Students must have a documented low incidence disability accompanied by site staff professional development need for expertise to optimize educational intervention. Services are initiated through district submission of a referral packet of pertinent information.
While the LID program services focus on Alaska school district K-12 special education programs, SESA grant programs have a narrower focus. For more information on specific grants see, AARC (https://www.alaskaarc.org/), AKCAM (https://www.akcam.org/), and DB (https://sesa.org/services/deaf-blind).
www.sesa.org look under the “Services” tab.
For a SESA specialist to observe your student, a student referral and MEI signed by the SPED director and parents must be submitted online www.sesa.org to determine if the student is eligible for SESA services.
The Special Education Service Agency (SESA) and the South East Regional Resource Center (SERRC) are two different organizations with a common focus on education. SESA has a specific focus on educational interventions for students with low incidence disabilities (LID).
SESA provides special education instructional support and training to local school district special education staff working with students with low incidence disabilities.
No, a SESA LID specialist provides outreach consultation and professional development training support to school district staff working with students with low incidence disabilities.
General training requests on how to educate students with low incidence disabilities can be sent to us at sesa@sesa.org. Alternatively, you can make contact with program specialists to learn more about specific training.
You can search the library catalog here:
https://opac.libraryworld.com/opac/home.php
If you aren’t logged in automatically, the username is sesalibrary and the password is sesa.
To borrow, you may use Request Hold (be sure to include your contact information), or email the librarian: afreitag@sesa.org
You can find more information at https://sesa.org/services/multiple-disabilities/printables/ under Behavior Supports menu. Sometimes, understanding student interests requires a preference assessment. This is a systematic approach to finding reinforcers for a student.
It is important to recognize the many ways students can communicate besides verbalizing. Ways to communicate include eye gaze, gestures, body movements, facial expressions/emotions, use of a speech generated device, and other non-verbal behaviors. SESA Specialists can work with the student’s educational team to help support communication with a focus on individual needs.
AAC is used for both individuals that are verbal and non-verbal. Sometimes, AAC is one piece to a multi-modality approach of communication. The benefits of using AAC include the ability to engage in social interaction (not limited to a few communication partners), decrease in maladaptive behaviors, opportunities for sharing one’s opinion, opportunities to build self-advocacy skills, and to gather additional information.
Hi! My name is Kelsey, this is my sign name. I am sharing this vlog with you so that you can
learn a little more about who I am and what I do at SESA as a Deaf and Hard of Hearing
education specialist. I am a certified Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, with a
background in Bilingual-Bicultural education. I graduated from Boston University, four-
thousand miles away from Alaska. My role is to provide consultation to education teams in rural
Alaska that serve DHH students. I recommend resources and assessments that will equip the
teams to better meet their students’ unique educational needs and provide opportunity to access
communication successfully.
You can contact me at any time via phone, video phone, or email. I look forward to meeting you,
working with you, and seeing your DHH student succeed.