Good IDEA(s)
A Professional Development Newsletter for Special Educators
A publication of the Montgomery County ESC
and Western Ohio Service Collaborative
Volume 2, Issue 4
January is National Braille Literacy Month
Louis Braille (Jan 04, 1809 – Jan 06, 1852) was the founder of braille, which is a tactile form of reading and writing for individuals who are visual impaired and blind. Braille is used across the world and has some code variances for foreign language, math and science, and music notation.
Teachers of the Visually Impaired and Vocational Rehabilitation Teachers provide instruction in braille to children and adults in the educational setting and daily living environment. Like most infants and young children, exposure to braille is a key element to encourage literacy. Braille is used in reading materials, to label items in the school, home, and in the community, and technology devices for the visually impaired and blind. Along with braille, many children use real objects, object representations, and textures as part of reading a story due to the inability to clearly view pictures in books.
To encourage braille literacy here are a few things you can do:
1. Get to know the student’s braille reading level.
2. Many braille materials offer both print and braille so educators and parents can read with a student.
3. Teachers of the Visually Impaired can provide suggestions for the home setting.
4. There are many resources available for braille books and materials: Braille Institute, American Printing House for the Blind (aph.org), and Dolly Parton Imagination Library (http://www.aph.org/dolly-partons-imagination-library/apply/).
The Miami Valley Regional Center provides Vision Services and Orientation & Mobility (O&M) instruction to students who are blind or visually impaired, including those with multiple disabilities, ages 3-21. Services include assistive technology instruction, keyboarding, independent living skills, transition skills instruction and resources, as well as administering the Learning Media Assessment to determine appropriate learning and literacy media. They currently serve over 50 school districts across the region by providing assessments, consultation, and direct services for staff and students in educational settings. Services must be requested by the school district in which the student resides. For more information about these services, contact Christy Donnelly (937) 236-9965.
OCALI (Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence) is sponsoring a Basic Braille Course for paraprofessionals and teachers on Monday, June 11 - Thursday, June 14, 2018 at the Embassy suites in Columbus. The course will introduce/review the braille alphabet, capitalization, punctuation, cardinal numbers and more. For information about this course go to OCALI Basic Braille.
Social and Emotional Learning Activities/Resources
Students with disabilities are three times more likely to have serious social emotional incidents than their typically developing peers. If challenging behaviors are not resolved…..students are likely to experience peer rejection and escalating negative and punitive discipline from teachers and administrators all leading to school failure. (US Dept. of Ed. statistics)
Here are a few sites that have free resources, activities and lessons for teachers that focus on social/emotional skills such as communication, cooperation, emotional regulation, empathy, impulse control and social initiation:
CenterVention – Free Social Emotional Learning Activities/Teacher Resources (Elementary and Middle School)
We are Teachers – Classroom Ideas/Social Emotional Learning (PreK-12)Learning by Heart – The power of Social-Emotional Learning in Secondary Schools
Making Sure Your Praise is Effective – Research-backed ideas to reinforce positive behaviorHere are some recommended books/resources also:
Teaching Kids to Thrive – Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford
The Behavior Code Companion – Jessica Minahan
The Zones of Regulation – Leah Kuypers
Thinking About YOU Thinking About ME – Michelle Garcia Winner
Autism Research, Studies and Federal Legislation
A new study from Denmark reported in the November 16, 2017 Spectrum Autism Research News, “hints that autism and arthritis share genetic roots”. In an article by Sarah Dweerdt, “the rheumatoid arthritis study is the first to link the condition in fathers to autism risk.”
Previous studies have linked maternal immune conditions to autism severity in children. These studies show that “immune signaling molecules can cross the placenta and alter a child’s brain development”.
These results “suggest that having certain immune conditions during pregnancy increases autism severity.” To read more about this study, go to: https://goo.gl/FTa7nkThe US Senate has introduced legislation aimed at providing tracking devices and resources to those with autism and other developmental disabilities at risk of wandering. The bill known as Kevin and Avonte’s law of 2017 will make resources available to equip first responders with the training necessary to better prevent and respond to missing Americans with dementia and developmental disabilities, such as autism. Funding would be in the form of a grant to local law enforcement and nonprofit agencies to provide notification systems, education, and training to proactively establish programs to prevent wandering and to locating missing individuals. This legislation passed the House and is still waiting in the Senate.
This bill is named in honor of two young boys diagnosed with autism that wandered away from supervised settings and drowned.
Read Alouds aren't Just for Primary Students
In a Middle Web Blog titled, “Read Alouds Are Great for the Middle Grades!” author Valentina Gonzalez recommends reading aloud as an excellent strategy for students in grades 4-8. “Read alouds allow students exposure to text that is above their independent reading level. They are able to think and analyze the information at a higher level, without having to constantly try to pick out the meaning of certain words.” This instructional strategy is effective for all students and especially for students with disabilities, students reading below grade level, as well as students who are English Language Learners. Although this reading aloud strategy has been incorporated into elementary ELA lessons, it hasn’t been as popular in the upper elementary and middle schools until now.
“Read alouds offer student exposure to correct grammar, pronunciation, language structures, fluency and expression.” The trick is to select the right book, poem, passage or other genre to read that is of high interest to the students.
Reading aloud is also a perfect opportunity for the teacher to model their “thinking voice”. Stopping at critical points to describe your thinking is a great way to teach comprehension skills. Students should be encouraged to use the “thinking voice” when working in pairs or a small group. It is important that students have time to share ideas, thoughts and opinions about the reading with each other. Another idea is to have them journal their ideas and then share those with a peer. If you would like to read the entire context of the blog, go to: https://goo.gl/ar2N59
Self-Regulation in the Classroom to Support Positive Behaviors January 24, 2018 at the Greene County ESC from 8:30 – 3:30 p.m. Georgia Jewell and Jackie Renegado, OTR/L will be presenting some fresh positive behavioral supports to incorporate easily into your classroom instruction, show how sensory patterns can influence learning, and provide an introduction to the Zones of Regulation Curriculum.
January 29-March 11, 2018. Looking to revamp your practice in the early childhood classroom? "PROTON" stands for Professional Online Training Opportunities with each series representing a different Element related to best practice in Early Childhood Education. This Element focuses on the classroom environment establishing reflective practice, defining developmentally appropriate practice, and beginning to understand behavior. For information, go to: www.accessprotons.com
Advanced Boardmaker Training, February 9, 2018 from
9:00 – 3:00 p.m. Allison Officer and Carol Dittoe, from the Autism/Low Incidence Coaching Team will be presenting this training at the Miami Valley Regional Center. To register by email: mary.fryman@mcesc.org or call (937)236-9965 ext. 2122.It’s YOUR Life! 2018 Secondary Transition & Accessibility Fair, March 22, 2018 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.
This year’s fair will be held at Sinclair College Conference Center, Building 12 and is geared to residents and educators in Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Preble Counties. This free event is sponsored by State Support Team 10. For more information and registration go to SST10 website.