July 2010 – NASET Resource Review

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In this issue you will find resources in the following areas:

  • Autism
  • Early Intervention/Early Childhood
  • Employment
  • Families and Community
  • Individual Educational Plans
  • Mental Retardation and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
  • RTI
  • Social Networking
  • Social Security
  • Software
  • Teaching Standards

Autism

Autism corner – We bring your attention to several new resources on autism spectrum disorders:

  • For those involved with autism spectrum disorders.
    “Autism Spectrum Disorders: Diagnosis, Prevalence, and Services for Children and Families” is a new Social Policy Report from the Society for Research in Child Development. https://www.srcd.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=910
  • Sound advice on autism.
    To answer parents’ questions about autism spectrum disorders, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) offers a collection of interviews with pediatricians, researchers, and parents in this new website.
    https://www.aap.org/audio/autism/
  • The Gateway Project: Sign up to take part in this research.
    The Gateway Project is recruiting participants (18 years or older with
    access to the Internet) to participate in a series of continuing online
    research studies on topics such as health care, well-being, and problem
    solving. Adults on and off the autism spectrum are encouraged to participate. https://www.thegatewayproject.org/
  • 1-to-1 aides for students with autism: A practical and legal guide.
    Pairing case summaries with practical advice, this 44-page publication from LRP is intended to help schools fulfill their legal obligations to provide aides plus communicate more effectively with parents–so that students are served better and legal disputes are minimized. Cost: Under $30. https://www.shoplrp.com/product/p-300603.html
  • Administrator’s guide to building and maintaining a comprehensive autism program.
    Here’s a one-stop guide to building a reliable system for determining and delivering appropriate services and ultimately avoiding lawsuits. 
    Written for district administrators by a district administrator, it’s a firsthand account of how one public school district created a high-quality, legally compliant program. Available from LRP, cost is under $40.
    https://www.shoplrp.com/product/p-300605.html

Early Intervention/Early Childhood

Early childhood education interventions for children with disabilities.
That’s the newest topic area from the What Works Clearinghouse. The first release on this topic is the WWC Intervention Report on Dialogic Reading, an interactive shared picture-book reading practice designed to enhance young children’s language and literacy skills. The WWC found Dialogic Reading to have potentially positive effects on communication and language competencies for children with disabilities.  Read the report at:
https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/ece_cd/dialogic_reading/

Hands-on ways to build social emotional skills through everyday routines.
Visit the Book Nook at CSEFEL (Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning) and have a look at the guides offered there for teachers/caregivers and parents. Examples of suggested activities include using rhymes to talk about being friends, making emotion masks to help children identify and talk about different feelings, playing games around what to do with hands instead of hitting, and fun music and movement activities to express emotions. https://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/resources/strategies.html#booknook 

Supporting children’s mental health and reducing challenging behaviors.
Visit the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, whose target audiences include – Head Start administrators, staff, and programs, as well as mental health consultants and families. The Center translates research in healthy mental development into materials tailored to the needs of each of the target audiences, and makes them available on this website.
https://www.ecmhc.org/index.html

Encourage children’s imaginations with CELL’s Act Natural.
This Practice Guide for Parents is designed to help parents and caregivers encourage their toddler’s imagination. Ideas are given on incorporating pretend play into story time, outdoor activities, and other daily routines.
https://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/cellpractices_rev/CELLprac_Act_Natural.pdf

Tips for using assistive technology with young children.
This issue of the Tots’n’Tech newsletter focuses on the ways to adapt materials using low-tech solutions so that children can participate in activities and routines that require use of arms and hands.
https://tnt.asu.edu/files/March2010.pdf

What’s your state’s early childhood profile?
Visit the National Center for Children in Poverty and find out. NCCP’s profiles highlight state policy choices that promote health, education, and strong families alongside other contextual data related to the well-being of young children. https://www.nccp.org/profiles/early_childhood.html

Employment

More on employment: The What Can YOU Do? site.
Through its What Can YOU Do? website, the Campaign for Disability Employment reinforces that people with disabilities want to work and that their talents and abilities positively impact businesses both financially and organizationally. The website offers a range of education and outreach tools, all designed to engage employers, people with disabilities, family and educators, and the general public. https://www.whatcanyoudocampaign.org/

Families and Community Resources

Aprenda inglés gratuitamente via Internet.
That’s Spanish for, literally, Learn English for Free on the Internet, aka the U.S.A. Learns site, which is designed as an on-line tool to help Spanish speakers learn English outside of the classroom. The site offers practical and contextualized activities in reading, writing, understanding, conversation, and skills necessary to success at work and in the community.
https://www.usalearns.org

Finding quality child care.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers this website for families and teachers, including tips, links, and general information about young children and early childhood education. 
https://www.rightchoiceforkids.org/

Children’s health insurance.
InsureKidsNow.gov offers a new toolkit developed to help organizations increase awareness and understanding of children’s health insurance programs and ultimately motivate eligible parents and guardians to apply for coverage on behalf of their uninsured children.
https://www.insurekidsnow.gov/professionals/toolkit/toolkit.html

Summary of the new health reform legislation.
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordability Act. This summary reflects provisions of the new law and changes made by subsequent legislation, including provisions to expand coverage, control health care costs, and improve the health care delivery system.
https://www.kff.org/healthreform/8061.cfm

Individual Educational Plans

Mental Retardation-Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)

11th edition of Intellectual Disability: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports.
A classic publication of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), the 11th edition contains the most current and authoritative information on intellectual disability, including best practice guidelines on diagnosing and classifying intellectual disability and developing a system of supports for people living with an intellectual disability. Cost to members: $ 76.50; Non-member cost: $ 90.00.
https://www.aaidd.org/intellectualdisabilitybook/

Understanding the new AAIDD definition manual.
Watch these 3 videos, to get the 411 on the 11th edition of the definition manual for intellectual disability.
https://www.aaidd.org/videos.cfm

Intellectual disability and special education.
How the AAIDD Definition System Applies to School Psychologists, Teachers, and Educational Teams is the subtitle of this video featuring Dr. Martha Snell, who discusses the definition system of intellectual disability described in the 11th edition of the classic manual by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).
https://www.aaidd.org/videos.cfm

RTI

Starting up RTI: First steps for district leaders.
This Ask The Expert video from the National Center on RTI answers the question, “If I were a leader in a district and we decided we wanted to implement RTI district-wide, what would be the top three things you would encourage me to figure out first?”
https://www.rti4success.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1464

Essential components of RTI.
A 2nd new resource from the National Center on RTI.
 https://www.rti4success.org/images/stories/pdfs/rtiessentialcomponents_042710.pdf 
Which RTI product to buy?
With a growing array of RTI-related products on the market, schools need to make purchasing choices carefully. This article from Education Week takes a close look at the challenge.
https://www.edweek.org/tsb/articles/2010/04/12/02tools.h03.html?cmp=clp-edweek



Social Networking

Social networking site for young adults living with mental health concerns.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has launched StrengthofUs.org, a new online community where young adults living with mental health concerns can provide mutual support in navigating unique challenges and opportunities during the critical transition years from ages 18 to 25.
https://www.strengthofus.org

Social Security

Social Security benefits and employment for young people with disabilities.
The 2010 edition of Going to Work is now available from the Institute for Community Inclusion. 
https://www.communityinclusion.org/article.php?article_id=211

Software

Reading software: Finding the right program.
Since different reading software applications contain different features, it is important that students are matched with software that best meets their specific needs. LD Online has identified five web-based resources that contain detailed information on reading software programs and address specific needs of students with special needs in reading.
https://www.ldonline.org/article/Reading_Software%3A_Finding_the_Right_Program

Teaching Standards

Updated multistate review of professional teaching standards.
This review of teaching standards in six states–California, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas–focuses on the structure, target audience, and selected content of each state’s standards.
https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/west/pdf/REL_2010014.pdf 

Downloadable PDF File

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