for Excellence Regional Communities of Learning in Autism (CoLAs) - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

VCU Autism Center for Excellence Regional Communities of Learning in Autism (CoLA’s) • Dr. Carol Schall, Director of Technical Assistance Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Excellence

Who is Leading this Effort? • VCU ACE Technical Assistance • VADOE Training and Technical Assistance Centers • In Region 1, The Region One Autism Education Consortium

What is a CoLA? • A group of public school division “Autism Leaders” who engage superintendant’s regions in problem solving related to ASD training and technical assistance to encourage systems change across the region • A learning community where public school division “Autism Leaders” can also discuss and meet their own professional development needs

What will CoLA’s do? • Share resources • Solve regional problems • Share training information and resources • Increase consistency and efficiency of programming with in and across divisions, • Promote and increase division and region wide implementation of evidence-based practice, • Problem solve and discuss the blending of evidence-based practice with federal mandates • Plan for training for the regional autism specialists in the regions

How will CoLA’s Meet? • Face to Face – 2 to 3 times per year • Via Conference Call – As needed and defined by the members • On the Web – Through the sharing of resources on a Wiki

Who Can Attend? • Individuals from public school divisions who serve a leadership role in the area of ASD services for the entire division. • Division wide Autism Specialists • Division wide special education trainer, supervisor, coach • Division wide special education autism curriculum specialist • Directors of Special Education • Directors of Related Services (Speech, OT, PT)

What might we get from a CoLA? • Access to and sharing of resources • Shared problem solving and brainstorming • Region wide training • Collective creativity • Access to expertise • Sharing success and challenges

Who do I Contact for More Information? Regions VCU-ACE TA E-mail Address Associates Region 1 and 8 Adam Dreyfus adreyfus@vcu.edu Emily Helmboldt echelmboldt@vcu.edu Region 2 and 3 Noel Woolard woolardn@vcu.edu Charlene Wentland chwentland@vcu.edu Region 4 and 5 Steven Celmer spcelmer@vcu.edu Region 6 and 7 Teresa Lyons tlyons@vcu.edu

Opportunities for Professional Development and Training • Dr. Dawn Hendricks, Director of Training Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Excellence 9

WWW.VCUAUTISMCENTER.ORG

ACE Training • Designed for all who serve or support a student with ASD • Based on the Virginia Skill Competencies • Designed for – Knowledge and Skills Attainment (Beginning) – – Capacity Building (Intermediate) - is the integration of learning experiences in which knowledge and skills interact

University / College Coursework University / College Coursework for Credit Coursework in Coursework in Applied Behavior Autism Spectrum Analysis Disorders

Not-for-Credit Live Training Resources Webcasts Online Seminars Online Instructional Courses 1 3

Webcasts National and State Experts • ABA = Good Teaching Date: December 13, 2011 Time: 3:30 - 4:30pm Eastern Presenter(s): Robert Schramm • Function Matters! How to Determine Why a Student Demonstrates Problem Behavior Date: January 10, 2012 Time: 3:30 - 4:30pm Eastern Presenter(s): Carol Schall • In My Own Words. My Life with Asperger’s Syndrome Date: February 14, 2012 Time: 3:30 - 4:30pm Eastern Presenter(s): Roseanne

Online Seminars • Asynchronous • Variety of topics • 10-30 minutes • Extension activities – Individual – Group

Online Courses • Foundations of Autism Course • Educating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Foundations of Autism Spectrum Disorders Course • Module One: Overview of Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Primary Characteristics • Module Two: Secondary characteristics, learning styles and autism across the lifespan

Educating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders • Module One: Overview of ASD and Introduction to the Educational Process • Module Two: Critical Components of the IEP • Module Three: Instructional Considerations • Module Four: Foundations of Instruction • Module Five: Behavioral Support

Online Resources • Guidelines • Fact sheets and briefs • Journal articles • Websites • Lending Library • Technology web page

Paraprofessional Initiative • Online self-paced course • Guidelines • Institutes of Higher Education / Community Colleges • Virginia Skill Competencies • Tracking Training Protocol • Training Protocol for Divisions

Other Activities in Development • Data-based Decision Making – online self-paced course • Screening and Diagnosis of ASD – online self-paced course • My Child was Just Diagnosed with ASD! Now What do I do? – online self- paced course