Professional Development

Haley Lacativo
In Person Professional Development
Project Sunshine
I attended my first Project Sunshine meeting on September 6, 2013. At the meeting I
listened to Austin Faulk and Elizabeth Scott talk about all of the different types of disabilities we
will be exposed to during our time in Project Sunshine.
I learned about disabilities such as Downs Syndrome, Autism, ADHD, Aspergers
Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. Every disability is different and you can never assume that a child
who has any disability can do something or cannot do something. I also learned that there are
certain ways to help a child when the child is in a wheelchair. The best way to assist them if they
need to get out of their wheelchair for to use the bathroom or something is by having two people
lift the child. One person will lift the child under the arms from behind while the other person
will lift the childs legs.
This meeting increased my awareness of all of the different types of disabilities that my
potential students could have. The speakers helped me understand each disability more and gave
helpful hints for certain things that children with these types of disabilities might like to do.
They also increased my awareness on Cerebral Palsy. I did not know a lot about it and it helped
me realize that most people who have Cerebral Palsy do not have a mental disability and they
just have a physical disability. This information will help me in the classroom because I know
that I will be teaching students with all different types of disabilities and it is important for me to
know as much about each disability as can so I can be prepared for any type of student that I get.

Green Dot Training

I attended Green Dot Training on November 17, 2013. At this meeting I heard Carol
BinzerandKristiHoseaspeakabouthowtointerveneinsituationsthatdonotlookrightina
waythatwillbehelpfultothepeopleinthesituation.

IlearneddifferentstrategiesonhowtointerveneinasituationthatIfeelisnotright.
Everysituationthatyouencounterisdifferent.InGreenDottrainingtheytaughtusthatifwe
feltthatasituationwasnotrightandwewantedtohelpbutwedidnotfeelconfortableenough
orwedidnotthinkwecouldphysicallyintervene,weshouldnothesitatetocallthepolice.I
wasalsotaughtdifferentwaystointerveneinsituationsotherthencallingthepolice.For
example,ifyouseewhatlookslikesomeonebeingfollowedorharassed,youcansimplygoover
andpretendlikeyouknowthemandguidethemawayfromtheharasser.ThephraseGreenDot
meansthatyoutookaction.Ifsomeoneisjustabystander,andtheydonottakeactionina
situationwheresomethingisgoingwrong,thatisconsideredaRedDot.
Thismeetingincreasedmyawarenessaboutdifferentwaystointervenewhenasituation
doesnotlookright.Italsoincreasedmyknowledgeaboutwhatsomedifferenttypesofviolence
looklike,suchas,domesticviolencecanbeanywherefrombruisesonapersontoseeing
someonegettingfrustratedandforcefullymakingtheotherpersondowhattheywant.This
trainingwillbehelpfulintheclassroombecauseIcanteachmystudentsabouthowtohelpother
people.Theytaughtusabouttheouchmethodwhichiswhenyouhearsomeonesayorsee
someonedosomethinghurtful,yousimplysayouchandtheyknowthatwhattheysaidordid
washurtful.Iknowthatthismethodwouldbeeffectiveintheclassroombecauseitwouldteach
studentsthatsometimeseveniftheydonotrealizeit,theycouldbehurtingsomeonesfeelings
bywhattheysayordo.

OnlineProfessionalDevelopment

Aspergers101
IcompletedtheAspergers101onlineprofessionaldevelopment.Duringthis
professionaldevelopmentIlearnedaboutAspergersmoreindepththenIhaveeverlearned
aboutit.
IlearnedthatAspergerssyndromeisaneurobiologicaldisorder,whichmeansthatitisa
disorderthathasdifferencesinthebrainthataffectthenervoussystemandthebehaviorofthe
person.TherearenospecificmedicalteststhatareusedtodiagnoseAspergerssyndrome,but

therearewaystodiagnoseAspergerssyndromebyobservationwithcriteriathathasbeen
definedbytheDiagnosticandStatisticManual4theditionTextRevision.Somecharacteristics
ofAspergerssyndromearechallengeswithreciprocalsocialinteraction,challengeswith
language,restrictedinterestsanddifficultywithchange,motorfunctioningandmotorplanning,
differencesincognitiveprocessing,sensorydifferences,andemotionalvulnerability.Oneofthe
mainchallengesforpeoplethathaveAspergerssyndromeisuseoflanguage.Thisisa
challengebecausepragmaticlanguageishowlanguageisusedinsocialcontextsandpeoplewho
haveAspergerssyndrometypicallyhaveissueswithsocialsettings.
ThisonlineprofessionaldevelopmenthasincreasedmyknowledgeaboutAspergers
syndrome.MynewknowledgewillhelpmeintheclassroombecauseIknowthatIwillhave
studentsthathaveAspergers.InthissessionIlearnedsomeaccommodationsthatwillhelp
studentsthathaveAspergersinandoutsideoftheclassroom.Theseaccommodationsinclude;
handwritingandnotetaking,taskcards,selfmonitoring,findingaspecialinterest,homebaseor
havingasafeplacetogoforhelp,andComprehensiveAutismPlanningSystem(CAPS).Iknow
thatthesestrategiesareusefulformeasaSpecialEducationmajortobeawareofbecausethey
willbehelpfultomystudentsintheclassroom.
AutismfortheGeneralEducationTeacher
IcompletedtheAutismfortheGeneralEducationTeacheronlineprofessional
development.Duringthisprofessionaldevelopment,IlearnedaboutAutismandhowto
accommodateforstudentswhohaveAutisminthegeneraleducationclassroom.
IlearnedthattheAutismSpectrumDisorderhasmanydifferentcharacteristicsthatdiffer
frompersontoperson.Thethreemainareasthatchildrenhaveissueswithwhenitcomesto
havingAutismarebehavior,socialandcommunication.Somecharacteristicstolookforin
studentswithAutismincludebehavior:showinterestinfewobjectsoractivitiesandplaywith
themrepetitively,performrepetitiveroutinesandresistchangeandspendtimeinrepetitive
movements,social;havedifficultymakingeyecontact,showlittlebodylanguageorfacial
expressionwheninteracting,havedifficultymakingfriends,seemuninterestedinsharing
experiences,andengagelessingiveandtakesocialinteraction,andcommunication;have
difficultycommunicatingwithspeechorgestures,havedifficultystartingorcontinuinga

conversation,havedifficultyusinghisownsentencesandmayrepeatwhatotherssay,andlack
makebelieveorpretendplayskills.Thissessiongave7stepsforteachertofollowthatwillhelp
notonlythem,butalsotheirstudentsthathaveAutism.Thesestepsare,developapositive
attitude,reachouttofamilies,gatherinformation,gatheryourteam,preparethestudent,
establishapeermediator,andexpectsuccess.Thesesstepswillbeveryhelpfulforteachersin
orderfortheirstudentstosucceedtothebestoftheirability.Someextramodificationsthatare
helpfulforstudentsthathaveAutismthatarenotwrittenintheirIPEsmaybe,structured
learningplans,activitiesandtasks,visualcuesandsupports,andconnectingtheirspecial
interests.Averybeneficialwaytohelpstudentswithimprovingtheirsocialskillsisbymaking
socialstories.Asocialstoryisashortnarrativethatgivesthesocialcuesandcommonresponses
forasocialsituation.Thesesocialstoriesarebeneficialbecausetheywillhelpthestudentlearn
howtobecomfortableinasituationthattheymaynotnormallybecomfortablein.
This session on Autism increased my knowledge of strategies on how to help a student
who has Autism succeed in the general education setting. The information made me aware that
inclusion is very beneficial to students who have Autism because it will really increase their
social skills and it will help them in the future as well. With little modifications such as social
stories and small task charts, I believe that students with Autism can succeed within the general
education setting.