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What is in it:

• Help for Haiti: SESA’s Streamlined Effort
• SESA Board and Staff
• Graduate Program in Portland
• Teen Speaks Out for Autism
• It Takes a Team to TANGO
• Conferences and Workshops
• Students with Special Needs Help Haiti
• PBS Resources Continue Reading

-By Beth Burris, Education Specialist, SESA

After hearing the tragic news about the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that was reported from Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, Nancy Nagarkar, executive director at SESA, knowing that I had lived in the Dominican Republic (DR) for over two years, inquired about the safety of my Dominican friends there. I had only heard that they were not directly affected by quake damage.  Five days later, I received an email from a missionary reporting that hundreds of thousands of lives had been lost.  He told me that my dearest friends in the DR wanted to contact me.  They knew I was in Alaska, but truthfully thought it was not part of the United States and did not quite know how to contact me.

My Dominican friends could stand by no longer. They witnessed millions in donations and supplies being diverted to their tiny neighboring country, while Haitian red tape was being unraveled.  The DR also suffers from poverty and corruption. My friends knew that these donations would likely become “lost” in time.  Their plan was to drive into Haiti and personally deliver food and supplies. Continue Reading

SESA Board of Directors

Milton Cheemuk
Diane George
Millie Ryan (Ex officio)
Sharon Fishel
Taylor Gregg
Eric Gebhart
Debbie Kitelinger
P.J. Ford Slack
Tonja Updike Continue Reading

Portland State University (PSU) is currently accepting applications for its graduate program in visual impairments. The program, which prepares teachers of children with visual impairments (TVIs), is a two-year, part-time program.  It culminates in initial licensure for visual impairments, or an endorsement for visual impairments and a Master of Science degree.  The distance education program is designed to allow teacher candidates to work while completing classes. The second, optional summer of the program is dedicated to core classes required for the Master of Science in Education degree, which may be taken on the PSU campus or through another university and transferred to PSU.  A comprehensive exam is administered during the final term of the program.  For students who already possess a Master’s degree, core classes and the exam are not required.  Alaska students accepted into the program are offered Oregon resident tuition and a $10,000 federal grant to help offset tuition and fees.  Students are also eligible for additional grants as vision is considered a high-needs category.  Full information may be found at www.pdx.edu/sped/vil.html.  Questions may be directed to James “Blue” Bickford:  503-725-5495 or bickford@pdx.edu

-By Joann Groff, joann@theacorn.com

When Zak Kukoff was 5 years old, his autistic cousin came to live with his family for a couple of years. Zak remembers feeling sad and angry about the way his cousin was treated outside his home.

“She was kind of ostracized in the community, and I remember thinking, years later, maybe I could do something about that,” he said.

Now a freshman at Westlake High School, Zak is doing something about it. Two years ago, he began an organization called Autism Ambassadors, which aims to teach typical children how to help autistic children in their daily school experiences. Continue Reading

—By Elissa Bjorum, speech-language pathologist,  Sitka School District

David is a student in fourth grade at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School in Sitka.  He experiences a syndrome that makes it difficult for him to formulate speech sounds.  As a result, David and his team were evaluating different voice output devices.  The team was in the midst of trials with an assistive technology (AT) device when David received the Tango from SESA’s lending library.  SESA originally purchased the Tango through a grant funded by the Alaska Mental Health Trust to allow students in rural and remote areas of Alaska to try out the device. The Trust’s grant project is technically over, but the Tango continues traveling throughout Alaska and staying long enough to see if the device is a good fit for students following their “test drive.”

David had already tried two other communication devices prior to using the Tango. The family generously provided one device and the second, the Cyrano, was provided earlier by SESA.  David enjoyed both devices, especially his being able to assist in customizing the devices.  However, at school we found that as time went on, the adults were more engaged with customizing the devices than David was.  Basically, he wasn’t using the AT devices by himself. Continue Reading

Alaska

Alaska Special Education  Director’s Conference
September 15-17, 2010
Millennium Alaskan Hotel
Anchorage, AK
Sped@alaska.gov
http://www.eed.state.ak.us/tls/sped/Directors_Conference.html

Alaska Statewide Special  Education Conference
February 18-24, 2011
Sheraton Anchorage Hotel
Anchorage, AK
arthur@thecoordinatorsinc.com
http://www.assec.org Continue Reading

—By LeiLani Golden

CAIRO, GA (WALB) - Some special needs students from Thomas County Central High School are helping to feed the Haiti earthquake survivors.

They spent the day putting together pre-packaged meals as part of the Kids Against Hunger program based out of Cairo.

Dominic Reddick saw the images of Haiti after the devastating earthquake and knew something needed to be done.

“Earthquake has been erupted in Haiti and they need some kind of help,” said an emotional Reddick. Continue Reading

—for follow up to Reference Shelf Insert

National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) – http://pbis.org

The Center has been established by the Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education to give schools capacity-building information and technical assistance for identifying, adapting, and sustaining effective school-wide disciplinary practices. Continue Reading

Our new Fairbanks office hosted an open house on February 18, and was attended by many in the community.  This second location is ideal for trainings and provides a resource center for the area, including a lending library, make-and-take center, and video teleconferencing for national presentations.  If you are in the area, drop by Monday through Friday at 542 4th Avenue, Suite 207 during our office hours of 9:00 – 2:00, or call 907-456-2600.