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Friday, March 15, 2024

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. 



Thursday, March 7, 2024

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. 

You can request a scholarship here. 


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.

Thursday, February 15, 2024

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. 


Wednesday, February 14, 2024

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. 



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. 


Monday, February 12, 2024

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.


Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Monday, January 15, 2024

The Teacher's Guide to Organizing and Maintaining Your Classroom (virtual)

 The Teachers Guide to Organizing and Maintaining Your Classroom (virtual training) 

June 21st   8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Six OPI renewal units are available for this training. ASHA CEUs are not provided.

This dynamic presentation provides educators with many practical ideas and examples for creating an effective classroom for students with autism and/or other developmental disabilities. We begin with a description of functional activities, targeting various age groups, and guide you in designing an education environment using the elements of the Pyramid Approach to Education. We help you identify ways to increase student communication throughout the day and show you how common individual goals can be incorporated into various lessons and activities. We also share ideas for setting up your classroom, including organizing materials for activities, incorporating reinforcement systems, and streamlining data collection as well as providing tips for student and staff routines and schedules. You will leave this training with new confidence and a collection of strategies you can immediately implement to improve any educational environment.

Register for this virtual training here


Sunday, January 14, 2024

Refresh Your PECS: Back to School Edition (virtual)

June 20     8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Seven OPI renewal units and 0.65 ASHA CEUs are available for this training. 


This is a condensed Picture Exchange Communication System® (PECS)® training refresher for participants who have previously attended a PECS Level 1 Training. Attendees will review The Pyramid Approach to Education®, a functional approach to applied behavior analysis. The PECS Protocol will also be reviewed in-depth, including implementation of the 2-Person Prompting Procedure and the 4-Step Error Correction Procedure. The workshop involves demonstrations, lecture, video examples, and practice opportunities for many of the phases of the PECS protocol.


Register here for this virtual training. 


Building Functional and Creative Learning Systems: Kalispell June 10/11

June 10/11    8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Kalispell

Fourteen OPI renewal units and 1.3 ASHA CEUs are available for this training. 

This practical, interactive workshop provides a blueprint for building effective learning environments, resulting in direct positive outcomes for learners. Through lecture, video example, discussion, and activities, participants will understand the rationale for implementing each of the nine elements of the Pyramid Approach as well as how to apply the information in a myriad of settings. The “why” of learning and the “how” of teaching are described using the three dimensional shape of the pyramid, which symbolizes an integrated and interactive framework for teaching. This workshop will guide professionals, parents, caretakers, and teams in designing an effective program.


Register here. 


Friday, January 12, 2024

Language of Emotions (virtual)

 April 15     8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Seven OPI renewal units and 0.65 ASHA CEUs are available for this training. 

In this workshop, we will review traditional approaches to teaching children with autism to communicate about their emotions as well as respond to such language from other people. Participants will be asked to consider how they currently teach various lessons related to emotions and then to plan to incorporate Skinner’s analysis into the design of effective lessons. These lessons may involve very young children or teenagers and adults who continue to have difficulty with this topic. We also will look at a very important part of language that helps communicative partners better understand the perspective of someone who is attempting to communicate. We will review why this area is so difficult for those with autism and suggest teaching strategies that may lead to successful acquisition of these complex language skills.


You can register here.