NC ELSSP-VI Newsletter
November
Each child will be honored, respected, and empowered to achieve success in school and life.
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Amazing Kids
North Carolina Early Learning Sensory Support Program for Children with Visual Impairments
Office of Early Learning
Email: bethany.mayo@dpi.nc.gov
Website: www.ncelssp.com
Location: 6371 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699
Phone: (984) 292-3063
Contents
Amazing Kids -Staff
Professional Development -Lin Causey
Resources -Staff
Kidz Say the Darndest Things - Becky Lowrey
Neuroplasticity and Embedding CVI Strategies in Daily Activities - Hitty Chiott
Thank You Note - Andrea FinneyRatliff
Regional Meeting Photos -staff
Staff Birthdays for November
Photo/Video Credits
Professional Development Opportunities
LL Cool Tech Tips
Extension activity is worth .2 CEUs Click HERE for instructions.
Register now for the upcoming webinar series, Relationship-Based Competencies to Support Family Engagement:
Select the link to access complimentary resources at Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC): https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/family-engagement/article/relationship-based-competencies-support-family-engagementHead Start and Early Head Start Relationship-Based Competencies
Writing Functional Outcomes as an IFSP Team Webinar
Summary: Participants who attend the webinar will increase their knowledge of writing functional outcomes based on family priorities, increase their skills in writing functional outcomes based on family priorities, and increase their knowledge of available resources to support teams in writing functional outcomes. Read More
Date: Thursday, November 29th, 2018,
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST
Fee: $25 for DEC Members/$35 for Non-Members
Received from Sheri Logan
QA/QI Coordinator
Division of Public Health, Children’s Developmental Services Agency of the Cape Fear
NC Department of Health and Human Services
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Responsive Learning Environments for Infants and Toddlers Webinar
Summary: Learning environments are everywhere! Together, we will explore how engaging and responsive learning environments help infants and toddlers achieve school readiness.
Date and Time: Thursday, Nov.8 from 3–4 p.m. ET
Fee: free
Register: Visit the ECLKC calendar to register.
Ordinary People Design and Build Extraordinary Assistive Tools for Children with Disabilities Webinar
Participant Outcomes: Participants will gain knowledge about working with family and other adults to modify and adapt the physical environment to promote each child’s access to and participation in learning experiences, explore real-life stories about how a community-oriented maker movement is identifying and meeting children's needs for assistive technology, and leave the session with a plan to create a low-tech assistive tool to promote a child's access to and participation in learning experiences.
Date and time: Wednesday, December 5th, 2018, 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM EST
Fee: $35 for non-members | $25 for DEC members
Email dec@dec-sped.org for the member discount code or to register via purchase order.
Registration: https://divisionearlychildhood.egnyte.com/dl/GBc34w3P8g
Attachment Vitamins: Interactive Course on Early Childhood Attachment, Stress, and Trauma (9 online lessons)
· Summary: Early childhood mental health is the capacity to grow and to love well. In other words, it means helping children engage in social and emotional behaviors that are appropriate to their age. Good mental health means being able to experience, express, and regulate emotions as well as recover from dysregulation. It also means establishing trusting relationships and repairing conflicts with others when they occur. This helps children learn how to love and be loved while feeling safe. The Attachment Vitamins lessons help learners support children and families through the early years of a child’s life. It will help create a trauma lens through which providers and parents can view and better support young children as they grow and learn. In these 9 interactive lessons, learners will walk through concepts such as understanding a child’s context, what attachment is, temperament and parenting style, trauma exposure in young children, mental health concerns, cultural considerations, and self-care tips.
· Date and time: Ongoing
· Fee: Free
· Register: https://learn.nctsn.org/course/view.php?id=483 (You will need to create an account to take the course.)
Received from Krystal Davis
Human Services Program Consultant II
Division of Public Health, [beearly.nc.gov]Early Intervention Branch
NC Department of Health and Human Services
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Resources
CVI for the TVI & other Professionals
A monthly webinar open to CVI professionals.
Embedding CVI Strategies into Everyday Family Living
High Hopes aims at bringing the best in the world to Dubai whether through collaborated therapy intensives, parent workshops, therapists trainings or guest speakers. We currently have connections with various reputable centers and therapists from all around the world.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/99-Action-Words-for-Speech-Therapy-SOAP-Notes-2121144
http://yourtherapysource.blogspot.com/2013/12/40-documentation-terms-for-pediatric.html
Kidz Say the Darndest Things (with apologies to Art Linkletter)
Over the many years I’ve been a TVI for wee ones, I’ve collected a lot of words of wisdom from my students. Things my students say and do help to keep me “in my place”.
On Becoming a Little too Excited
Several years ago, I agreed to help a preK teacher with circle time. I brought my guitar and some rhythm instruments to share with all the students. I played a very upbeat, jazzy “Hello” song and everyone except my student joined in enthusiastically. My student kept her arms folded and glared the entire time. Upon the song’s conclusion, she said, “Mz. Becky, YOU needs to calm down!”
The Little Gentleman
A little one I had with OCA, very bright and talkative, was getting ready to transition to preschool. The private preschool he was at moved him up early into the three-year-old class due to his advanced developmental level. When I came to see him during his first week in his new classroom, he pulled me over to his new teacher.
“Mz. Becky, this is Mz. Amy. Mz. Amy, this is Mz. Becky. She teaches my eyes.”
The Need to be More Fashion Conscious
Upon seeing me in my dull, drab black pants and sweater (again). One of my four-year-old preschoolers took me aside so her friends couldn’t hear her reprimand of me.
“Ms. Becky, you really need more bling in your life!”
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Neuroplasticity and Embedding CVI Strategies in Daily Activities
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt. Specifically, the brain is able to form new neural connections given the right conditions. Neuroplasticity is an amazing aspect of the brain which is at the heart of early intervention for these reasons:
1) Neuroplasticity is greatest during early childhood.
2) Neuroplasticity occurs in the immature brain as children explore with their senses. New experiences lead to new synaptic connections in the brain that are strengthened the more they are used, while connections not used are pruned away.
3) Neuroplasticity also occurs as a way to compensate for lost function and/or to maximize remaining functions in the event of brain injury.
4) A child’s daily environment plays a key role in influencing neuroplasticity.
(Brain Plasticity: What is it? By Erin Hoiland https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html )
Research indicates that children with CVI have the potential for increased visual capabilities. To make the most of this potential, it is important that children have repeated opportunities to experience using vision in meaningful ways throughout their day. (Sheline, 2016. Strategy to See, 4th edition). This potential for improvement fuels me to be on the lookout for ideas and strategies to support a child with CVI. But sometimes I feel like starting an internet search is like going down the rabbit hole. I know I can start a search and then realize hours have gone by without realizing it. I love finding resources that have inspiring stories, practical strategies, and clear information. Here are two resources that do those things:
Spotlight on two new, and not overwhelming, online resources to check out
1. Everyday CVI: Embedding CVI strategies into everyday living. This is a new webpage created just about a month ago by a mother of a little girl with hydrocephalus and CVI. She shares her journey so far in learning about CVI
and how she has been making her everyday surroundings more visually accessible.
2. High Hopes Blog On this blog post, Jonathon Graves writes, “don’t change what you do, just how you do it” and I think this is great advice. His post outlines practical ways to incorporate CVI strategies into everyday routines.
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Thank You!
Andrea (Andi) Ratliff and the ELSSP-VI program would like to give a huge THANK YOU to Tank Pro Inc. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for their generous donation. The donation enabled Andi to purchase pumpkins for each student as well as other supplies and items that are needed to make learning fun and enjoyable for each child. Andi's families and students were very grateful for the experiences that Tank Pro has helped provide. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!
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Pictures from Regional Meetings
WRITE Group
Sweet TEA Group
SCAT Group
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November Birthdays
November 21st- Hitty Chiott
November 26th- Karen Huffman
November 27th- Carrie Ledford
Photo/Video Credits
NC ELSSP-VI Staff