Tag Archives: AVA – BC Focused

Supporting Neurodiverse Youth Transitioning to Adulthood

The recording is from an ACT Chats event on May 30, 2023.

This presentation is a comprehensive guide to accessing services for adults with developmental disabilities. It provides information and resources on assessments, eligibility, and how they relate to accessing Services to Adults with Developmental Disabilities (STADD) Navigators. The presentation also covers adult services, including Community Living BC (CLBC) and Adult Day Services. Additionally, it provides information on eligibility and access in relation to Persons with Disabilities benefits, including working while collecting disability benefits.

About the Presenter

Michelle Schmidt, PhD

Michelle Schmidt, PhD is the Executive Director of ACT – Autism Community Training. Prior to joining ACT in 2022, Michelle Schmidt was involved in public education in British Columbia, as an educator, school psychologist, and administrator. Most recently, Michelle served as Director of Instruction in the Surrey School District, where she was responsible for inclusive education and supports for students with diverse abilities.

With over 30 years of experience in the education system, Michelle provides insight into the relationship between BC Schools and the human rights legislation, as well as Ministry of Education and Childcare policies and practices, including inclusive education designations and ministry compliance.

Presentation resources

Resource TitleWord DocPDF
My Transition PlanDownloadDownload
Plain Language Planning Workbook–Download
Transition Planning ChecklistDownloadDownload
Transition Planning: Cross Ministry Planning Protocol Tasks and RolesDownloadDownload
Transition Planning: My Personal Transition GoalsDownloadDownload
Transition Planning: What to Know About MeDownloadDownload
Transition Planning: IndependenceDownloadDownload

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Kids Physio Group – Physiotherapy & Autism

The recording is from an ACT Chats event on July 5, 2023.

“ACT Chats” is a free new series of informational events, content and resources presented by ACT.

In this video, Jessica and Taylor from Kids Physio Group discuss how some autistic kids can benefit from physiotherapy. They describe how physiotherapy can treat physical challenges that are common among kids with autism, such as hypertonia, motor planning, toe walking, and proprioception. Learn what caregivers can watch for as autistic kids develop, what to expect when starting physio, and how they make physio fun for kids of all ages and abilities.

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About the Presenters

Jessica Harris, DPT, BA

Jessica is a dedicated and experienced Doctor of Physical Therapy, having completed her degree in Spokane, Washington in 2011. Throughout her career, she has worked in various settings, including acute care and a pediatric outpatient neurodevelopmental clinic. Her passion for working with children led her to focus on Early Intervention and School Aged Physio when she returned to B.C. in 2014. With a particular interest in complex disorders in babies and young children, Jessica’s expertise covers a broad spectrum of conditions and age groups, ranging from infants to teenagers. Her skillset encompasses treating neurological conditions, developmental disorders, gross motor delays, toe walking, coordination concerns, torticollis, plagiocephaly, and more. As a RASP-certified (Registry of Autism Service Providers) Physiotherapist, Jessica’s approach revolves around placing the child and family at the center of care, and she is thrilled to help children achieve their goals.

Taylor McElwain, MPT, BKin

Taylor is a dedicated and compassionate physiotherapist whose work centers around his core value of family and his passion for helping children thrive. He firmly believes that every child deserves the opportunity to succeed and is committed to breaking down barriers that hinder their participation in life. Growing up locally, Taylor’s love for sports, especially hockey, shaped much of his identity, providing him with invaluable experiences in relationships, challenges, and leadership. These formative moments played a significant role in his decision to become a physiotherapist. Prior to pursuing his career in physiotherapy, Taylor garnered diverse experiences working with kids and adults in sport camps, adapted programs, coaching hockey, behavior intervention, and assisted living facilities.

As a physiotherapist, Taylor has successfully worked with children and families of all ages, addressing a wide range of presentations. He approaches each individual with genuine interest, taking the time to understand their unique stories, and collaborates with them to develop personalized treatment plans. Taylor’s impressive educational background includes a Master of Physical Therapy and a Bachelor of Kinesiology from UBC. Moreover, his dedication to furthering his expertise is evident in his numerous certifications which include being a Registered Autism Service Provider (RASP), and having completed training in fields such as Anxiety, Self-Regulation and Postural Control, Sensory Integration and Autism Spectrum Disorders, among others. Through his extensive knowledge and experience, Taylor strives to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children and their families, helping them achieve their goals, whether that means returning to sports safely or gaining independent mobility.

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ACT Chats: Navigating the Education System

The recording is from an ACT Chats event on April 4, 2023.

Download the presentation handout (51 pages)

“ACT Chats” is a free new series of informational events, content and resources presented by ACT.

This presentation looks at what parents and community partners need to know about their role in schools, including participation in school-based team meetings, and referrals for support services. It also covers the process for IEPs (Individual Education Plans), including meaningful consultation, the role of the case manager, and integrated case management meetings. Michelle also reviews rights to full-time attendance, transportation considerations, participation on field trips, and equity and inclusion during the time of Covid-19.

About the Presenter

Michelle Schmidt, PhD

Michelle Schmidt, PhD is the Executive Director of ACT – Autism Community Training. Prior to joining ACT in 2022, Michelle Schmidt was involved in public education in British Columbia, as an educator, school psychologist, and administrator. Most recently, Michelle served as Director of Instruction in the Surrey School District, where she was responsible for inclusive education and supports for students with diverse abilities.

With over 30 years of experience in the education system, Michelle provides insight into the relationship between BC Schools and the human rights legislation, as well as Ministry of Education and Childcare policies and practices, including inclusive education designations and ministry compliance.

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Supporting Early Social & Communication Development through Parent Coaching

Filmed April 2021 – edited into four parts; total 205 minutes

Download the presentation handout (pdf)

View project  overview infographic (pdf)

This presentation provides information about lessons learned from the Parent And Child Early Coaching project (PACE), conducted in collaboration with child development centres and Indigenous agencies in 16 BC communities from 2018-2020.

Included are discussions of:

  • The early signs of autism and the importance of early diagnosis.
  • Parent coaching and how it differs from other types of parent-child support for toddlers with social communication delays.
  • What the research tells us about the effectiveness of this approach.

The PACE Coaching research team describes, with presentations from coaches, trainers, parents and other community partners:

  • How the parent coaches involved in the project were trained and what the outcomes were.
  • A related project for Indigenous families: Parent-Child Connections.

Primary Presenters

Pat Mirenda, PhD, BCBA-D

Dr. Mirenda is Professor Emerita in the Department of Educational & Counseling Psychology and Special Education and past Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration in Autism at UBC. She was the Principal Investigator in the PACE Coaching project.

Paola Colozzo, PhD, RSLP

Dr. Colozzo is an Associate Professor in the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences at UBC. A speech-language pathologist, she was Co-Investigator in the PACE Coaching project and was primarily responsible for assessment training, monitoring, scoring, and coding.

Veronica Smith, PhD

Dr. Smith is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta. She was a Co-Investigator in the PACE Coaching project and was primarily responsible for assessing the factors that contributed to and affected implementation.

Wendy Ungar, PhD

Dr. Ungar is a Senior Scientist in Child Health Evaluative Sciences at The Hospital for Sick Children and a Professor in Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She was a Co-Investigator in the PACE Coaching project and was primarily responsible for conducting a comparative cost analysis.

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Chapters help you navigate through a video to find the information you’re looking for. Click the blue dots on the timeline to navigate chapters, or see all chapters through the chapters icon on the bottom right of each video.

Part 1: Background and Rationale

Topics Covered: 
  • What is social communication and why is it important?
  • What does it mean if social communication is delayed?
  • Baby Navigator Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urJs4aw_O3w
  • How is social communication related to parent coaching?
  • How is parent coaching different than other types of parent-child support?

Part 2: PACE Coach Training

Topics Covered: 
  • Who we trained
  • How we trained
  • What our partners had to say

Part 3: Research Studies

Topics Covered: 
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • A sub-project for Indigenous families called Parent-Child Connections
  • Research Study Objectives

Part 4: Moving Forward

Topics Covered: 
  • Understanding the costs of coaching
  • Understanding the breadth of services families use
  • Implementation outcomes: what does it take?
  • Wrap up: final words from our partners

Parent Coach Training Opportunities (view pdf version here)

  • For training in the Early Start Denver Model:
    1. an Introductory workshop is required first.
    2. This is followed by an Advanced Workshop.
    3. Finally, this is followed by a Parent Coaching workshop. 
      All workshops are currently offered online.
  • Autism Navigator offers numerous online course for parents and for professionals. The JumpStart to Coaching in Everyday Activities course is focused on parent coaching.
  • Project ImPACT parent coach training is available online.
  • The Help is in Your Hands website includes a Provider Resources section. Among the many resources, you will find a series of four free recorded webinars on parent coaching and an online training syllabus.

Note: The mentoring and feedback provided through these online training programs varies widely. Some offer no mentorship at all and none of them are able to offer the frequency or duration of mentorship that was provided in the PACE Coaching project.

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IEPs…Why They Still Matter!

Richard Stock, PhD, BCBA-D

Filmed December 2020 over two days – edited into 25 parts; total 433 minutes

Download the presentation handout (56 Pages)

Educators and parents have long recognized that a well-developed Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is essential to ensure quality educational programs for diverse learners. In this video, Dr. Richard Stock demonstrates that a well-developed IEP, which includes input from educators, therapists and the family, is crucial to the effective support of students with autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. This presentation is also broadly relevant to all families and professionals looking to understand how to improve the IEP process, regardless of diagnosis.

Dr. Stock considers IEP design and implementation with case examples from kindergarten through high school. Topics include correcting misconceptions about the role of IEPs and the importance of building collaborative teams.

While educators gave the live presentation top marks, the primary goal of this presentation is to give parents an understanding of the IEP process from A to Z, including:

  • Assessing “present level” and developing meaningful goals.
  • Selecting effective instructional methods.
  • Accountability: measurement of student achievement and IEP effectiveness.
Supplemental Resources

Presenter Bio

Richard Stock, PhD, BCBA-D is one of B.C.’s most respected Behavior Analysts. He is highly regarded both as a teacher and a collaborative member of inter-disciplinary intervention teams.

Dr. Stock has been on faculty in the ABA – Autism Department at Capilano University since 2009 and coordinator of the program since 2013. He has extensive clinical experience. Since 1999 he has provided behavioral/educational consultative services to children and youth with ASD and other developmental disabilities in home, school and community settings. His scholarly and clinical interests include: ABA, behavioral intervention, knowledge dissemination and inter-disciplinary collaboration, and the application of ABA to education and environmental sustainability. He also teaches graduate courses in ABA as an Assistant Professor at the University of Western Ontario and Adjunct Faculty at UBC.

Part 1: Why Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in the Education of Students with ASD?

Topics Covered: 
  • Benefits of ABA for students with ASD

Part 2: What is Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)?

Topics Covered: 
  • Defining ABA

Part 3: How ABA Approaches Teaching

Topics Covered: 
  • What does ABA treatment look like for students with ASD?
  • ABC’s of Behaviour
    • Antecedent
    • Behaviour
    • Consequence
  • How does this benefit teachers?

Part 4: Top 10 Myths about ABA

Topics Covered: 
  • Common myths about ABA

Part 5: Bringing ABA and Autism Together

  • The behavioural view of autism
  • What is “normal?”

Part 6: Self Reflection in Special Education

  • Special educators as scientists-practitioners
  • Four assumptions of Special Education

Part 7: Ten Misguided Notions of Teaching/Learning…

  • 1-6 of the 10 Misguided Notions of Teaching/Learning that impede use of empirically supported tactics and hinder effectiveness of Special Education.

Part 8: Ten Misguided Notions of Teaching/Learning…Continued

  • 7-10 of the 10 Misguided Notions of Teaching/Learning that impede use of empirically supported tactics and hinder effectiveness of special education.

Part 9: IEPs Introduction

  • What do families experience in the transition from home to school programs?
  • Why bother talking about IEPs?

Part 10: IEPs: Traditional Domains and Components

  • Basic configuration of IEPs for students with ASD
  • Core elements of IEPs
  • IEP Goals

Part 11: IEPs: Issues and Competency Based

  • Issues arising from poor IEPs
  • Competency-based IEPs

Part 12: Collaboration

  • Defining collaboration
  • Solving IEP conflicts through collaboration
  • Collaborative IEP meetings

Part 13: IEP Meetings

  • Preparing for an IEP meeting
  • Running the IEP Meeting

Part 14: Baseline Assessment

  • Functions of Baseline Assessment
  • How to assess
  • RIOT (Review, Interview, Observe, Test)

Part 15: IEP Structure: Long Term Goals

  • Writing long-term goals
  • Long-term goal transitions
  • Long-term goal examples

Part 16: IEP Structure: Short Term Objectives

  • Defining Short-Term Objectives
  • Words to avoid
  • Not measurable and measurable

Part 17: IEP Structure: Short-Term Objectives Components

  • Writing short-term objectives
  • Short-term objectives example

Part 18: Three Systems of Truth

  • Defining the three systems of truth: phenomenological, authoritarian, empirical
  • How this relates to autism spectrum disorder

Part 19: How/Where to find Evidence Based Practices

Part 20: Short-Term Objectives Strategies and Tactics

  • Strategies including direct instruction and visual supports.
  • STO examples

Part 21: Measurement

  • Measuring by direct observation vs anecdotal
  • Summative and Formative measurement
  • Measuring examples

Part 22: Measurement Continued

  • Measuring by direct observation vs anecdotal
  • Summative and Formative measurement
  • IEP Matrix
  • Measurement Examples

Part 23: How Do You Get This Data?

  • Responsibility of Case Manager
  • IEP Implementation Checklist

Part 24: Putting it all Together

  • Example from beginning to end

Part 25: Q and A

Questions: 

00:00 – How often should the IEP be reviewed?

1:10 – Who sets the objectives?

2:05 – Challenges of ensuring consistent implementation of IEP in high school with multiple instructors.

4:21 – IEPs during COVID-19

7:02 – When making goals around social skills and emotional regulation, how can we make this measurable to see progress?

8:52 – I have heard many times that parents have a right to meaningful consultation on an IEP, is this true?

9:28 – The district I am in will not allow private hire BCBA/SLP/OT on school property. Wouldn’t they be an asset when our district barely provides any support?

10:35 – Who mediates an IEP meeting and who takes the chairperson role if the participants hold divergent opinions?

11:21 – Regarding transitions from elementary to junior/high school: Do Learning Assistant Teachers from both sending and receiving schools present at the end of the IEP meeting?

13:05 – What supports can be offered remotely due to COVID-19?

17:02 – What about comprehension testing with a child on ASD?

18:13 – What happens when a student is in a cohort two or three times a week and cannot be worked with daily in a special education class?

19:22 – How to respond when the Behaviour Consultant suggest data taking but the resource teacher emphasizes that the job description of an EA does not include data taking?

20:09 – Who do you ask to have the IEP reviewed regularly?

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