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What: Click here to read the schedule and workshops that will be offered. Make sure to scroll through all four pages. Click here for a registration form to mail to us with a check, or for online registrations, fill in the below information by typing into the text box, click Submit, and then go below to pay by PayPal. Costs for SLP/Audiologists: $350 for four days, includes lunch and snacks. To use PayPal without a PayPal account, you can use a credit card.  See the first screen that comes up and click on "Don't have a Paypal account? Pay With a Credit Card." Cost for students: $100 For more information and to register: Visit http://www.mshaonline.org/

Registration is now open for this premiere regional conference on special education and the law. Please join us! Benefits: Learn from special education law experts from around the country Build professional relationships and network with colleagues Stay current on recent legal decisions and interpretations of special education law and litigation Expand your knowledge on emerging legal issues and trends When: September 26 - Optional Mini-Courses September 27 and 28 - Institute Keynote Speaker Spotlight: Jonathan Mooney "Re-Drawing the Lines - Neurodiversity: A Compass to a Changing World" Mr. Mooney is a writer and activist with dyslexia who learned to read when he was 12-years-old. He has since earned an honors degree in English Literature at Brown University and has written and published two thought-provoking books. The Institute will feature four keynote presentations at General Sessions and offers sixteen workshops on current topics such as Discipline Under the IDEA, Untangling Manifest Determinations, and Avoiding the Pitfalls in the IEP Process. Pre-institute Mini-Courses will provide an in-depth view of special education law applicable in public schools. We are pleased to announce that the 2011 Institute will be held in downtown Portland at the Portland Hilton and Executive Towers. The hotel has offered an excellent, discounted guest room rate. More information is available on the website. Register Now for the 28th Annual Pacific Northwest Institute on Special Education and the Law, September 26-28, 2011, at the Portland Hilton and Executive Tower, in Portland, Oregon. Complete details available at www.uwschoollaw.org

Most “standard” computer games get harder because they get faster, relying on the player’s reflexes and coordination keeping up. For example, in Tetris the blocks appear and drop faster and faster as your level increases Untimed games or time-independent games are those where you aren’t penalised if you play a game very slowly, have bad reflexes, or don’t posses the hand-eye coordination to time your movements accurately. Games like this are “turn-based” where any game actions only occur in response to the player’s actions, and don’t have any other timers or time-related limitations. One of my favourite time-independent games, Drop7, is another block-dropping game but each block only “falls” once you tell the game where to put it. Drop7 increases the difficulty by changing the mix of blocks which are dropped and by adding a layer of hidden (grey) blocks at the bottom of the screen after a number of moves Click here to read the full article

Click here to read the article (PDF) The FFA motto is simple but challenging: Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve. More than a half million agricultural education students in nearly 7,500 FFA chapters across the U.S. and its territories have accepted the challenge to live out that motto. This article showcases a few examples of how AgrAbility interfaces with FFA, how FFA provides bridges to new levels of learning for rural youth with and without disabilities, and how some chapters are serving people with disabilities in their communities.

The Arc recently conducted a groundbreaking survey of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and discovered there are many urgent unmet needs for support keeping these individuals in the shadows of our society. We recently released a report detailing the survey’s top findings and outlining a broad call-to-action for the I/DD community and others who care about the rights of people with I/DD. We invite you to read the full report here and join with us to show your support and share your story through one of the links below. Together we can make a difference in the lives of people with I/DD and their families!

Click here for full conference information and registration What: Want an intriguing conference that will channel you and your students to an invigorating new level, change the current path of your classroom, and set the course for change in your school? Then don't miss the 2011 August Institute. There is something for everyone regardless of how you perceive your classroom technology integration skills and teaching. You’ll leave with new ideas, knowledge of at least one free online application and many techniques to set your students on an exciting path of innovation and self motivation. When: August 8-10, 2011 Where: Phyllis J. Washington Education Building - University of Montana Missoula, MT Conference Highlights: Keynote address and presentations by Kevin Honeycutt (Teaching Wired Learners) Half-day sessions (novice & intermediate) with Tony Vincent (Project-based Learning) Wes Fryer ( iPhoneography 101; Talk with Media: Simple Ideas for Powerful Sharing and SmartNetworks) Concert with Chance McKinney Technology workshops for both novice and Intermediate users Technology coaches to support participants during workshops for novice users Presentations by our regional technologists, Diane Woodard and Dean Phillips Monday Evening Poster sessions highlighting Best Practices in Technology by teachers participating in the SLATE grants Tuesday Evening – Tech in the Wild session – using technology outside the school walls Ability to earn 2 semester credits or 22 OPI renewal credits Plus...many of our other sessions on school culture, RTI, special education, Indian Education, gifted ed, reading and math interventions … and much, much more

Click here to register for this webinar -- $39 What: This session is a thorough examination of the current technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired to access electronic information. Most of these individuals can use their computers effectively by using screen magnification software. Those with very low or no vision can use screen reading software. Braille literate folks use Braille translation software, Braille displays, Braille embossers, and Braille graphics products. We will trace the recent evolution of this technology and the implications for today’s young students, college students, working adults, and seniors. When: Wednesday, September 22, 2011 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time Presenter: William J. Bielawski III, Life Enhancement / Job Coach, The Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired Full Abstract – Including speaker biography and learning points

Click here to register for this webinar -- $39 What: This session is a thorough examination of the current technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired to access electronic information. Most of these individuals can use their computers effectively by using screen magnification software. Those with very low or no vision can use screen reading software. Braille literate folks use Braille translation software, Braille displays, Braille embossers, and Braille graphics products. We will trace the recent evolution of this technology and the implications for today’s young students, college students, working adults, and seniors. When: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time Presenter: William J. Bielawski III, Life Enhancement / Job Coach, The Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired Full Abstract – Including speaker biography and learning points

Four of the lowest-performing schools in Montana recently got some good news. All four saw improvement in the annual state tests that measure how well 10th-graders are doing in math, reading and science, said Denise Juneau, state superintendent of public instruction.

Click here to download brochure with full session schedule (PDF) What: With an extraordinary command of facts and thought leadership, Zhao describes how schools have to keep pace with a world that is being dramatically transformed by globalization, the "death of distance," and digital technology. Instead of falling in line with mandates for standardization, his prescription is for educators to: Expand the definition of success beyond math and reading test scores. Personalize schooling so that every student has an opportunity to learn. View schools as enterprises that embrace globalization and digital technology. A.C.E. has opened registration for the September 12, 2011 PIR day to be held at Laurel High School. Yong Zhao, author of the book Catching Up or Leading the Way, will be the general session speaker and ACE is pleased to offer several break-out sessions along with CSPD and MRESA 3. There is a $60.00 per person fee for those who would like to attend but are not part of an ACE member school. The PIR day program is attached and you can register for the day by clicking on this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TVPQFGZ When: Monday, September 12, 2011 Where: Laurel High School Laurel, MT For more information: Contact Andrea Fischer, Director, ACE at 406-690-9872 or afischer.acemt@gmail.com

This morning, I read an article online at Education Week titled, "Where Are the Autism Teaching Competencies?" (1)  This commentary calls attention to the fact that only a few states have set forth autism competencies for teachers. What is most interesting is that a few states, both Virginia and California, have successfully this accomplished this task. Yet the majority of states haven't figured create or adapt currently existing autism teaching competencies.

Today, the Obama Administration outlined how states can get relief from provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – or No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – in exchange for serious state-led efforts to close achievement gaps, promote rigorous accountability, and ensure that all students are on track to graduate college- and career-ready. “To help states, districts and schools that are ready to move forward with education reform, our administration will provide flexibility from the law in exchange for a real commitment to undertake change. The purpose is not to give states and districts a reprieve from accountability, but rather to unleash energy to improve our schools at the local level,” President Obama said. What this means for you:   For Teachers: A collaborative learning culture where teachers can target instruction towards the needs of students and offer a well-rounded curriculum. Fair and responsible evaluations that are based on multiple measures including peer review, principal observation, and classroom work.  For Principals: Greater flexibility to tailor solutions to the unique educational challenges of their students and recognition for progress and performance.  For Parents: Accurate and descriptive information about their children’s progress and honest accountability that recognizes and rewards success – where schools fall short – targeted and focused strategies for the students most at risk.  For Students: A system that measures student growth and critical thinking to inspire better teaching and greater student engagement across a well-rounded curriculum. For more information on how this flexibility package may affect you, read our blog post: What NCLB Flexibility Means for You

When I heard that Steve Jobs had passed away, I was boarding a train from New York to Philadelphia to visit my son. A friend phoned and then text-messaged me the news before I could read it on Twitter. It felt, I said later, as if someone had torn the hair out of my head. When I did tweet, the first semi-coherent thought I was able to write about Jobs was also about my son: I’m on my way to PHL to see my son, who uses a device Steve Jobs invented to help him talk. He will never know. He will never know.

Transitioning to Kindergarten: A Toolkit for Early Childhood EducatorsThe transition to kindergarten is most successful when it is carefully planned out over the entire pre-kindergarten year.  Starting as early as the first day of preschool, it’s important to make sure that children are developing the academic skills that help form a foundation of strong pre-reading and pre-writing, as well as the social and emotional skills they’ll need in kindergarten. 

From experts in the field of adaptive technology for people who are blind and visually impaired, the reviews of Kindle DX are mixed. They hope improvements are made to accommodate different levels of vision impairments.

High rates of premature birth are the main reason the United States has higher infant mortality than do many other rich countries, government researchers reported Tuesday in their first detailed analysis of a longstanding problem.

We now know that some people, like Jerry Pinkney, can be geniuses just in a different type of intelligence, and probably have a condition that makes it difficult to concentrate for periods of time on certain types of learning, such as reading. Despite these learning differences, he actually graduated with honors, but had to put in much more effort due to his learning challenges.

Access your free digital copy by clicking on the cover image

Read it page by page, click on links to advertisers, search by key words, download a PDF (note: 14 MB file). It's our way of saying "Thank You" for the support and encouragement we've received from members of the autism community over the last 10 years.

Using data from state reading and mathematics tests, this report takes an in-depth look at the performance of students with disabilities and highlights the problems with the testing data for these students.

Test scores on state assessments for students with disabilities have increased in recent years, according to a new study released today. The Washington-based Center on Education Policy examined state mathematics and reading test results from the 2005-06 school year to the 2007-08 school year. Those state tests are used to determine whether schools and school districts are making adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.