Transition Capacity Building

Training date: 9/16/21

Have you ever been involved in the ARD process and not quite understood all the acronyms, paperwork or protocol? Here is your opportunity to have the ARD process broken down into what happens before, during and after the meeting.

After retiring as a special educator Lucinda Thelen, M.Ed., CAPE is now a Program Aide for the Center on Disability and Development (CDD) at Texas A&M University. Her teaching experiences include working with students with Autism, Adapted Physical Education, general education and as an adjunct professor at A&M. Lucinda earned her M.Ed. from A&M in Educational Psychology with an emphasis on Low Incidence Disabilities. In 2007, she was named Education Region 4’s Secondary Teacher of the Year. With her National Certification in Adapted Physical Education, she has published for TAHPERD as well as being named their Texas Adapted Physical Educator of the Year. Lucinda is most proud of being a mother to an adult son with autism.

Training objectives:

• Gain a greater understanding of Special Education Acronyms.
• Learn about the ARD process and agenda.
• Understand the role and responsibilities of each member on an ARD team.

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Training date: 8/12/21

Jeanette T. Smith is a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP) in the state of Texas. She received her Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Houston-Victoria. She is currently a Doctoral Candidate within the Texas Tech Educational Psychology Ph.D. program. In her role as LSSP, she conducts psychoeducational evaluations for students 3-21 years of age; facilitates Annual, Dismissal, and Review (ARD) meetings for special education students; provides counseling as a related service; creates Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) for students; and consults with teachers as well as families regarding behavioral interventions pertinent to their students’ needs. She has been practicing in Texas public schools for the last nine years.

Training objectives:

• Understand the basic components of psychoeducational evaluations (e.g. cognition, academics, adaptive functioning, etc.).
• Understand the technical jargon used within evaluations.
• Understand how information contained within evaluations can relate to the needs of an individual in a workplace setting.

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Training date: 7/21/21

The guest speakers will be Catherine Fowler and Janie Vicchio.Catherine Fowler is the co-director of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: the Collaborative (NTACT:C), funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). Her work with NTACT:C, other grants, and as adjunct faculty at UNC Charlotte focuses on the successful, respectful, and meaningful integration of individuals with disabilities in society.

Janie Vicchio is a graduate research assistant for the National Technical National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: the Collaborative (NTACT:C) funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). Her work with students with disabilities focuses on employment and promoting independence.

Training objectives:

• Increase knowledge of work-based learning experiences.
• Increase knowledge of school-based and work-based enterprises.

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Training date: 6/24/21

Training objectives:

• Understand how the fundamental principles of self-determination can be defined for the classroom.
• Explain and recognize how students and teachers can utilize BEST lessons to meet self-determination skills in the classroom.
• Share strategies to teach and practice self-determination with students.

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Training date: 5/4/21

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Training date: 4/13/21

Facilitating individualized and successful work experiences for students takes comprehensive information about the student and partnership with the family. Here, we focus on the process of identifying student interests and abilities as well as potential work experience opportunities by using a structured family interview to enhance information gathering. The result of these steps should be 1) having gathered enough student information to begin looking at employers to interview, and 2) families who are willing to consider competitive employment and offer to help finding potential sites and supporting the process. Following these steps helps to avoid poor job matches and miscommunication with families.

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Training date: 3/23/21

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Training date: 1/21/21

Speakers: Veronica Estala-Gutierrez and Rosalba A. Calleros

Training objectives:

• Applying active listening skills to build effective relationships between professionals and families.
• Understanding cultural background.
• Finding effective ways of communication to overpass language barriers throughout the whole transition process.
• Encouraging networks of support.
• Facilitating realistic and sustainable long-term plans.
• Focusing on strengths, abilities and preferences.

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