Blogging by Dee

More from START today! I have been looking forward to more learning all month and I was not let down today. Our theme for this unit is Positive Behavior Support and implementation and Functional Behavior Assessment. All of the information below is pretty much quoted word for word from the PowerPoint presentations so remember this is not my info, it's coming from the great people at START. Oh, and I know this is a TON of info, but this is only scratching the very surface of what we learned today. SO MUCH info we are just inundated with - I love it! Components of PBS PREVENT Challenging Behaviors (proactive and frontloading) -creating supportive environments TEACH new skills (educational) TEAM (collaborative) Problem-solving approach -uses a variety of perspectives -increase implementation and accountability DATA-BASED Decision Making -use of functional behavioral assessment -using data to guide decision-making Use of Evidence-Based-Practices (EBPs) Bear with me here, it gets mo...

This was passed on to me by Jessica Crampton, Director of Student Services Grandville Public Schools. She received it at the November PASE (Parent Advisors of Special Education) meeting. Scroll through to find some really cool learning resources! http://pase.pbworks.com/November+PASE+Meeting+-+Assistive+Technology+Resources

I haven't blogged in a VERY long time and when I was blogging I really wasn't much for words, but now I have something to talk about! I recently was asked to be a part of this super awesome intensive training course through Grand Valley State University. It is the START Program http://www.gvsu.edu/autismcenter/ which stands for STatewide Autism Resources and Training. If you keep up with me on Facebook at all, I am sure you have seen my status updates about this. Each month from Sept-March, a group of us will get together for 2 full days to learn more about Autism. September was orientation, October was what Autism and Asperger's Syndrome looks like and this month, my favorite, was educational strategies for these kids. Oh, I should mention, I was NOT hand-picked for this - Pieter was. He is our target student and thus I am in the Grandville Schools group. Each group contains different members but for the most part it is like ours: parent, teacher of the student, sp...

Necklaces: Anklets:

I need to keep up better with this! We've had a lot going on the last 3 months, pneumonia, flus, bronchitis, ear infections and ruptures, lots of sick germs. But things are on the upswing now - hopefully! Today Aubrey (almost 6 years old) is mad at me because I didn't take her to the mall and instead brought Pieter in to the doctor's office as his right ear ruptured. The left ear did last week. Poor buddy. I woke up this morning to this: Later this was found on her bed....