TRI's Amy Parker at 2015 TASH Conference


Back to Upcoming Events

TRI's Amy Parker at 2015 TASH Conference

Dec 2, 2015 to Dec 4, 2015

Celebrating 40 Years of Progressive Leadership

Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland, OR

Amy Parker

TRI's Amy Parker will be participating in two presentation at this year's TASH Conference, "An Online Community to Support Individuals with Complex Communication Needs" and "Open Hands, Open Access: Online Training for Educators of Individuals with Deafblindness."

From the conference website - "This year’s theme, 'Celebrating 40 Years of Progressive Leadership,' acknowledges TASH’s 40 years of generating change within the disability community and anticipates a brighter, more inclusive future for people with disabilities in all aspects of life. Each year, the TASH Conference impacts the disability field by connecting attendees to innovative information and resources, facilitating connections between stakeholders within the disability movement, and helping attendees reignite their passion for an inclusive world.



Presentations:

Communication Matrix Community Logo

An Online Community to Support Individuals with Complex Communication Needs


Alexandria Cook - Oregon Health & Science University

Amy Parker - Coordinator, National Center on Deaf-Blindness

Charity Rowland - Oregon Health & Science University

Family members and professionals who support individuals with complex communication needs (CCN) are often challenged in finding high quality, accessible resources in local communities. To address this need, a free, virtual Communication Matrix (CM) community has been launched. The CM Community includes many features that users will find useful in supporting individuals with CCN. Attendees will be introduced to this open and unique use of technology as an intervention for professionals and family members that provides just in time tools to support people with CCN.

OBJECTIVES:

By the end of the session, participants will be able to a) Describe 3 benefits of participating in communities of practice b) Connect with professionals and parents from around the country to learn from and help them in their work supporting individuals with CCN. c) Identify 2 resources available on the Communication Matrix Community of Practice that improve the participant?s practice.



OHOA Logo

Open Hands, Open Access: Online Training for Educators of Individuals with Deafblindness


Maurice Belote - Project Coordinator, California Deaf-Blind Services

Julie Maier - Educational Specialist, California Deaf-Blind Services

Amy Parker - Coordinator, National Center on Deaf-Blindness

Practitioners and family members who support students with deaf-blindness often struggle when it comes to accessing local resources to meet the needs of this unique population. Open Hands Open Access (OHOA) is a federally funded online training initiative developed by the National Center on Deaf-Blindness designed to provide free, high quality, relevant learning materials to support interveners (i.e., 1:1 paraeducators with specialized knowledge/skills in deaf-blindness) and other team members . We will provide an overview of the national movement for interveners as a related service and OHOA, including a demonstration of available OHOA modules and details on national training cohorts.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Participants will learn the outcomes for students with deaf-blindness who receive support from effective, well-trained interveners and the national movement for designating this role as a related service under new authorization of IDEA.

2. Participants will learn the rationale and need for 1:1 paraeducator support for some students who are deaf-blind and the specific roles and responsibilities of an effective intervener including: using interpretation to provide access to the student?s educational environment and curriculum ; effective collaboration with other practitioners and family members; facilitating interactions and relationships between the student who is deaf-blind and others; and promoting the student?s positive self-identity, independence and self-determination skills.

3. Participants will gain knowledge of an available, fully accessible, and innovative system for training paraeducators and other educational team members using online learning platforms.

4. Participants will gain knowledge of how to access Open Hands Open Access for individual training or for professional development designed for schools and local educational agencies and learn of the professional development results of hosted training modules led by the state deaf-blind projects in several states over the past two years.

5. Participants will gain knowledge of practical tips that technical assistance providers or trainers may use to increase engagement and learning with adult participants, thereby increasing effective support to students with deaf-blindness.


2015 TASH Conference PosterClick here for more information about the 2015 TASH Conference.





Location

Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront
1401 SW Naito Pkwy
Portland, OR 97201

The Research Institute : Western Oregon University : 345 N. Monmouth Ave. : Monmouth, OR 97361
Contact Us: 800-438-9376 | info@triwou.org