Statewide DeafBlind Community of Practice Meeting

Minnesota DeafBlind Community of Practice - Virtual Zoom Meeting

Link for participation will be emailed to CoP representatives and registrants.

This event is free to participants.

Monday, February 27, 2023

9:00 am - 3:00 pm 

9:00-9:15 a.m.          Welcome and Updates

9:15-11:15                Practical Literacy for DeafBlind Students: Use of TarHeel Shared Reader - Kayna Plaisted

11:15-11:45               Interview of DeafBlind Teen about Tactile Communications Experience: Identity Shifts and ProTactile 

11:45-12:30               Lunch Break

12:30-2:45 p.m.        Life after the Communication Matrix Assessment - Nancy Steele

2:45-3:00                   Evaluation 

 

Kayna Plaisted

Kayna Plaisted is the Regional Professional Development Facilitator at Metro ECSU. Kayna coordinates the metro region’s Minnesota Low Incidence efforts, such as the Communities of Practice, Mailing Lists, Charting the Cs, and the Winning Strategies Conference.  

She has held many roles, including Classroom Teacher, Curriculum Support Specialist, Instructional Coach, and Adjunct Professor, over her years of experience servicing the field of special education. Kayna believes the highlights of her experience come from growing up alongside her three siblings with disabilities and working intensively with various families outside the school setting.

After attending 30+ days of intensive training hosted by Drs. Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver, such as  MN Literacy Camp and Camp Alec, she is confident with research and evidence-based strategies; all students can become literate individuals, not just those who can see or hear or walk or talk, all means all.

Presentation Description:  During this session, we will dive into how to create meaningful literacy opportunities for DeafBlind students. We will start with an overview of comprehensive emergent strategies, highlighting the importance of literacy and its connections to strengthening communication. We will then move to examine how to provide practical instruction from an itinerant to a classroom teacher perspective. Participants will walk away with the knowledge of why, how, and the ability to utilize a free tool, Tar Heel Shared Reader, to build our capabilities to address literacy for our students.

Nancy Steele

Nancy Steele is an Educational Consultant, with expertise in children with significant disabilities. She was a Project Specialist for the National Center on Deaf-Blindness for 14 years. She served as the Lead on the Literacy Initiative, which included development of the website “All Children Can Read”. She also worked on the Open Hands, Open Access Intervener Modules. She is a co-author of the West Virginia Communication Matrix Intervention Modules. 

Presentation Description: This presentation will introduce the Communication Matrix Intervention Modules which are located
on the West Virginia Department of Education website. The modules include the Foundation, Essential Strategies, and a separate intervention module for each of the 7 levels of the Communication Matrix. The modules are designed to assist teams in creating and supporting communication across environments and with multiple communication partners. This presentation will include a description of the modules and how they can be used to create evidence-based communication interventions for individuals with complex communication needs.  Participants should have a basic understanding of the Communication Matrix prior to attending this presentation.

 

This initiative is made possible in whole with a grant from the Minnesota Board of Education using federal funding, CFDA 84.027A, Special Education – Grants to States. This event does not necessarily represent the policy of the federal Department of Education or the state Department of Education.  You should not assume endorsement by the federal or state government.

Cancellation: You can cancel your own registration for an event before the cancellation deadline. (Please check the event information for specific cancellation details.) If the event has a fee, refunds are possible only if cancellation is prior to the deadline. If you do not attend and do not cancel prior to an event, you are still responsible for payment and will be billed.

Special Accommodations: Please alert BrightWorks 2-3 weeks prior to the workshop/event if you need special accommodations, including sign language interpreters. (BrightWorks requires a notice of 2 business days to cancel a sign language interpreter. If you fail to cancel, we reserve the right to bill your school/district for this expense.) Update your profile as needed. Special accommodations are not included with each registration, but are stored in your profile until you make changes.