2019 PECS Level I and Level II Trainings

August 19/20         Kalispell - Level 1         Hampton Inn
Sept. 30/Oct. 1       Billings – Level 1          Hampton Inn - 5110 Southgate Drive

October 2/3            Billings – Level 2*        Hampton Inn - 5110 Southgate Drive

October 7/8            Sidney – Level 1           Wingate Hotel

October 28/29       Great Falls – Level 1     Holiday Inn (5th ST.)

October 30/31       Missoula – Level 1         Doubletree Hotel

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is used to rapidly teach communication skills to those with limited functional speech.  Training in PECS begins by teaching a spontaneous request and goes on to teach additional communicative functions such as responding to questions and commenting.  Participants will learn how to implement the six phases of PECS, plus attributes, through presenter demonstrations, video examples and role-play opportunities. 

PECS Level 1 Training:

This intensive two-day training is designed to teach participants the theory behind the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and the protocols for how to appropriately implement the six phases of PECS.

PECS Level 2 Training: Prerequisite: PECS Level 1 Training

This two-day training focuses on creating lessons and activities to promote communication throughout the day. Beginning with a review of the Pyramid Approach to Education as it relates to PECS, we guide you in refining your PECS implementation and discuss current challenges you have experienced within the six phases.

Find more information and register here.

STAR Autism Training

STAR Autism Training

STAR Autism Trainings Kalispell: March 4-5 Missoula: March 6-7 - FULL / registration closed. Sidney is now  Billings: March 26-27      (Sidney had only 5 people register so this training was moved to Billings.) Billings: April 8-9 - FULL / registration closed. Great Falls: April 10-11 This comprehensive two-day workshop provides participants with detailed examples  and practice activities on how to implement the evidence-based practices identified in  the National Standards Report (2009). The STAR Program is used to provide examples.  Appropriate content connected to the common core curriculum is presented and detailed information on the three evidenced-based instructional methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training and teaching through functional routines are shared.  Participants will learn how to implement these strategies through structured lesson plans and a curriculum scope and sequence. The workshop will include extensive data collection systems and participants will learn to collect and use data for instructional decision making.  Fourteen OPI renewal units will be available for this training.  This training is FREE from the OPI Montana Autism Education Project. YOU MUST ATTEND BOTH DAYS OF THE TRAINING. Each training is limited to 30 people.

Register here. 

(If you register for Billings on March 27/28 the post-registration screen and email will still show Sidney as the location. Ignore that and go to Billings.)

AAC & Proloquo2Go: How to Program for a Better Implementation and Outcome!

Julie A. Doerner, M.S. CCC-SLP

What is “best practice” for use of AAC with a student? Attendees will receive  information to confidently help individuals who rely on AAC. This session will provide attendees with the opportunity to learn the “ins and outs” of the iOS app, “Proloquo2Go” from www.assistiveware.com. Participants will learn to navigate the app, discover new features and practice programming the app in a way that is salient. The group will review case studies and talk about specific student’s needs. Julie will share teaching strategies so interactions with AAC/Proloquo2Go are enjoyable for the student, the family,  instructor and staff

Julie has been a nationally certified and state licensed Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) for 16 years and she currently works for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation Tribal Health. She serves all ages of patients, but works primarily with children attending Head Start preschool centers. Julie has worked as an SLP in public schools, private practice, rehab settings, and most recently at the University of Montana where she worked for the state assistive technology program, MonTECH, and the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. In that position her focus was on Augmentative Alternative Communication. Julie has been working with the Proloquo2Go app since 2012.

FEBRUARY 6 KALISPELL HAMPTON INN        

MARCH 21 MISSOULA WINGATE

Register here.

PECS Level I and II Registration Now Open

October 29/30           Great Falls - Level 2*

November 1/2            Billings - Level 1  FULL

December 3/4            Kalispell - Level 2*

December 5/6            Missoula - Level 2*

​​(Training locations to be determined. *You must have attended a PECS Level 1 training to attend a Level 2 training.)

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is used to rapidly teach communication skills to those with limited functional speech.  Training in PECS begins by teaching a spont​aneous request and goes on to teach additional communicative functions such as responding to questions and commenting.  Participants will learn how to implement the six phases of PECS, plus attributes, through presenter demonstrations, video examples and role-play opportunities.   

CEUs: 12 OPI renewal units. ASHA CEUs are not available.

PECS Level 1 Training: 

This intensive two-day training is designed to teach participants the theory behind the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and the protocols for how to appropriately implement the six phases of PECS.

PECS Level 2 Training: Prerequisite: PECS Level 1 Training

This two-day training focuses on creating lessons and activities to promote communication throughout the day. Beginning with a review of the Pyramid Approach to Education as it relates to PECS, we guide you in refining your PECS implementation and discuss current challenges you have experienced within the six phases.

NOTE:  EACH ATTENDEE MUST BRING THEIR OWN COPY of the Second Edition PECS Training Manual to the training. Manuals may not be shared among attendees.  You will NOT be admitted to the training if you do not bring an individual copy of that manual.

You can register here. 

ADOS-2 REFRESHER TRAINING

                                                 WITH

                          LAUREN SWINEFORD - PHD CCC SLP

                                      FEBRUARY 15,2018

                                    Hampton Inn Kalispell

     

THIS IS A ONE DAY REVIEW OF THE ADOS 2 TRAINING COMPLETE

WITH SCORING PRACTICE AND PRACTICAL QUESTION REVIEW

PARTICIPANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS TO DR  SWINEFORD IN ADVANCE FOR DISCUSSION. PARTICIPANTS ARE REQUIRED TO BRING THEIR ADOS MANUALS FOR REFERENCE IN SCORING PRACTICE

              REGISTER HERE . . . LIMITED TO 30 PARTICIPANTS

Please contact Western Montana CSPD with any questions about this workshop.

Cass Rocco

programcoordinator@wmcspd.org

406-847-2236

PECS Level I Trainings

Great Falls - September 18th and 19th    (Hilton Garden Inn)

Bozeman - September 20th and 21st       (Homewood Suites)

Kalispell - October 2nd and 3rd                (Hampton Inn)

Missoula - October 4th and 5th                (Hilton Garden Inn)

This intensive two-day training is designed to teach participants the theory behind the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and the protocols for how to appropriately implement the six phases of PECS. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is used to rapidly teach communication skills to those with limited functional speech. Training in PECS begins by teaching a spontaneous request and goes on to teach additional communicative functions such as responding to questions and commenting.

NOTE:  PECS REQUIRES THAT EACH ATTENDEE MUST BRING THEIR OWN COPY of the Second Edition PECS Training Manual with Data Forms CD to the training. Manuals may not be shared among attendees. 

You will NOT be admitted to the training if you do not bring an individual copy of that manual.

Register here.

The Birds and the Bees: Puberty, Hygiene, Safety and Sexuality for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

December 7 - Kalispell 

December 8 - Missoula

Both workshops will be from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

This presentation covers a much needed and little talked about area for youths with ASD. Youths with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities are twice as likely as their typically developing peers to be victims of physical or sexual abuse. Information regarding puberty, hygiene, and sexuality relates to keeping children with ASD safe. Areas covered can easily become target behaviors, objectives for IEPs, or treatment goals for youth with ASD.

Topics include:

What to Expect (and what you might not expect.)

Hygiene

Clothing Matters

Personal Safety

Rethinking "The Talk"

Teaching Anatomy

and more!

Dr. Natalie Montfort is a clinical psychologist for The Stewart Center at the Westview School in Houston, Texas.

This training is FREE from the OPI Montana Autism Education Project. Six OPI renewal units will be available for this training

Register for the training here. 

Zones of Regulation One-day Webinar

November 30, 2016

We have contracted with Leah Kuypers, author of The Zones of Regulation, for a live webinar in five Montana locations. The webinar will be available at locations in Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls, Billings and Sidney. This webinar is not available on individual computers, only at the specific locations in each city. 

The Zones of Regulation is a systematic, cognitive behavior approach used to teach self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete zones.  The Zones curriculum provides strategies to teach students to become more aware of, and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, managing their sensory needs, and improving their ability to problem solve conflicts. 

The webinar will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This training is FREE from the OPI Montana Autism Education Project. 


See more and register here. 

Didn't get the handouts in your emails? Here they are:

Agenda ​(note that times are one hour ahead of Montana)

Full Day Handout Fall 2016

Reproducible Z (Toolbox)

Sensory Preferences

Fall Trainings with Ann Garfinkle

In this training from Ann Garfinkle, learners will focus on the multi-level comprehensive autism planning system or (CAPS) to program for students with High Functioning Autism and Aspergers. The topics will include sensory differences, cognitive differences, motor differences, and emotional vulnerability with reinforcement strategies for a comprehensive look at programming, service delivery, and progress monitoring. The attendees will leave with a new mind-set of how inclusive settings can be modified/adapted for a positive learning experience.

Kalispell        Sept.  30^th              Red Lion Inn

Hamilton       October 7^th            Bitterroot Inn

   

Bozeman       October 28^th           Comfort Inn

Great Falls     November 8^th        Hilton Garden Inn

All trainings will be from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Six OPI renewal units will be available for this training. This training is FREE from the OPI Montana Autism Education Project.

You can register for the trainings here. 

The link to the presentation handout is here.

You can find more information on the CAPS process here.

You can buy the CAPS book here.

Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) Training - Missoula and Kalispell

Kalispell - November 1, 2016

Missoula - November 2, 2016

LAMP is an augmentative alternative communication (AAC) approach designed to give users a method of independently and spontaneously expressing themselves through a speech generating device. This course will cover the components of LAMP: readiness to learn, engaging the learner through joint engagement, and learning language through a unique and consistent motor plan paired with an auditory signal and a natural consequence. Discussion will include how this approach addresses the core language deficits of autism, device features that are beneficial to teaching language, and how to use those features to implement LAMP components. Videos will be used to illustrate the treatment components.

The company’s language system and devices will be used to illustrate treatment components; however LAMP principles can be applied to other products. Due to the limited duration of this course, hands-on time with devices will be limited to breaks.

Please note: The LAMP training is focused on students who use a device for speech, and not only symbolic communication (e.g., PECS.) “LAMP focuses on giving the individual independent access to vocabulary on voice output AAC devices that use consistent motor plans for accessing vocabulary.”

This training is FREE from the OPI Montana Autism Education Project.

Six OPI renewal units will be available for this training. Information on ASHA CEUs can be found here.

You can register for the workshops here. 

Ann Garfinkle speaking on, "Comprehensive Programming for Students with High Functioning Autism" - Kalispell

In this training from Ann Garfinkle, learners will focus on the multi-level comprehensive autism planning system or (CAPS) to program for students with HFA/AS. The topics will include sensory differences, cognitive differences, motor differences, and emotional vulnerability with reinforcement strategies for a comprehensive look at programming, service delivery, and progress monitoring. The attendees will leave with a new mind-set of how inclusive settings can be modified/adapted for a positive learning experience.

This workshop will be held on September 30th. Registration will open in mid-August.

12 Habits of Practitioners Who are Effective at Working with Students with ASD - Kalispell

April 14, 2016.  

This presentation by Ann Garfinkle provides an overview of the twelve things anyone working with children or students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) needs to know and do. Rather than presenting information on a specific intervention this presentation provides information about habits or ways of interacting regardless that will make all interventions more effective when working with children and students diagnosed with ASD.

Participants’ feed back from this workshop are “I wish I had heard this before I started working in the field” or “I need to hear this every year.”

You can register for the workshop here.

Just Archiving Information - this workshop has already occurred.

Motivating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders to Learn

Kalispell

March 9, 2015

Kalispell Autism Support Group

Kalispell Autism Support Group

 For more information, call Tim at (406) 257-8758 or visit www.MontanaASA.org

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75 Quick "On the Spot" Techniques for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Problems

The Montana Autism Education Project is delighted to bring Dr. Steve Olivas back to Montana. He has presented before at the Montana CEC Conference and MBI conference to rave reviews. This workshop is not just for educators of students with autism spectrum disorder but is for anyone who works with children. The Workshop will be held February 11, 2016 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Hampton Inn, Kalispell. And previously on . . .  Great Falls – December 2nd, 2014 Missoula – December 3rd, 2014' * There are a limited number of travel scholarships available for public school paraeducators, special education teachers and SLPs in CSPD regions I and III who are traveling over 75 miles to attend this workshop. Please contact Doug Doty, ddoty@mt.gov for further information. WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES Utilize 75 effective, proven techniques for individually treating children with behavior problems. Identify simple, teachable tools and strategies specific for parents and teachers. List different medication categories and explain potential effects and side-effects. Explain differential diagnostics regarding acting-out disorders such as anxiety, ADHD, bipolarity, oppositional defiance, conduct disorder and depression. Develop skills for building a therapeutic relationship with difficult children and teens. Describe a spectrum of interventions representing many major theoretical orientations.

This is a just a link for future use.

Focused iPad Summit in Kalispell, October 2013

Us, not CSPD.

Barb

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Group for Teenage Boys - Kalispell

Group for Teenage Boys - Kalispell What:Teenage boys with Asperger Disorder, Pervasive Development Disorder or who otherwise have high functioning autism are encouraged to attend weekly social meetings in Kalispell. Facilitated by Cindy Grossman, the group is open to males 14-18 years of age or enrolled in high school. Some of the topics the group will explore are living with a social-cognitive disorder, employment, bullying, conflict resolution, dating & relationships, teen social skills and mental health issues. There is a maximum of 8 participants in the group and an interview is required with the teen and involved parents to evaluate motivation, willingness and appropriateness for the group. Where:Eastside Brick building 723 5th Avenue EastKalispell, MT 59901 Contact: Cindy Grossman (406) 752-1237 or email grossmancindy@yahoo.com

Read here:

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Western MT Early Childhood Conference July 2012 SKC

June 16th, 2012 Salish Kootenai Campus:

Colleen Fay,Montana Autism Education Project With more students being identified as having autism, this workshop will provide information on autism spectrum disorders and present evidence-based practices that provide effective and appropriate educational interventions. Visual strategies have been shown to be effective tools to develop communication, increase participation and independence, decrease challenging behavior, and support social & emotional development. A variety of strategies will be discussed including visual schedules, object/picture communication, structured teaching, classroom management, social stories, the 5 pt. scale, and video modeling.

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Sensory Processing Workshops

This seminar is a pivotal training experience for anyone concerned with helping a child or adolescent with Sensory Processing issues. Every child is different and when one treatment plan may work for one, it may be ineffective for another. This seminar emphasizes many factors that can decrease SPD symptoms, and you will be able to immediately create and implement a specifically designed Sensory Diet upon return to your practice or home. This thorough seminar features extensive diagnostic information and hundreds of specific corrective activities for children and adolescents with SPD. Throughout the day, Dr. Taylor describes and demonstrates safe forms of movement and appropriate, fun and easy activities that avoid sensory overload while providing corrective and therapeutic sensory inputs.
07/19/10 - Helena, MT
07/20/10 - Missoula, MT
07/21/10 - Kalispell, MT

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Picture Exchange Communication System - Kalispell

August 19 and 20, 2010

This intense two-day training is designed to teach participants to appropriately implement the Picture Exchange Communication System. It begins with an overview of the Pyramid Approach to Education to explore the key components of designing effective educational environments. A historical overview of language training programs used with non-verbal individuals is discussed along with how to set the stage for an abundance of communication opportunities. Participants will learn how to implement the six Phases of PECS, including attributes, through presenter demonstrations, video examples and role-play opportunities. Participants will leave the workshop with a basic understanding of how to implement PECS with individuals with autism, related developmental disabilities, and/or limited communication skills.