Steps Early Intervention Program since 2000 to develop and implement a statewide evaluation system that measures the impact of services on children and families. The report provides an analysis of the progress made by over 6,000 children and families who exited First Steps in the past federal fiscal year (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012).

ECC works with local First Steps providers who collect and electronically transmit child assessment and family survey data to the Center each month. Center staff are responsible for aligning that data with data it receives from the state, and calculating the impact of services on three child outcomes and three family outcomes. The Center’s evaluation report will be included in First Steps’ annual report to the federal Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. For more information, contact Michael Conn-Powers at (812) 855-6508 or e-mail mipower@indiana.edu.

Grant from the Indiana Institute Helps Students with Disabilities Gain Skills at Indiana Colleges

Ten high school students with intellectual disabilities are working and studying at Vincennes University Jasper Campus (VUJC) this semester, thanks in part to a grant from Indiana University’s Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and its Center on Community Living and Careers. 

The Institute, a partner in the Indiana Postsecondary Education Coalition, creates programs on Indiana campuses that give students with intellectual disabilities a chance to participate in college life and obtain hands-on work experience before they begin applying for jobs in their communities.

The Advocacy, Independence and Mastery (AIM) Academy opened this fall for students with special needs who are 17-21 and who are typically in their final year at Dubois County high schools. The academy operates at VUJC through a partnership of the Dubois-Spencer-Perry Exceptional Children’s Cooperative, Southern Indiana Resource Solutions, VUJC, and the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community.

AIM Academy students, like 20-year-old Kaci Schwinghamer from Forest Park High School, divide their time between classroom learning and working various jobs on campus. Schwinghamer is now learning to vacuum floors and clean dining trays at the VUJC Bistro. Other students are inflating basketballs in the gym, shredding documents, or cleaning windows.

“Our goal is to get students into off-campus paid work,” said Mande Keusch, the cooperative’s Vocational Transition Director. Keusch, along with job coaches from Southern Indiana Resource Solutions, is now actively recruiting local businesses that could provide paid work experiences for students in the upcoming semester.

She’s also hoping Indiana school corporations will take an interest in the AIM Academy, not only to ultimately provide jobs to AIM students, but also to mentor students and help with transportation costs, possibly by providing a scholarship for AIM students.

Southern Indiana Resource Solutions program instructors Jennifer Matheis and Jesse Hubert are responsible for job coaching and teaching AIM students skills they will need to be successful employees, such as completing tasks in a timely manner, arriving on time, using a checking account, or just having conversations with friends and co-workers. The overall purpose of the instruction is to help students gain independence, new skills, and confidence as they encounter new people, situations, and environments.

This is the second Indiana university hoping to build a successful college/work experience program for students with disabilities. The VUJC program is based on a similar one at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), which works with students who are transitioning from the Indianapolis Public Schools and other Indianapolis area school systems. 

“Having that campus experience for eight months can really improve the outlook and possibilities for a student with disabilities,” said Jean Updike, Project Coordinator at IU’s Center on Community Living and Careers. Updike has been encouraging other Indiana universities to establish postsecondary programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Pointing to the national program ThinkCollege!, Updike notes that other states around the nation have very successful programs providing inclusion opportunities to students with disabilities and have found that the programs ultimately benefit not just the students themselves, but also faculty and other students on campus. Building upon that, the Indiana Postsecondary Education Coalition has its own ThinkCollege Indiana website to provide information and resources to students, families, and professionals. 

“Many of the Indianapolis students in the IUPUI program have wonderful success stories to tell,” said Updike. “Several students now have jobs. Some navigate the bus system and travel to the Indy library, their jobs, or to meet friends and attend community events. That’s a tremendous confidence boost for them. To watch the ‘before’ and ‘after’ lives that these students lead is just phenomenal. We’re excited that the students at VUJC will now have the chance to tell their own success stories.”  For more information, contact Jean Updike at jeupdike@indiana.edu.

ON CAMPUS

AAC-in-Action Presentation

The AAC-in-Action Collaborative Project, IU School of Education, invites you to attend a presentation by Chris Klein, one of the most proficient augmentative and alternative communication device users in our country. Klein’s presentation will take place on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Dogwood Room, Indiana Memorial Union.

Chris Klein is a voice to those that have none and helping hand to those with disabilities. Born with cerebral palsy, Klein uses augmentative communication to help him interact with the rest of the world. Klein is a graduate of Hope College and has studied at Western Theological Seminary.

He has realized that the AAC community has a real need for a mentor program which has led him to form an organization called BeCOME AAC. It stands for Building Connections with Others through Mentoring and Education about AAC. He is currently the President, United States Chapter of the International Society for AAC. If you are planning to attend this presentation, RSVP to Aimee Polk at aimpolk@indiana.edu.

LIBRARY CORNER

New Items

The following new materials may be borrowed by Indiana residents from the Center for Disability Information and Referral (CeDIR) at the Institute. To check out materials, call the library at 800-437-7924, send an e-mail at cedir@indiana.edu, or visit us at 2853 East Tenth Street in Bloomington.

Hughes, C., & Carter, E. W. (2012). The new transition handbook: Strategies high school teachers use that work! Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Lawrence, C. (2012). The RTI startup guide: Tools and templates for schoolwide implementation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Shelden, M. L. L., & Rush, D. D. (2012). The early intervention teaming handbook: The primary service provider approach. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub. Co.