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What:
The purpose of Part 1: Getting Started is designed to help practitioners and parents answer the question, "What am I supposed to do?" Drs. Rogers and Mayne will talk to you about social interaction behaviors that a child with predominantly nonverbal communication skills uses to communicate. Then address communication skills and activities to support emerging communication with teachable suggestions for facilitators who gradually become the child's communication partners. Discussion of development of beginning literacy skills, choosing vocabulary for AAC, selecting different AAC tools, trying various access methods, and finally troubleshooting AAC options for beginning AAC users.

When:
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
11:00 am - 12:00 pm Mountain

Cost:
Free of charge

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What:
Writing is not real until it is shared. It is essential for students to have opportunities to celebrate and share what they wrote in order to become better writers (Caulkins, Sturm, Musselwhite). This webinar will present a number of tools that can be used for free on the iPad to make a few words stand out in spectacular ways. We can use wordle on any computer with an internet connection to make beautiful word clouds. With the iPad, you can also paste text written by students into a free app called "Wordsalad." Or take a picture or their writing and embellish it using a draw program that allows photo import (e.g., Doodle Buddy). Classroom projects can be uploaded to VoiceThread, shared on powerpoint sites or used to create a story on

When:
Thursday, April 25, 2013
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Mountain

Cost:
Free of charge

Register for this webinar What:
This session will highlight ways to use highly functional sentence starters as predictable charts and poems. Here they are, the top two word sequences for vocabulary use in early writing (Clendon, Sturm, & Cali, 2004): I like, Going to, I am, Went to, To the, I went, In the, It was, My mom, And my. Learn how to structure experiences for students that support and celebrate their earliest writing attempts using poetry forms. These sequences can be embedded in list poems, add-a-word poems, comparison poems, and other poetry frames.

When:
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Mountain

Cost:
Free of charge

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What:
Initiating a topic is a crucial skill for communicative competence.  Likewise, choosing a topic to write about is an essential for beginning writers.  Fortunately, the built-in camera of the iPad can help students capture events for topic setting.  Images can also be easily downloaded from websites that advertise activities or places that they visit.

When:
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Mountain

Cost:
Free of charge

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What:
As we are gathering information about a student's interests, strengths and skills, how do we translate that information into what the student could do for tasks on the job?  Many times we get stuck on the one task we witness a student perform well and then only visualize them doing that task in a new location. How do we identify new and challenging tasks the student could do in addition to what they have already tried?

This webinar will provide the audience with strategies for observing student performance, capturing descriptive information, identifying skills and abilities and then translating this information into ideas of additional job tasks that they could perform for employers.

When:
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Mountain

Cost:
Free of charge. Space is limited

Register for this webinar What:
This webinar will describe the cooperative planning and assistive technology service coordination that will assist post high school students with disabilities to continue their education in post-secondary schools, or to enter the workforce. The presentation will inform participants about the rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities, post-secondary schools, and employers.

When:
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
1:00 pm - 2:30 Mountain

Cost:
Free of charge, $16.00 fee to recieve credit

Register for this webinar series What:
Learn about top iPad picks for helping adults who have communication challenges such as aphasia and verbal apraxia. An emphasis will be places on drill and practice apps to improve verbal expression and auditory expression skills as well as iPad features, apps and strategies to help compensate for speaking and understanding deficits. After a formal presentation showing how to use the iPad and selected apps and features, there will be 20 minutes for collaboration, discussion and Q&A. A detailed handout will be emailed to participants with information about all the resources which are included in the presentation as well as additional resources which may prove helpful. This webinar is limited to the first 25 individuals who register.

When:
April 23, 25 & 29, 2013
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm Mountain

Cost:
Part 1: Speaking and Understanding, $25.00
Part 2: Reading and Writing, $25.00
Part 3: Cognition and Memory, $25.00

Register for this event What: The course will provide training in effective report writing strategies for securing speech generating devices (SGDs) from various funding sources such as Medicare and Medicaid. Participants will learn about the various funding sources available that fund SGDs, as well as the report writing requirements for those funding sources. Please note this course covers national guidelines. State specific differences do exist, but will only be briefly covered here. Participants will also learn strategies for responding to deferrals or denials of SGD funding from the various funding sources. When: April 26, 2013 8:00 am - 9:00 am Mountain May 13, 2013 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Mountain Cost: $35.00

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What:
PRC believes in providing single words for novel communication in addition to preprogrammed sentences and topic/environment specific vocabulary. This course explains the unique method of organizing and accessing vocabulary for all language levels and addresses the ongoing struggle with the constant need for adding vocabulary. It consists of two segments and will focus on Unity 60, 84, and 144 (found in the ECO, Vantage Lite, Vantage, or Vanguard). In the first segment, you will learn about the vocabulary options, icon features/functions and Unity Patterns 1 and 2. In the second segment you will learn Unity Pattern 3 through 5. Strategies for teaching Unity will be addressed throughout the training.

When:
This training meets 2 times. You are expected to attend both sessions.
May 8, 9, and June 4, 5, 2013 
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Mountain (both days)

Cost:
Free of charge.

Download Dyslexia Seminar Poster  Download Dyslexia Seminar Press Release Download Dyslexia Seminar Article What: As a dyslexic practitioner, Elsie Johnson gets to work and speak regularly with dyslexic adults, children, and their parents. Consequently she knows that dyslexic thinkers are imaginative, intuitive, and curious people whose main learning tool is their imagination, intuition and curiosity. Parents and teens who attended have seen results in their teens' self esteem and confidence. Teachers appreciate the information and resources they can use on their own. Leave with the understanding that dyslexic thinkers are among the brightest in our society; what's more, with the right approach, the dyslexic thinking style contains all the ingredients for academic success. When: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 7:00 pm Mountain Where: The Summit 205 Sunnyview Lane Kalispell, MT 59901 Cost: Free of charge. Seating is limited - Pre-registration is required. REGISTER TODAY at 282-7416 or elsie@thelearningoptions.com

Register for this webinar What:
During this webinar, engage with Pearl Buck Center's Preschool Director, Dr. Renee Van Norman, as she describes a tiered model of prevention and promotion that focuses on providing comprehensive interventions and supports to children and their families by matching the intensity of interventions to the individual need for support (McIntosh et al., 2006). In this preschool program-wide model, universal-level supports were delivered to families through carefully crafted school-wide activities and Family Fun/Education Nights. Secondary and tertiary-level supports were provided through home visits and classroom instruction. Assessment data and related tools as part of a system of continuous quality improvement will be shared.

When:
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Mountain

Cost:
Free of charge

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What:
In this webinar, Dr. Stephen Blumberg, Acting Associate Director for Science for the Division of Health Interview Statistics at the National Center on Health Statistics, will present data from the recently released 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health and the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services to help participants better understand the rise in prevalence estimates of parent-reported autism spectrum disorder.

When:
Thursday, April 18, 2013
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Mountain

Cost:
Free of charge

What:
The second annual Autism HALO benefit features original tunes by Montana songwriters Jim Devine, Charlie Denison, Sean Devine and Katie Boeck. Proceeds help children and families dealing with autism.

When:
Saturday, April 27, 2013
7:30 pm Mountain

Where:
Beaver Creek's Gem Theatre
102 Orgain Ave.
Wibaux, MT 59353

Cost:
Tickets $20-$30

The Region IV Summer Institute will include, "The Behavior Code: Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students" presented by Jessica Minahan, BCBA. For further information contact dmiller@bridgeband.com.

The MSU-B/Easter Seals Autism Conference will have a variety of speakers including Dr. Peter Gerhardt. Registration is not yet available but the MAEP will have scholarships available. If you are interested in a scholarship to attend this conference please send an email to ddoty@mt.gov with the Subject line: "Billings Autism Conference August" and include your name, school district(s), position and most totally importantly, an email address which you will check in July and August (the scholarships will require you to confirm your attendance shortly before the conference.)

The June 11-14, 2013 Institute in Glendive will include "New Trends and Strategies for Children with Autism" by Shauna Heiser. Email cspd.r1@gmail.com for more information.

View institute details and registration
Download the flyer for this event

What:
The 2013 Summer Institute is addressing Common Core Standards, Graduation Matters Montana, as well as sessions for Beginning and Advanced MBI teams, multi-tiered systems of support, challenging behaviors and classroom strategies at all three  tiers. This year also offering a comprehensive School Mental Health Strand. 

When:
June 17 - 21, 2013
See website for itinerary

Where:
Montana State University
101 Montana Hall
Bozeman, MT 59717

Cost:
Early Bird (before June 3) - Individual: $265 per person for the week, Team: $240 per person for the week.
After June 3 - Individual: $305 per person for the week, Team: $280 per person for the week.
Registration Closes: June 10

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What:
This workshop is an excellent opportunity to learn how to weave the English Language Arts Common Core Standards with Indian Education for All.  Presenter Dr. Tammy Elser will employ the "Many Birds Approach" from the Framework for Implementation of Indian Education for All (IEfA) to support teachers as they develop understanding of IEfA contexts and content, while addressing the skills and concepts required to implement the Montana Common Core Standards. Teachers will leave with a dozen new strategies for close analytic reading practiced in the context of some of the highly developed, and Common Core aligned, IEfA Language Arts, Social Studies and Science lessons. Strategies practiced can be taken the next day into the classroom. Demonstrations will span multiple grade levels and content areas and will be debriefed through the lens of the MCCS and the Framework's approach to integration.

When:
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
9:00 am - 4:00 pm Mountain

Where:
MSUB College of Education, Room 122
1500 University Dr.
Billings, MT 59101

Cost:
$50.00 per person, MSUB students free.

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What:
The Montana Regional Education Service Area III (MRESA3) is offering an opportunity for professional development on the new revisions for Gifted and Talented in Montana. This workshop is designed to assist schools and districts to have the necessary components for their Gifted and Talented Program Plan to submit to OPI. The focus of this workshop is to equip the participant with strategies necessary to construct a gifted program that fits their district and population of students. Participants will be presented with the OPI framework for Gifted Education Programs and a Gifted Program Planning Template. Emphasis will be placed on identification of gifted and twice exceptional children as well as characteristics of sound curriculum for gifted students. Several teaching strategies that enable the teacher to differentiate the core curriculum to meet the needs of not only the gifted student but all students in the classroom will be presented. Participants will come away with the ability to complete a comprehensive plan for their district and/or develop a differentiated curriculum unit or lesson.

When:
June 5-6, 2013
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mountain

Where:
MSUB College of Education, Room 122
1500 University Dr.
Billings, MT 59101 Cost:
$100 (lunch is on your own). 15 OPI Renewal Units, College credit available

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What:
The ADA National Network Audio Conference is being offered in collaboration with the Inclusive Fitness Coalition in response to the recent guidance provided by the Office for Civil Rights clarifying public elementary and secondary schools obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide extracurricular athletic opportunities for students with disabilities. This session will discuss key points that are addressed in this new resource. The session will provide attendees with practical advice on how schools can better integrate students with disabilities into mainstream athletic programs and as well as how to create adapted programs. The goal of this session is to raise awareness of the obligation to provide opportunities in athletics and to encourage change at the school level.

When:  
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Mountain

Cost:
$40.00 for profit / $25:00 non profit (see pricing details)