Texas Assistive Technology Network Statewide Conference

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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: NEW: Final Conference Program

Click here to see the Featured National Presenters

Updated!  Shuttle service will be available from the 8 listed hotels on the TATN conference website to/from Region 20 ESC:

UPDATED! CEU Information:

  1. The conference has been approved for  15 SBEC CPEs.

  2. The conference has been approved for 14.25 TSHA CEUs.

  3. Application for TPTA CEUs has been made and is still pending.

  4. ACVREP 12.75 credit hours approved for the TATN conference.

    · June 16 – 5.0 hrs.

    · June 17 – 5.25 hrs.

    · June 18 – 2.5 hrs.

  5. The actual CEUs/credits that can be earned will be determined by presentation submissions, CE provider approval and the sessions participants attend.

  6. The website will be updated as CEUs are approved. Questions: contact Kirk Behnke, kbehnke@esc4.net, 713-744-6559.

UPDATED! Final Schedule:

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
6/15/2010 6/16/2010 6/17/2010 6/18/2010
Registration, Keynote and Exhibit Opening AT Practitioner and Exhibitor Concurrent Sessions National Presenters: Half-day Concurrent Sessions AT Practitioner & Exhibitor Concurrent Sessions
  8:00 - 5:00 Registration 8:00 - 4:30 Registration  
8:00 - 5:00  Exhibits 8:00 - 1:30  Exhibits
9:00 - 10:30 Session A concurrent presentations 9:00 - 12:00  Session E  concurrent presentations 9:00 - 10:30 Session G  concurrent presentations
10:45 - 12:15 Session B concurrent presentations 10:45 - 11:45 Session H       concurrent presentations
12:15 - 1:45  Lunch provided by Don Johnston Inc. 12:00 - 1:30  Exhibits and Lunch (on your own) 12:00 End of conference
1:00 - 4:30  Exhibit Hall set-up 1:45 - 2:45

 

 Session C concurrent presentations 1:30 - 4:30  Session F concurrent presentations
2:00 - 6:00  Registration
3:00 - 4:00  Session D  concurrent presentations
4:00 - 4:45 Welcome and Keynote address
4:45 - 6:30 

Grand Opening of Exhibit Hall

Open to public

 

Featured Presenters:

Name Affiliation Title Description Session and Time
Linda J. Burkhart, Private Consultant Private Consultant PODD Part 1:  Pragmatic Organization of Vocabulary – What is that? Children who are nonverbal and face severe physical and multiple challenges, have little means to clarify intent through these methods. Come learn about a light tech and high tech vocabulary organization system designed to address this issue: Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Displays (PODD - Gayle Porter, Melbourne Australia). E, Thursday, 9:00-12:00
Jim Durkel, M.S.,  CCC-SLP/A Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired What is that?  Increasing curiosity with AT  This session will focus on the learner with significant multiple disabilities, including sensory impairments.  This session will explore helping these students to become aware of and explore the world through every available sense.
 		 E, Thursday, 9:00-12:00
Kelly Fonner, M.S. Fonner Consulting A Universal Design for Learning Approach to RtI
 		 When curricular lessons are Universally Designed for the Learning of all students, teachers can more easily implement the intentions and strategies of Response to Intervention core principles.  This session will describe the process of implementing UDL within the classroom as a practice of providing high-quality instruction and intervention matched to student need.  Assistance through examples will be given of electronic supports for literacy and setting up progress monitoring. A resource list and supports through websites will be shared. E, Thursday, 9:00-12:00
David Hohulin, M.S. UCP of Greater Chicago - Infinitec Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Ways to Excite and Engage Your Students Web 2.0 tools are web-based programs that allow students to interact, create, organize, and express themselves.  This presentation will provide hands-on opportunities to explore some commonly-used Web 2.0 applications and learn how these tools can address the various learning needs of the students in your classrooms. E, Thursday, 9:00-12:00
Karen Kangas, B.S., OTR/L Karen M. Kangas OTR/L, private practice Solving the Challenges of Adequate Access to AT for Those Students with the Most Complex Bodies: Part 1 Access assessment strategies frequently follow a "standard" paradigm originally developed for use with adults.  With children who have not had past experience, access to AT is more challenging than finding a "site."  Explore strategies of assessment and applications which work for these students and their AT systems. E, Thursday, 9:00-12:00
Tracy Kovach, PhD, CCC- SLP The Children's Hospital, Denver, CO Using Assessment to Guide Intervention:  The AAC Profile - A Continuum of Learning Determining levels of communicative competence through AAC assessment is important in providing guidance for intervention that leads to increased competency rather than arbitrary goal attainment. Using Light’s (’89) definitions of communicative competence and The AAC Profile, case examples demonstrate assessment that guides intervention, measures progress and maximizes outcomes. E, Thursday, 9:00-12:00
Susan Stokes, M.A., CCC-SLP   It’s All About Independent Functioning! Using Technology to Develop Critical Life-Skills for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Are you struggling with teaching your students (and the adults who support them!) independent functioning skills? If so, this session is for you! A primary goal when teaching students with ASD is to decrease dependence on adults. However, this can be quite challenging in school-based settings where the educational climate fosters adult support. For our students with ASD, who by the nature of their disability can become quite “prompt-dependent”, this instructional style can be extremely detrimental, resulting in life-long ramifications. This session will address how to appropriately use adult support to teach independent functioning skills. Numerous, practical evidence-based techniques using various modes of technology will be shared, designed to increase the independent functioning skills of our students with ASD.  E, Thursday, 9:00-12:00
Joy Zabala, Ed.D and Diana Carl, MA, LSSP Center for Applied Special Technology  Accessible Instructional Materials 101:  The Cliff Notes Version   Provisions within IDEA 2004 require that specialized formats of textbooks and related core instructional materials be provided to students with print disabilities in a timely manner.  This mandate is raising many questions including how do teams determine if specialized formats are needed?  Join us to explore the issues.  E, Thursday, 9:00-12:00
Linda J. Burkhart, Private Consultant Private PODD Part 2: Partner-Assisted Communication: Moving from Receptive Use to Expression with PODD Communication Books This session is a continuation of the morning session "PODD Part 1.  Children who face severe physical and multiple challenges, who will eventually use light tech or high tech scanning for communication, need to learn language in the same format that they will be using expressively.  It is now clearly evident that using a partner-assisted scanning communication system, receptively, to talk to the child in context, is critical for the child to develop the cognitive framework for how such a system could be used expressively.  How do you know the child is ready to move to expressive communication?  How can you facilitate initiation and expression of intents.  This session will explore the process of moving from receptive language to expressive language – using partner-assisted scanning communication. F, Thursday, 1:30-4:30
Jim Durkel, M.S.,  CCC-SLP/A Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired AT and AI:  Supporting Speech, Language, and Communication Students with auditory impairments, including those with multiple impairments, can benefit from assistive technology.  This session will explore the use of AT to improve auditory access to information as well as support language development and communication skills. F, Thursday, 1:30-4:30
Kelly Fonner, M.S. Fonner Consultation Be a Mr. Wizard:  Assistive Technology Supports in Science Students with Learning Disabilities are often fully included in content areas such as science.  They may need a variety of supports in order to handle the tasks of this curricular area.  Additional challenges are faced as science is one of the NCLB focused topics and the focus of state standards.  This session will offer examples of a variety of assistive technology supports to bring science experiences to the students what are struggling with reading and writing tasks.  Participants will be provided a list of resources and planning tools for implementing assistive technology and other accommodations. F, Thursday, 1:30-4:30
David Hohulin, M.S. UCP of Greater Chicago - Infinitec Accessing Web 2.0 Tools with Assistive Technology: Providing Opportunities for All Learners Web 2.0 tools are resources that provide a variety of opportunities for students to express their knowledge in a numerous ways.  However, for students with disabilities, accessing these tools can be a challenge.  This presentation will focus on simple ways to access Web 2.0 tools with various Assistive Technologies. F, Thursday, 1:30-4:30
Karen Kangas, B.S., OTR/L Private Practice Solving the Challenges of Adequate Access to AT for Those Students with the Most Complex Bodies: Part 2 Access assessment strategies frequently follow a "standard" paradigm originally developed for use with adults.  With children who have not had past experience, access to AT is more challenging than finding a "site."  Explore strategies of assessment and applications which work for these students and their AT systems. F, Thursday, 1:30-4:30
Tracy Kovach, PhD, CCC- SLP The Children's Hospital, Denver, CO “First Steps” for Families Implementing AAC Systems:  A Model Program Introduction of an AAC system into the lives of young children and their families is overwhelming and intimidating; yet extremely importance in system use and positive outcomes.  An innovative program is described that assists families and support teams to better understand skills needed in this process. F, Thursday, 1:30-4:30
Susan Stokes, M.A., CCC-SLP  Private Consultant Challenging Behaviors Communicate! Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder to be Functional Communicators Through Technology This session will challenge participants to consider the difficult or unusual behaviors exhibited by a person with ASD in relation to an expressive communication difference. The entire range of expressive communication abilities exhibited by students with ASD will be addressed, from students who are pre / non-verbal to students who are extremely verbal, yet lack the social communication skills to be successful communicators. The verbal behavior of echolalia will also be discussed, in relation to the positive aspects of this unusual expressive communication form. Core communication functions (essential life skills for communication) will be reviewed, as well as where to start and where to go with AAC systems for people with ASD who are pre-verbal. A unique aspect of this session will focus on an AAC selection process in considering the unique learning and processing skills of a person with ASD to determine an appropriate augmentative/alternative communication system. Numerous examples of practical instructional strategies to teach various expressive communication skills to students with ASD will be shared, through a combination of video clips, actual materials, and personal stories. F, Thursday, 1:30-4:30
Joy Zabala, Ed.D and Diana Carl, MA, LSSP CAST Tell Me More: Exploring the Training and Teaching Products Developed by the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (NCAIM) SEAs and LEAs have been charged with the provision of accessible instructional materials (AIM) in a timely manner when needed.  In order to assist in the process of identifying students who need AIM and ways to address those needs, the NCAIM has developed training and teaching products that are web based and free to all.  Join us for an in-depth exploration of these tools. F, Thursday, 1:30-4:30

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