Resources

RESOURCES

Articles

Assistive Technology

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Behavioral and Emotional

Classroom Management and Environment

Individual Education Plan (IEP)

Intellectual Disabilities

Learning Disabilities

Low-Incidence Categories

Self-Determination& Self-Advocacy

Special Education 101

Transitioning

Universal Design for Learning

Articles

• Collier, M., Keefe, E. B., & Hirrel, L. A. (2015). Listening to Parents' Narratives: The Value of Authentic Experiences with Children with Disabilities and Their Families. School Community Journal, 25(2), 221-242.

• Mueller, T. G. (2009). IEP Facilitation: A Promising Approach to Resolving Conflicts between Families and Schools. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 41(3), 60-67.

• Smith, T. E., Gartin, B., Murdick, N. L. (2012). Including adolescents with disabilities in general education classrooms. Boston, MA: Pearson Inc.

• Sawyer, M. (2015). BRIDGES: Connecting with Families to Facilitate and Enhance Involvement. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 47(3), 172-179.

• Staples, K. E., & Diliberto, J. A. (2010). Guidelines for Successful Parent Involvement: Working with Parents of Students with Disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 42(6), 58-63.

• Underwood, K. (2010). Involving and Engaging Parents of Children with IEPs. Exceptionality Education International, 20(1), 18-36.

Assistive Technology

• The QIAT Community is a nationwide grassroots group that includes hundreds of individuals who provide input into the ongoing process of identifying, disseminating, and implementing a set of widely-applicable Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology Services in school settings that can be used as a tool. http://www.qiat.org/

• It currently is a volunteer network of assistive (AT) consultants from across the state who continue the work of providing AT training and support within Wisconsin educational settings. http://www.wati.org/

• NATE -- the National Assistive Technology in Education Network -- brings together information from the many fields and disciplines that are involved in assistive technology services in educational settings. www.natenetwork.org

• Communicator Feature Comparison from Enabling Devices. http://enablingdevices.com/files/content/ComparisonChart.pdf

• For students who use a single switch to access a computer. This website by the developers of Scan 'n Read is full of cool freebies. It is all for the Macintosh platform. There are outstanding freeware programs that you can download. They include: CD Jukebox, Single Switch Bingo, Scan 'n Read, and Word Search. http://www.switchintime.com

• Florida Assistive Technology Education Network (ATEN) Homepage has tutorials that can be downloaded on a variety of assistive technology devices. http://www.aten.scps.k12.fl.us

• Trace Research & Design Center includes software toolkits and many disability related articles and papers. http://trace.wisc.edu//world/computer_access/multi/sharewar.htm

• Closing the Gap is a website offering a variety of articles, resources, and interactive activities related to assistive technology.  It offers the “Question of the Week” to encourage visitors to share their knowledge and feedback with other visitors. The site now has a search capability to allow visitors to search their Resource Directory of computer related products for individuals with special needs. http://www.closingthegap.com/index.lasso

• World Institute on Disability promotes access to the internet in K-12 schools for students with disabilities.  They have a new handbook entitled “The Internet: An Inclusive Magnet for Teaching All Students”.  It provides practical tips, general access guidelines, resource listings, and success stories.  It can be downloaded for free from their website at: http://www.wid.org/publications/the-internet-an-inclusive-magnet-for-teaching-all-students/

• YaacK, which stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)connecting Young Kids, is a wonderful site.  You will find it at: http://aac.unl.edu/yaack/toc.html  It begins with what AAC is and when does a child need AAC.  Also on AAC, for great information on creating literacy based communication boards and an excellent resource list on AAC, go to: http://www.aacintervention.com Watch this one for Tips of the Month, too.

• The Student, Environment, Task, Tool (SETT) Scaffolds are a series of forms that, like architectural scaffolds, are designed to be used when and where needed. They are meant to be examples and can be adapted and changed to meet the needs of the people who are using them if credits to the original source are maintained. http://www.joyzabala.com/Documents.html

• Word Prediction- This is Aurora Suite 2005 which is word prediction software, but it has a lot of other cool features as well! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OzoyvDf36l9Bw3Ph9JkrUlhCsNee8Kk1VIXuG9wnG8Q/edit

• TI-84 Plus Talking Calculator which helps students with visual impairments make calculations. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kWxDKRMPDwKZEX_AH6UT_B8NBeSK17ccLgDIBH6K7cI/edit?usp=sharing

• My tip sheet is over a Speech-to-Text system known as Dragon. This allows students to type their essays by simply speaking into their computers. https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1xzGXiWcltn5Nw9kN6E_SPlYlyH9MzINKqDSWK0i9gZU/edit?usp=sharing

• Inspiration Program is a visual tool used to help students form organizational skills and to visually arrange ideas and thoughts into more coherent patterns. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XzcE6yPCjoBfuhp5JL-juMSiotHLMRXE-I4Xg2DkCZo/edit?usp=sharing

• Portable Notetakers is a device for visually impaired students to be able to use a “laptop” like everyone else, and create documents along with access emails, have a calendar for appointments, and access the web. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZrC9xGUfjcyhL03R7Eov-ltT3kfwIbTVXmy9pEu33pY/edit

• Talking calculators allows students with vision impairment to use a calculator. It can also help students with hand eye coordination be sure that they are striking the correct key. https://drive.google.com/a/maine.edu/file/d/0B6ctlfnVJLKTNGZnTHR4M0dKNms/view?usp=sharing

• Livescribe 3 Smartpen is a device allows students to take notes using the pen in a specific notebook and sync the simultaneous audio with the notes. As a result, students can access their notes later and recall why they were important by listening to the audio. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8EcYH0PUzxhRFVyNUFwRHJSbVk/view?usp=sharing

• Lucy 4 Touch is a hands-free keyboard that allows students to use a small laser light lamp to interact with the keyboard and type on a computer. This allows students to use a computer independently. https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1W-32prddSsM00tm8nhIbpo9wlsnQ4vYMD1PxsxAbe6E/edit?usp=sharing

• AirBar is a very new assistive technology that turns any regular computer or laptop screen into an interactive touch screen. https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1RUkyMTG64HteiIroDtL1mE6eLUX755LSzYRaMNRZuyE/edit?usp=sharing

• Big Keys Keyboard: Gives students the ability to type if they find it hard to write by hand or type on a standard keyboard. https://drive.google.com/a/maine.edu/file/d/0B1dILTKuFVz6T1B5aUxQZnFNSG8/view?usp=sharing

• Readingpen 2 is an assistive technology that scans written text and reads it back to you. It has a built-in dictionary too! https://drive.google.com/a/maine.edu/file/d/0BxFi_fZsoCwmQk9IR0NqakhMeTQ/view?usp=sharing

• FM Listening System: This device allows for students with hearing impairments to hear what the teacher is saying much louder and more clearly. https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1MJuekCUno3LvHNOi-S1toXl5R0yvszjjTaz25A8xRl8/edit?usp=sharing

• Ginger is a spelling and grammar checking software that also has additional capabilities such as sentence rephrasing suggestions, text to speech, and personalized practice sessions to improve English skills. https://drive.google.com/a/maine.edu/file/d/0B4BfwYx2X-J3VWJ6WnFZQmF4VEk/view?usp=sharing

• Portable Pen Scanners (scan to text) is a full featured text recognition pen scanner. It is like a highlighter, slide the digital pen over the printed information and the text will instantly appear on your computer screen. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-peuXJ8ShPpVGwtZS1tRVk5MEk/view?usp=sharing

• Audiobooks (Overdrive and Learning Ally apps) are crucial for helping individuals with disabilities that affect reading to succeed and excel in the classroom. https://drive.google.com/a/maine.edu/file/d/0B1SwDYv59Y1wcFg4TFo5OVZRTWc/view?usp=sharing

Autism Spectrum Disorder

• This is a phenomenal resource regarding Autism Spectrum Disorder. The site has endless resources regarding ASD in the news, as well as answers to questions and advocacy updates. The site also promotes the Autism Speaks Walk the has raised millions for the disorder. The site accommodates to your age as well. www.autismspeaks.org

• This is an awesome resource regarding Autism Spectrum Disorder. This website describes what Autism is and what it is like living with it. The best part of this site is that it offers plans for the future. If there are any more questions you have, there is a research tab with rich resources to look at. http://www.autism-society.org/

• How can educators support students with ASD to the best of their ability? Look no further because below is a tip sheet that has different techniques to better support students with autism in classrooms. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DFu8l-b-lTL8RurwOrAIaWnLWK6_81s58ahKqaxm5iU/edit

Behavioral and Emotional

• This is excellent for resources relating to behavioral and emotional disorders, lists treatments and therapies, includes the latest news in relation to these disorders, has several journal articles and more. www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childbehaviordisorders.html

• The Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports is made to define, develop, implement, and evaluate a multi-tiered approach to Technical Assistance that improves the capacity of states, districts and schools to establish, scale-up and sustain the PBIS framework. Emphasis is given to the impact of implementing PBIS on the social, emotional and academic outcomes for students with disabilities. http://www.pbis.org/

Classroom Management and Environment

• Here is a tip sheet on how to avoid placement and to give the students a least restrictive environment.  https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/179ENNg2XkA4o3FsWku6WxDPj9vRK4Fo0VmINFRzhW5Y/edit?usp=sharing

• How can mathematics teachers create learning environments that foster inclusion? https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8EcYH0PUzxhdHY0bk5tTnd4QVE/view?usp=sharing

• Creating an inclusive school climate, tips and tricks to break it down and make it more accessible. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0YQTEn83WvneUJpYUlBNGJVaDg

• This is a tip sheet on how to engage students in the classroom. https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1LeajMoo9V_j6aQvqv2ok7Y_LIG9CtBla68C-2p826D8/edit?usp=sharing

• An article about managing adolescent behaviors, What kind of “managers” do adolescents really need? Helping middle and secondary teachers manage classrooms effectively. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2v8l2RjwwgXeHBzVHJQdk5MWWc/view

• Models of Co-Teaching considerations and planning https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2v8l2RjwwgXQ2xFcXk4d2J3WTg/view

• Best Practices in Classroom Management: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2v8l2RjwwgXa29UYndyRnY5cW8/view

• Co-Teaching Formats: http://faculty.virginia.edu/coteachUVA/5formats.html

Individual Education Plan (IEP)

• IEP 101: Informed Effective Parents/Guardians: The tip sheet includes some ways to help improve parent involvement in IEP. https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1sBxbRrm-b-_pKnJOfM0MNBkhuOfrMtcVcbv00R4w73w/edit?usp=sharing

• How can schools encourage parents to be more involved in IEP meetings? This tip sheet gives some great ideas on what a teacher or administrator can do to encourage this. https://drive.google.com/a/maine.edu/file/d/0B6ctlfnVJLKTVXVXdnFWZkp3dnc/view?usp=sharing

• ­­­As an educator, we need to understand the special education process and how we fit into it. This is a tip sheet to help teachers with that! https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1ZmZxYULoxBZUoQXnBN4qUg_n4sG8ZBTEWWFqUt5Xe30/edit?usp=sharing

• The IEP Process Made Simple is an educational video that describes the 7 steps in the development of an IEP with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism.  (Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU3dGQWZzx8

• Introduction to the IEP Process for Parents. This funny film that gives parents a detailed view of not only the IEP process, but also shows how your local intervention specialist or special education teacher can come to your rescue. This helps parent(s)/guardian(s) that it is important to ask questions and look to a special education teacher or other advisor in the school to help you understand what is going on so your child will succeed. (Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4mlPU5KpDQ

• Understanding Your Child’s IEP: This is a very basic overview of an IEP. This video is useful tool for adults who are new to the IEP process and talks about the different categories, different pages within the IEP and some of the laws according to IDEA. Also, this video has been made for both English and Spanish speaking individuals. (Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qEZGFFUHZM (English) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTJw5NWfqfY (Español)

• The IEP Process Made Simple is an educational video that describes the 7 steps in the development of an IEP with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism.  (Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU3dGQWZzx8

Intellectual Disabilities

• Provides a great overview to all disability categories with links for them, also has a great overview of intellectual disabilities. https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/effective-teaching-methods-for-people-with-intellectual-disabilities/  

• Large list of general strategies for teaching students with these disabilities http://do2learn.com/disabilities/CharacteristicsAndStrategies/IntellectualDisability_Strategies.html

• Teaching strategies, impact on learning, and resources for classroom and presentations about intellectual disabilities. http://www.projectidealonline.org/v/intellectual-disabilities/  

• Provides resources which shows students with intellectual disabilities sharing “I hate it when” moments in school. It can give a better understanding of common challenges, and struggles faced on a regular basis. www.aacap.org/

• Breaks intellectual disability into different types of needs and gives strategies for each. http://www.teachspeced.ca/mild-intellectual-disability

Learning Disabilities

• A site that provides students and family members with resources and information on things such as mental illness. This website appears to be useful for emotional issues such as bullying or traumatic events. While this website seems useful for emotional issues it does not appear to have much information on learning disabilities. http://www.aacap.org/Default.aspx

• LD OnLine offers hundreds of expert-reviewed articles and resources for educators, parents, and others concerned about children and adults with learning disabilities and ADHD. http://www.ldonline.org/index.php

Low-Incidence Categories

• This resource is amazing. It has everything you need to know or want to know about Cerebral Palsy in a clean, easy to use format. You can choose from many different categories such as: Types of CP, risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, etc. There are also a lot of facts about CP. http://yourcpf.org/

• This resource is just an overview of a study that was conducted on the prevalence of Autism in adolescents with intellectual disabilities. Interesting resource, but not a lot of information, just gives you the short overview and outcome of the study. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18674403

• Brief and informative write up about cerebral palsy. The information presented regards what cerebral palsy is, the diagnosis itself and the research that has been done on cerebral palsy. The website offers numerous links that delve further into the disability. Some of them include misdiagnosis of movement disorders, a form of cerebral palsy and honoring people with cerebral palsy. http://www.disabled-world.com/health/neurology/cerebral-palsy/

Self-Determination& Self-Advocacy

• Wright’s Law - Parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys come to Wrightslaw for accurate, reliable information about special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities. http://wrightslaw.com/#sthash.eGm2kfdj.dpuf

• How to build self-determination in students. This tip sheet covers self-determination, as well as self-advocacy and information on disability disclosure. https://drive.google.com/a/maine.edu/file/d/0B4BfwYx2X-J3Szh4WU9HbUZxdjg/view?usp=sharing

• What is self-advocacy, and how do I even teach it? Self-advocacy is important skill for every student to learn to be successful in school and in life. This tip sheet provides examples and resources in how to teach and improve self-advocacy skills. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pEwId3PWtWOgFX62BqxQrKkLhHG3zS787XVYDj6BklU/edit?usp=sharing

• Being a student with a disability can be really challenging, and especially when the student has an IEP, but doesn’t necessarily have control over their IEP. Here is a tip sheet that can help educators encourage students to self-direct their own IEP and how to help the other members of the IEP remember that the IEP is about the student always. https://docs.google.com/a/maine.edu/document/d/1ocV69zHoM6nyDWXhf4ib454gbqpSH5XUB0wHAaUjfRM/edit?usp=sharing

• The National Gateway to Self-Determination is a Web Portal, a clearinghouse for resources, training, and information on promoting self-determination. This site provides a single access for self-advocates, professionals, policy-makers, families, and the general public on the current best practices and evidence-based activities in enhancing self-determination in the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. http://www.ngsd.org/

Special Education 101

• This glossary can be used to look up the definitions for the disability related terms covered in many of our resources. http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/glossary/

• Wrightslaw is a place where parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys come to for accurate, reliable information about special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities.  http://wrightslaw.com/#sthash.eGm2kfdj.dpuf

• The IDEA’s disability terms and definitions guide how States in their own turn define disability and who is eligible for a free appropriate public education under special education law. The definitions of these specific disability terms from the IDEA regulations are shown beneath each term listed. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/categories/

• Chris Clayton is a Pennsylvania educator who has a wealth of knowledge to share for schools, parents, teachers and students. https://guest.portaportal.com//chrisclayton32

• The role of the special educator, What every special educator must know. https://www.cec.sped.org/~/media/Files/Standards/News%20and%20Reports/Redbook%202009.pdf

• The following are the forms that the Maine Department of Education Special Services team requires, forms that are for local use as required and forms for local use that are optional. http://www.maine.gov/doe/specialed/forms/index.html

• Empowering Parents, a resource that provides tips, advice and help for parents/guardians with children with behavioral concerns. There are different articles, blogs and behavior charts that can be utilized by parent(s)/guardian(s) to understand where the children are coming from and how to overcome different situations. This site can also help parents by knowing how they can help their child best solve the problem. If the parent comes to an IEP meeting of prior knowledge of what works better for their child, this can help with the child’s IEP. (Website) https://www.empoweringparents.com/

• Parent’s Rights and Procedural Safeguards is a training video covering information in regards to parent(s)/guardian(s) rights. This goes into more detail and specifics of what your rights are when it comes to the special education process. (Training Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z-bFNgPhz4

Transitioning

• The transition from high school to college is hard, and the process can be made more difficult if the student has a disability. Here is a tip sheet to help guide educators in helping students choose, apply, and prepare for college. https://drive.google.com/a/maine.edu/file/d/0B1SwDYv59Y1wWnQzVUc0VmN2Xzg/view?usp=sharing

• Strategies for transitioning students out of high school, In this tip sheet I go over some tips and resources for some of the best strategies to help students with learning disabilities transition from high school. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QOOZLFxRsz1E7xho1fB_z9v0Gp5mdZM6vTyDSOYSkeI/edit

• What steps can families and students with disabilities take for the student to be successful in postsecondary education? This tip sheet gives some tips to help! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XQ7q6svEYyFQFOiQMWxDGyt1v8_D8jm2TNBOhYlc9dA/edit

• Since 2000, the Transition Coalition, located at the University of Kansas, Beach Center on Disability, has been maximizing professional development opportunities for secondary transition and college and career readiness of youth with disabilities. http://transitioncoalition.org/

• The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) coordinates national resources, offers technical assistance, and disseminates information related to secondary education and transition for youth with disabilities in order to create opportunities for youth to achieve successful futures. http://www.ncset.org/

• NTACT’s purpose is to assist State Education Agencies, Local Education Agencies, State VR agencies, and VR service providers in implementing evidence-based and promising practices ensuring students with disabilities, including those with significant disabilities, graduate prepared for success in postsecondary education and employment. http://transitionta.org/

Universal Design f Learning

• Offered by the National Center on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the UDL Series provides web-based rich media presentations and resources to increase understanding of the UDL framework, enhance utilization of UDL tools, processes, and resources, support effective UDL implementation, and inform UDL advocates, families, and communities about professional development and policy initiatives. http://udlseries.udlcenter.org/about

• The UDL Guidelines, an articulation of the UDL framework, can assist anyone who plans lessons/units of study or develops curricula (goals, methods, materials, and assessments) to reduce barriers, as well as optimize levels of challenge and support, to meet the needs of all learners from the start. They can also help educators identify the barriers found in existing curricula. However, to fully understand these Guidelines one must first understand what UDL is. http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines

• CAST is an educational research & development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning. www.cast.org