MAY 3 GREAT FALLS TRAINING WILL BE AT THE HAMPTON INN

Great Falls:  May 3   8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Missoula:   June 28   8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

What is “best practice” for use of AAC with a student? Attendees will walk away from this presentation with renewed or new knowledge to confidently help individuals who rely on AAC. This presentation will provide the attendees with the “ins and outs” of the iOS app, “Proloquo2Go” from www.assistiveware.com. 

Attendees will learn to navigate the app and discover new features. They will practice programming the app in a way that is salient to the user and support persons. This presentation offers a review case studies and a chance to talk about your specific student’s needs. Julie will share her teaching strategies with you to create interactions with AAC/Proloquo2Go are enjoyable for your student, the family, you, and your staff. 

Seven OPI renewal units are available for this training. 

You can register here. 

Meet your Trainer: Julie Doerner

Julie is a nationally certified and state licensed Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). Julie currently works for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Tribal Health Services of the Flathead Reservation. She serves all ages of patients across the Reservation, but works primarily with Native American children attending Headstart preschool centers. Julie has worked in the public schools, private practice, in the rehab setting, and most recently worked at the University of Montana. At UM, Julie worked for the state assistive technology (AT) program, MonTECH, and the School of Speech, Language, Hearing, and Occupational Sciences. Her work focused on Augmentative Alternative Communication. Julie has been working with the Proloquo2Go app since 2012. When she isn’t working, Julie is riding her horses, training her mini-donkeys, and traveling. 

April is World Autism Awareness Month. Check out this collection of views from Autistic and Neurotypical SLPs, Clients, and Advocates from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/2023-0420-world-autism-month-slp/full/

There is a NEW Statewide Coordinator for the OPI Montana Autism Education Project!

Howdy, 

I am thrilled to announce that Katie Mattingley (bio below) will be taking over the Montana Autism Education Project. I've known Katie since ~2010, and she has been one of our Autism/Behavior Consultants both before and after she came to work at the OPI as a School Improvement Specialist. 

Katie will do an awesome job as the Coordinator, and her experience, knowledge and perspective as an SLP will be a good thing for the MAEP and it's continuation. 

Katie will be your sole point of contact for questions, etc. related to the Montana Autism Education Project starting on Monday, March 25th, as my email address will be disabled when I leave shortly thereafter. 

Thank you for all the things that you and your students have taught me, 

Doug 

Katie is a School Improvement Specialist and Autism Specialist for the Special Education Unit of the Montana Office of Public Instruction.  Katie earned her Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology from Idaho State University in 2007 and worked as a school-based therapist for 10 years prior to moving into private practice and consulting. Her clinical work primarily has focused on coaching families and individuals experiencing difficulties related to autism spectrum disorders, Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder, and ADHD.   Through the Montana Autism Education Project and Special Education Unit, Katie continues to support school teams in best practices for behavior management, functional and social communication, and in utilizing data to drive intervention for students receiving special education services. 

OSEP has released a new OSEP Fast Facts: Children Identified with Autism

OSEP has released a new OSEP Fast Facts:  Children Identified with Autism [sites.ed.gov], which takes a updated look at our data on children whose primary disability is autism.  We revised and updated our very first (and one of our most popular) OSEP Fast Facts [sites.ed.gov].  

Highlights from 2024 OSEP Fast Fact: Children Identified with Autism [sites.ed.gov]

• In SY 2022-23, the percentage of students with disabilities identified with autism is 12.81%.  States report a range from 5.76% to 17.28% of students with disabilities identified with autism.
• In SY 2021-22, Students with disabilities identified with autism were less likely to be subject to a disciplinary removal than all students with disabilities.  
• In SY 2022-23, States/entities and LEAs were more like to identify males with autism than females when compared to all students with disabilities.
• In SY 2021-22, students identified with autism, ages 14-21, exiting school were less likely to drop out and more likely to receive a certificate than all students with disabilities.  
• In SY 2022-23, States/entities and LEAs are more likely to identify Asian students with autism when compared to all students with disabilities.
• In SY 2022-23, students identified with autism were less likely to be served inside the regular class 80% or more of the day than all students with disabilities. 

Assume That I Can So Maybe I Will

 This is the underlying philosophy of special education services - giving students the skills to have fun, successful and independent adult lives. 

Watch the video here. 

MSHA Convention Scholarships Available from the OPI Montana Autism Education Project

 The Montana Speech Language and Hearing Association will be having their annual convention in Billings on April 19th. The OPI Montana Autism Education Project has a limited number of registration scholarships available for the speaker below. 

These scholarships are for registration only and do not include travel costs. We will notify you if you have a scholarship on or before March 22nd. 

SCHOLARSHIP REQUESTS FOR THIS CONFERENCE HAVE CLOSED.

Katja Piscitelli will be presenting on Gestalt Language Processing and Neurodiversity Affirming Practices. 

Learning Objectives: 1. Identify the differences between analytic and gestalt language processing

2. Identify the signs that a student is a gestalt language processor

3. Describe the stages of natural language acquisition (NLA)

4. Identify strategies to move students through the NLA stages towards

self-generated, novel language

5. Perform language sample scoring for gestalt language processors

6. Write goals to support gestalt language processing development

7. Demonstrate understanding of supporting gestalt processors who use AAC

devices.

8. Demonstrate understanding of the neurodiversity movement and what it

means to be a neurodiversity affirming provider.

Autism or Sensory Loss?: Assessment and Intervention Considerations (Virtual training series from the Idaho Training Clearinghouse)

 SERIES DESCRIPTION: Have you ever wondered if your child or a student in your class or caseload has autism in addition to vision loss or deafblindness? Have other service providers or medical professionals suggested that an autism diagnosis should be pursued? You're not alone with those questions. In this series we'll explore the similar characteristics in both profiles through the lens of understanding how sensory losses could explain these “autistic-like” characteristics and discuss which evidence-based practices for autism align with established interventions for learners with vision loss or deafblindness. 

You can find more information here. 

AAC & Proloquo2Go: How to Design a Better Implementation!

Great Falls:  May 3   8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Missoula:   June 28   8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

What is “best practice” for use of AAC with a student? Attendees will walk away from this presentation with renewed or new knowledge to confidently help individuals who rely on AAC. This presentation will provide the attendees with the “ins and outs” of the iOS app, “Proloquo2Go” from www.assistiveware.com. 

Attendees will learn to navigate the app and discover new features. They will practice programming the app in a way that is salient to the user and support persons. This presentation offers a review case studies and a chance to talk about your specific student’s needs. Julie will share her teaching strategies with you to create interactions with AAC/Proloquo2Go are enjoyable for your student, the family, you, and your staff. 

Seven OPI renewal units are available for this training. 

You can register here. 

Meet your Trainer: Julie Doerner

Julie is a nationally certified and state licensed Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). Julie currently works for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Tribal Health Services of the Flathead Reservation. She serves all ages of patients across the Reservation, but works primarily with Native American children attending Headstart preschool centers. Julie has worked in the public schools, private practice, in the rehab setting, and most recently worked at the University of Montana. At UM, Julie worked for the state assistive technology (AT) program, MonTECH, and the School of Speech, Language, Hearing, and Occupational Sciences. Her work focused on Augmentative Alternative Communication. Julie has been working with the Proloquo2Go app since 2012. When she isn’t working, Julie is riding her horses, training her mini-donkeys, and traveling. 

Six NEW Trainings!!! Repeated 4x each from March to June!!

The 90 minute virtual trainings below will provided by Julie Doerner, SLP (biography below the training descriptions.) 

Two OPI renewal units will be available for each virtual training. 

How to Stop the Escape 

Do you have a student using an iPad/tablet who is constantly escaping your planned AAC activities? Regain control with these strategies! This training will show both technical and non-technical ways to lock the student’s device into AAC communication mode and stay there.

 See the training dates and register here. 

The Story of Clever Hans 

How do you know that your student is using the iPad in a way that is meaningful? This training is about how we, as professionals, must prove to ourselves that the student is learning. How convinced are you that your therapy is working? 

See the training dates and register here.  

Spontaneous Usage and Clinician Patience

“To be successful, any new communication system must work better than the student’s current communication methods.” This training will address how to get a student to use their device spontaneously, without direct cueing or prompting from staff. This session will also include how to train staff to increase the student’s independent use of a communication system. 

See the training dates and register here. 

 

Structured Opportunities

How do you create opportunities that will require the student to use their AAC device for communication? This training will address how to use daily schedules, activities and IEP goals to identify opportunities for communication and collect data on usage. 

See the training dates and register here. 

AAC and Culture

In a world filled with so many overlapping cultures, how do we parse out AAC culture? What are the most consistent considerations? In this session, we will discuss those considerations and learn how to adhere to them in the midst of the diversity of user’s life. 

See the training dates and register here. 

AAC Evaluation Considerations

What skills do we assess during an “AAC Evaluation?” And what are the best methods to do so? AAC evaluations can be a daunting task. In this session, you will learn or review AAC evaluation protocols and additional strategies. We will also talk about how discuss evaluation results so that team members can feel compelled to get the student’s program started.

 See the training dates and register here. 

Julie Doerner:                                                                         

Julie is a nationally certified and state licensed Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). Julie currently works for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Tribal Health Services of the Flathead Reservation. She serves all ages of patients across the Reservation, but works primarily with Native American children attending Head Start preschool centers. Julie has worked in the public schools, private practice, in the rehab setting, and most recently worked at the University of Montana. At UM, Julie worked for the state assistive technology (AT) program, MonTECH, and the School of Speech, Language, Hearing, and Occupational Sciences. Her work focused on Augmentative Alternative Communication. Julie has been working with the Proloquo2Go app since 2012. When she isn’t working, Julie is riding her horses, training her mini-donkeys, and traveling.

MYTHS AND FACTS SURROUNDING ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICES AND SERVICES

 

January 2024, from the Department of Education

You can read it here.