10 West Edge Drive
Suite 101
Durham, NH 03824

Phone: 603.862.4320
Fax: 603.862.0555

E-mail

Getting a Handle on Hoarding

Effective interventions to help individuals who hoard stay in their own homes

Description

Hoarding presents difficult and complex situations for providers. Individuals who hoard are frequently at risk for losing their housing due to eviction. This interactive workshop will describe clinical disorders and cognitive features associated with hoarding and recent research findings. In addition, the presenter will provide methods and tools for intervening around hoarding issues. Topics to be covered include:

• How to have a productive dialogue with someone about hoarding
• Identifying psychological triggers related to hoarding
• Understanding the psychology behind hoarding
• Practical strategies for working individuals to address the situation
• Case studies with discussion

Sponsored by the Home Care Connections Grant with support from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Resources & More Information

• The Institute on Disability Bookstore - iodserver.unh.edu/iodbookstore - (603) 862-4320
• The Fireside Inn - www.afiresideinn.com - (603) 298-5900

Workshop Instructor: Elizabeth Burden, LICSW, MPH

Elizabeth Burden is Senior Clinical Social Worker at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Massachusetts. She provides training and supervision to social work staff, consultation to multi-disciplinary medical teams and discharge planning. As a Clinical Instructor at Tufts Medical School, she has presented lectures and led seminars for the Geriatric Psychiatric Fellowship Program. She has presented workshops on hoarding, dementia, delirium and elder suicide throughout New England.

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Response To Intervention & Beyond with Dr. Wayne Sailor

Description

This workshop is designed to address the concerns of teachers in the general education classroom around improving academics and classroom engagement of students with and without disabilities. The session will present the evolution of instructional approaches from Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to Response to Intervention (RTI) to the School-wide Applications Model (SAM). SAM is a general education support approach that uses an RTI logic model to focus and direct all school and available community-based resources, to the measurable improvement of academic and social outcomes for all students - regardless of type, level and extent of supports required to progress in the general curriculum. This includes the 1-2% of students who do not participate in general assessments.

Resources & More Information

• The Institute on Disability Bookstore - iodserver.unh.edu/iodbookstore - (603) 862-4320
• The Beach Center on Disability - www.beachcenter.org - (785) 864-7600
• The Highlander Inn - www.highlanderinn.com - (603) 625-6246

Workshop Instructor: Dr. Wayne Sailor

Dr. Wayne Sailor is a Professor of Special Education at the University of Kansas and the Associate Director of the Beach Center for Disability and has been researching methods of school and family community integration on the behalf of children with disabilities for several decades. As an expert in using the combined strength of families and schools to further child development, Dr. Sailor has created, studied, and improved methodologies to empower children with disabilities, their families, educators, and other service providers.

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Workforce Issues in a Changing Society

Supporting Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities at Home

Description

Direct care workers form the backbone of home care and personal support services, but the growth of New Hampshire's elderly population is outpacing this essential workforce. You are invited to hear Dr. Robyn Stone discuss what other states are doing to prepare for this workforce crunch.

This event was planned by BEAS in coordination with the Institute on Disability, AARP-NH, Lutheran Social Services, Region 6 Area Agency, NH Community Loan Fund and Home Care Association of NH.

Workshop Instructor: Dr. Robyn Stone

Dr. Robyn Stone is Executive Director of the Institute on the Future of Aging at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. She is a noted researcher and international authority on aging and long-term care policy. Dr. Stone's visit is made possible through a technical assistance award to BEAS by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in partnership with The Lewin Group.

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Introductory Training for Facilitated Communication

Description

This workshop will provide participants with a general overview of facilitated communication (FC), a method of augmentative and alternative communication used by people with limited speaking abilities. Topics covered will include the history of FC, basic elements of the FC technique, determining candidacy for FC, and a review of current research and best practices. Examples and demonstrations of the use of FC with both school age individuals and adults will be given. This workshop will provide information to people who are interested in gaining basic understanding of FC. It is also a prerequisite for people who will become facilitators for individuals who use FC.

Workshop Agenda:

• History of FC
• What is FC and who is it for?  Definitions and candidacy
• Basic elements of the technique including the role of physical support
• Overview of training process for FC
• Best practice guidelines for the use of FC
• Overview of research on FC
• Achieving Independence and determining success with FC

Workshop Instructor: Pascal Cheng, M.Ed., C.A.S.

Pascal Cheng has a M.Ed. and a C.A.S. in Special Education from the University of Vermont. He currently is an educational and communication specialist for Howard Community Services in Burlington, Vermont, providing training and technical assistance for communication and literacy in both school and community settings. He has been doing training and consultation in facilitated communication for over ten years. He serves as a member of the Vermont Communication Task Force, a group that works to improve communication supports and services for individuals with developmental disabilities in the state of Vermont.

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Life as a Paraprofessional I: Preschool & Elementary School

Strategies for Working with Students with Challenging Behavior

Description

Join Cathy Apfel and other paraprofessional colleagues as they explore effective practices for school and classroom settings that support students with challenging behavior in developing the skills they need to have more positive and successful school experiences. This interactive workshop has been specifically designed for staff that work with preschool through elementary aged children and will explore a variety of proactive approaches that will promote student engagement during learning and social activities.

Workshop Agenda:

• Positive Behavior Interventions and Support: How it has changed our approach to supporting students with challenging behavior
• Meeting basic needs and building relationships
• Understanding "Function" and the meaning of behavior
• Choices, teaching alternatives and acknowledging the positive
• Using effective communication strategies or what to do when the student says "NO!"
• Understanding the effect that learning challenges may have on behavior
• Supporting social competence
• 10 Rules to follow for success!

Workshop Instructor: Cathy Apfel, M.Ed.

Cathy Apfel, M.Ed., has spent the last 33 years as a teacher, administrator, and consultant in the field of special education. She currently works for the Institute on Disability/UCED at the University of New Hampshire providing training and technical assistance to schools to enhance their ability to provide successful experiences for children with disabilities. Specific areas of expertise include Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and strategies for supporting children with emotional and behavioral challenges. She is also an adjunct instructor at Rivier College and Plymouth State University.

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Making Choice Real: Transforming Long Term Systems of Support

Description

A one day conference to share new developments in NH’s efforts to expand and enhance a person-centered system for older adults and adults with disabilities

Keynote Presentations by:
Nancy Rollins - Director, Division of Community Based Care Services, NH Department of Health and Human Services
Nicholas Toumpas - Deputy Commissioner, NH Department of Health and Human Services
Lisa Alecxih - Vice President, The Lewin Group

Sponsored by:
CMS Real Choice Grants
Bureau of Elderly & Adult Services, Division of Community Based Care Services, NH Department of Health and Human Services
Institute on Disability, UNH

For more information on Real Choice: Systems Transformation, click here

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Building Bridges to the Social World

Strategies for Developing Social Competence and Connections for Children with Autism

Description

For children with labels of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), understanding and participating in the complex world of social interactions can be difficult and frustrating. In this workshop, CarolAnn Edscorn and Cathy Apfel team up to offer a personal, broad-based understanding of social competence, as well as strategies for supporting the skills necessary for social awareness and participation. Educators, parents of children with ASD, and individuals who experience ASD will benefit from attending Building Bridges to the Social World.

CarolAnn's Morning Agenda:

• My life from childhood to adulthood
• Things I have known
• Finding a niche (if there is one)
• Defining myself
• Developing a "tool kit"
• Subtle ostracism or bullying?

Cathy's Afternoon Agenda:

• Basic assumptions about social learning
• Different paths to social awareness
• The role of "rules"
• Teaching in context
• Strategies for success
• Building active friendships

Workshop Instructors: CarolAnn Edscorn & Cathy Apfel, M.Ed.

CarolAnn Edscorn has learned never to let Asperger's Syndrome define her boundaries or limit her aspirations. In addition to earning a master's degree, she has dabbled in music, ordained ministry, art, writing, acting, directing, and teaching. She and her husband Christopher live in NH with their five children.

Cathy Apfel, M.Ed., has spent the last 33 years as a teaching, administrator, and consultant in the field of special education. She currently works for the Institute on Disability / UCED at UNH providing support to schools in order to promote successful experiences for children with disabilities. Specific areas of expertise include Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and strategies for supporting children with emotional and behavioral challenges. She also teaches at Rivier College and Plymouth State University.

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Voices of Friendship

How Schools Can Help or Hinder the Development of Social Relationships

Description

Friendships are the spice of life and they, along with a sense of belonging are essential elements in student achievement and successful outcomes. However, many students with disabilities report they are lonely and lack real meaningful relationships with classmates and friends. This workshop will help participants learn to identify the barriers to friendship that exist in many schools and classes, as well the wide variety of strategies that schools and families can use to facilitate the development of friendships.

Workshop Instructor: Carol Tashie

Carol Tashie, a trained general educator and special educator, worked for many years teaching children with and without disabilities in a variety of school settings. In 1987, Carol became one of New Hampshire’s first Inclusion Facilitators, and supported students with labels of significant disabilities to become full members of general education classes. From 1989 to 2002, Carol worked at the Institute on Disability where she partnered with schools, families, and students to create inclusive classrooms, schools and districts. Carol is the author of several books and has taught classes at UNH on inclusive practices and the facilitation of social relationships. She has worked on projects in personnel preparation, systems change, model and demonstration, and professional development. She currently works with local and national social justice organizations to support inclusive, just and equitable communities for all people of the world.

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Life as a Paraprofessional II: Middle & High School

Strategies for Working with Students with Challenging Behavior

Description

This training was specifically designed to provide paraprofessionals that work with students in middle school and high school settings with effective approaches to meet the very specific and complex needs of adolescents with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.  Please join Cathy Apfel and your colleagues as they explore the nature and needs of adolescents along with practical strategies for managing problem behavior, promoting student engagement in the learning process, and developing social competence.

Workshop Agenda:

• The nature and needs of adolescents
• 10 basic skills for success
• The impact of learning styles and instruction on student engagement
• Positive Behavior Interventions and Support: How it has changed our approach to supporting students with challenging behaviors
• Meeting basic needs and building relationships
• Understanding "Function" and the meaning of behavior
• The Conflict Cycle and Power struggles
• Troubled and Troubling Students: Working with Antisocial Youth
• Supporting Social Competence

Workshop Instructor: Cathy Apfel, M.Ed.

Cathy Apfel, M.Ed., has spent the last 33 years as a teacher, administrator, and consultant in the field of special education. She currently works for the Institute on Disability/UCED at the University of New Hampshire providing training and technical assistance to schools to enhance their ability to provide successful experiences for children with disabilities. Specific areas of expertise include Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and strategies for supporting children with emotional and behavioral challenges. She is also an adjunct instructor at Rivier College and Plymouth State University.

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