CESA 7

CESA-7 WSPEI Presentations and Inservices

The Wisconsin Statewide Parent-Educator Initiative offers a variety of training opportunities for parents and educators to expand their knowledge and skills about special education and related topics.  The following workshops can be offered in a variety of ways to meet the needs of all participants.  This includes co-presenting with district staff, or providing the training materials for district staff and district parents to co-present.  Collaboration of educators and parents in presenting training is essential to the WSPEI model.  The training materials were developed in collaboration with Wisconsin FACETS and the Department of Public Instruction. 

WSPEI: WHO ARE WE AND WHAT DO WE DO? :

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction established a grant in 2000 to increase positive partnerships with parents and educators in schools to support more effective parent participation in the special education process of their children with disabilities.  This one (1) hour power point presentation about the parent grant, “Wisconsin Statewide Parent-Educator Initiative,” provides information about how the grant started, what special education initiatives and laws provide the foundation of the grant objectives, and what kind of support the grant offers to parents and school districts.

AN INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL EDUCATION:

This one (1) hour workshop is an overview of the booklet, An Introduction to Special Education.  The workshop provides parents with a basic awareness of the special education process and definitions of related terminology to assist parents in understanding what special education is and what services are provided for children with disabilities.  The workshop is available as a power point to go along with the booklet, and a ten minute DVD is now available that highlights basic information in the Special Education Process. The DVD has a “Sub-Title” feature for viewers with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Needs.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY POINTERS FOR PARENTS

(CESA-7 Assistive Technology Consultant):

Assistive Technology is a very important topic for students, parents and educators to have a good knowledge base to assist children with disabilities in accessing their educational curriculum.  AT Pointers For Parents gives an overview of what Assistive Technology is, and gives strategies or pointers of how to assist parents and educators in understanding what equipment or devices might be provided to children and young adults with disabilities in order for them to access information more appropriately to meet their educational goals.

COMMUNICATION: DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? :

Effective communication is the key for improving our relationships with others. Our workshop on Communication provides the participants with several strategies of ways we can improve our own communication and model for others how to interact with us more effectively.  This one and a half  (1 1/2) hour workshop provides participants with a basic understanding of the different styles of communication and through personal examples, participants will gain an understanding of the intended messages being conveyed in their own communication styles and how we can use the strategies provided to respond more appropriately to the communications we receive.   This workshop introduces basic conflict resolution strategies and provides a foundation for all of our other presentations.

CREATING THE VISION: TRANSITION SERVICES:

This presentation covers Transition Services for Students with Disabilities from Birth-to 21 years of age.  The two (2) hour workshop can be presented with the use of the power point and hands on activities and handouts; or can be condensed to a one (1) hour presentation with a brief overview of transition, and pointers for parents on assisting their child to understand their role in the transition process from school to post-secondary activities. This presentation was also developed with input form Transition Coordinators from the Wisconsin Statewide Transition Initiative (WSTI ) to align with changes in Transition within IDEA 2004.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE IEP:

This one (1) hour workshop provides participants with a variety of tools to use for getting ready for their child’s Individual Education Program (IEP) meeting.  A power point and handouts along with the Parent Record File, prepare participants to become more effective IEP team members.

IEP PROCESS AND PRODUCT:

This workshop provides an overview of the IEP Process within a two (2) hour time frame.  Participants will be able to learn about the changes in the law as it relates to the IEP process and are given the booklet Special Education In Plain Language to reference as a guide that explains what the laws say and what parents need to know to be effective members of the IEP

Team.  This workshop can be done in two parts each in a one hour workshop, or all at one time, allowing for at least 2 ½ hours so that participants can have time for questions.

READY, SET, GO

(CESA-7 Early Childhood Consultant):

Preparing parents and their young child for the transitions into school is the foundation that this workshop builds on.  This workshop provides participants with an overview of the transition process a child will go through when leaving Birth-to-three programming and the steps that are considered in qualifying for services in early childhood or regular education school programs.  Pre-school Options are discussed and transition information is provided to assist participants in understanding what services are available to preschool aged children.  Additional early childhood resources are available at collaboratingpartners.com.