Upcoming Conferences 2017
Listen to the Article
Active Learning Conference
June12-13, 2017
(Excerpts from TSBVI website https://www.tsbvi.edu/2015-11-16-20-56-21)
Co-Sponsored by Region 10 Education Service Center and TSBVI Outreach Programs
Preston Ridge Frisco Campus of Collin County Community College, Frisco, TX
Presenter: Patty Obrzut, Director, Penrickton Center for the Blind, Michigan2017
Register Now! (ESC Works is our secure partner website.)
The Active Learning approach emphasizes that all individuals learn best by active participation. All activity, especially in the earliest stages of development, actually “wires our brains” and establishes critical foundational concepts and skills necessary for all future learning.
Individuals with multiple disabilities (cerebral palsy, visual impairment, cognitive impairment, autism, hearing impairment, etc.) are at great risk of developing reliance on others to interact with the world around them. They learn to be a passive rather than active participant, waiting for adults to provide activity rather than seeking it out on their own. Children and adults with special needs often develop stereotypical or aggressive behaviors in order to communicate with others or cope within the environments in which they are placed. Active Learning recognizes that every child/adult with special needs is unique. The programming and intervention for facilitating learning must reflect this individuality.
Active Learning emphasizes creating a developmentally appropriate and enriched environment so that children and adults with multiple special needs become active learners. Our presenter, Patty Obrzut, Assistant Director of Penrickton Center for Blind Children and an occupational therapist, will provide participants with an overview of Active Learning.
Some of the information she will share includes:
- Dynamic Learning Circle
- Pathways to Learning
- Basic Components of Active Learning
- Functional Scheme and FIELA Curriculum
- Equipment and Materials
If you are not sure if this conference is for you, you may want to visit the Active Learning Space Website (http://activelearningspace.org/) prior to attending this event. There you will learn some of the basics about Active Learning.
12th Annual TxP2P Statewide Parent Conference
(Excerpts from the Texas Parent to Parent website http://www.txp2p.org/training/conference.html)
Friday & Saturday, June 17 & 18, 2017
Embassy Suites, Spa & Conference Center
1001 McCarty Lane
San Marcos, Texas
The conference educates Texas parents about how to deal with the unique issues and challenges they face on a daily basis in caring for their children. The two-day conference offers tracks with multiple sessions, each covering a different topic. This year’s themed tracks include the following: advocacy (general and legislative), autism, parenting and sibling issues including a one-day SibShop, special education law (basic to advanced), medical issues (including Medical Home and Medicaid Waiver Programs), behavior, mental health, parent leadership, resources and services, self-advocacy, self-determination, transition issues for youth and young adults with disabilities, and creating a good life for people with disabilities.
Through seminars and face-to-face networking, parents, self-advocates, family members, care-givers and professionals learn from each other as they continue their unique journeys caring for a child with a disability or a special health care need. TxP2P’s goal is for everyone to leave the conference with renewed energy and passion along with tools and information they need to make positive changes for children with disabilities in Texas.
Special Features:
- More than 60 sessions for parents, family members, self-advocates, and professionals
- Sessions in Spanish; Interpreters available for other sessions
- Skilled child care
- SibShop Program for siblings
- Teen Summit
- Family Gathering – dinner and entertainment for the whole family
- Exhibitors