Upcoming Trainings from the OPI Montana Autism Education Project
Aversive Treatment Procedures - A Review of the OPI Rule (virtual training)
November 2 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
This training will review the use of aversive treatment procedures in public schools, which is governed by ARM 10.16.3346. This is training on the rule and not on how to write aversive treatment plans.
The training will discuss the following requirements of the rule:
- The requirements for conducting a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and positive behavior interventions before aversive procedures can be implemented;
- When physical restraint is/is not an aversive treatment procedure;
- The definitions of isolation time-out and what is/is not isolation time-out;
- Prohibited procedures;
- The requirements of a behavior intervention plan using aversive treatment procedures;
- Parental consent for the use of aversive treatment procedures; and
- Requirements for notifying parents when aversive treatment procedures are used.
You can register for the training here.
Using Evidence-Based Practices to Teach Safety Skills (virtual training)
November 4th 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Safety is a priority. Learn how to use different EBPs to teach your learner safety information and strategies.
Register here.
Challenging Behaviors – How to Prevent, Reduce and Replace
Glendive November 7 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Kalispell November 16 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Missoula November 17 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Using case studies and examples from your setting we begin the workshop highlighting the key concepts of applied behavior analysis, helping you to understand why challenging behaviors occur. We discuss the importance of designing supportive learning environments based upon the Pyramid Approach to Education® framework.
The next step in the workshop is to define behaviors that require intervention and establish the function of these behaviors. These skills are put into practice using our own case studies and applying this to your own learners. The second half of the workshop addresses strategies that can be used proactively and reactively to decrease the challenging behaviors which you see in your setting. (full description)
Seven OPI renewal units are available for this training.
You can find more information and register here.
PECS Level 1
Billings November 8-9 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Bozeman January 10-11 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Individuals who are nonverbal or have limited speech need a communication system they can start using right now. PECS provides an immediately useful method for requesting things, actions, and people, in a way that requires and promotes social interaction. Using the principles of applied behavior analysis, PECS starts by teaching spontaneous requesting and as quickly as possible, moves on to responding to questions as well as commenting about things in the environment.
Seven OPI renewal units are available for this training.
You can find more information and register here.
Note-Taking and Organization (virtual training)
November 15 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Keeping track of notes and tasks can be overwhelming to students – not to mention for their teachers and family at home! In this presentation, we’ll showcase tools to support note-taking and organization whether your students are online or in the classroom.
Register here.
Breaking Down Executive Functioning Skills (virtual training)
November 18 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Learn how to assess EF, identify needs, and teach in a way that supports your students. These trainings will cover goal writing and how to work within the learner’s current demands.
Register here.
Teaching Critical Communication Skills
Great Falls November 29 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
You will learn how to teach critical communication skills that lead to greater independence in the home, work, school, and community settings. We review nine specific skills: requesting reinforcers, requesting help, requesting a break, indicating yes and no, waiting, following directions, schedule-following, and transitioning. Through lectures, demonstrations, videos, and participatory activities, you will acquire specific teaching strategies that are relevant for anyone who has limited communication skills, regardless of their communicative modality (e.g., Picture Exchange Communication System [PECS], signing, device use, speech). (full description)
You can find more information and register here.
STAR Training (virtual training)
December 1-2 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
This comprehensive two-day workshop provides participants with detailed examples and practice activities on how to implement evidence-based practices.
Detailed information on the three evidenced-based instructional methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training, and teaching through functional routines are shared.
Participants will learn how to implement these strategies through structured lesson plans and a curriculum scope and sequence. The workshop will include extensive data collection systems and participants will learn to collect and use data for instructional decision-making.
This virtual training will not be recorded and attendance is required on both training days. Ten OPI renewal units are available for this training.
You can find more information and register for each training here.
Make Stuff and Love People (virtual training)
December 5 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
March 29, 2023 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Thousands of “low-cost high touch” solutions can be made in five minutes or less to support students with disabilities in achieving educational success. This one-day workshop will discuss and demonstrate over 100 different solutions that can be made for reading, writing, communicating, sensory and self-regulation, and life skills and transition. Explore over 50 different tools, materials, and techniques for quick solution creations.
You can find more information and register here.
STAR Training
Billings December 12-13 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This comprehensive two-day workshop provides participants with detailed examples and practice activities on how to implement the evidence-based practices.
Detailed information on the three evidenced-based instructional methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training, and teaching through functional routines are shared.
Participants will learn how to implement these strategies through structured lesson plans and a curriculum scope and sequence. The workshop will include extensive data collection systems and participants will learn to collect and use data for instructional decision-making.
Twelve OPI renewal units are available for this training.
You can find more information and register for the training here.
LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning) (virtual training)
January 12, 2023 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
April 21, 2023 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning) is an augmentative alternative communication (AAC) approach designed to give a method of independently and spontaneously expressing themselves through a speech-generating device.
This course will cover the components of LAMP: readiness to learn, engaging the learner through joint engagement, and learning language through a unique and consistent motor plan paired with an auditory signal and a natural consequence. The discussion will include how this approach addresses the core language deficits of autism, device features that are beneficial to teaching language, and how to use those features to implement LAMP components. (LAMP web page)
Five OPI renewal units and .5 ASHA CEUs are available for this training.
You can read more and register here.
Moving Forward with LAMP (virtual training)
January 11, 2023 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
January 18, 2023 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
April 28, 2023 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
This course is designed to further the communication partner’s ability to implement Language Acquisition through the Motor Planning approach at different language stages and across environments. The language structure of the LAMP Words for Life language system and the use of device features to support language learning will be explored. The presenter will cover a variety of strategies and supports to support language development such as expanding vocabulary in natural environments, modeling, teaching the motor plan, and how to use aided language input. Previous attendance at a Language Acquisition through Motor Planning course is required.
Three OPI renewal units are available for this training.
You can read more and register here.
iPad Boot Camp
Billings February 27/28, 2023 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Bozeman March 1/2, 2023 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Discover what is new in the world of awesome apps, adaptations, and accessories. This has been one of our highest-rated training ever. Quotes from previous attendees: "Great visuals, videos, and hands-on!" "I loved how practical this was." "It was an awesome workshop. I absolutely loved it. Therese has a great sense of humor and is fun to listen to!"
Twelve OPI renewal units are available for this training. This is one of our highest-rated trainings ever!
You can learn more and register here. Attendance is limited to 50 people.
The Birds and the Bees: Hygiene, Puberty & Safety for Youth with ASD or Other Developmental Disorders (virtual training)
March 1 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
With up to 80% of individuals with disabilities reportedly becoming victims of sexual/physical abuse or crimes by the time they reach adulthood, the topics of hygiene, puberty, and sexual development are imperative to safety. Unfortunately, these topics are often overlooked. Strategies for teaching hygiene, puberty, and sexual development with an emphasis on safety will be discussed.
Six OPI renewal units will be available for this training. The training will not be recorded.
You can find more information and register here.
Ongoing – Trainings from Social Thinking (virtual trainings)
The OPI Montana Autism Education Project has a limited number of scholarships for Montana public school educators to attend online Social Thinking Trainings. These are recorded trainings and we therefore cannot offer OPI renewal units. ASHA CEUs are available from Social Thinking. Access to these trainings will be available through December 31st. Three trainings are available per person.
Trainings Offered:
- What’s Alexithymia? and How Does It Affect Emotional Regulation and Awareness?
- Implementing Social Thinking® School-wide: Bringing the Concepts into Classrooms & Beyond
- 5 Critical Life Skills for Tweens, Teens, and Young Adults
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Small Talk & Conversations: Strategies to Demystify Conversational Complexities
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What’s a Friend, and Do I Really Need Friends? (Tips & Strategies to Make and Keep Friends, Unpack Social Dislikes & Manage Social Anxiety)
- What’s It Mean to “Behave”? (Tips, Tools & Strategies for Teaching Students Self-Regulation)
- Raising an Organized Child: Strategies to Promote Executive Functions
You can find more information and register here for up to three trainings.
Ongoing - PECS Level 1 Training (virtual trainings)
Individuals who are nonverbal or have limited speech need a communication system they can start using right now. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) provides an immediately useful method for requesting things, actions, and people, in a way that requires and promotes social interaction. Using the principles of applied behavior analysis, PECS starts by teaching spontaneous requesting and as quickly as possible, moves on to responding to questions as well as commenting about things in the environment.
The OPI Montana Autism Education Project has a limited number of scholarships for virtual PECS Level 1 trainings.
NOTE: These virtual PECS Level 1 trainings are only available to educators who are in districts that are at least 60 miles from one of Montana’s seven largest cities.
You can find more information about PECS, see the current training dates, and register here.
Dr. Jennifer Schoffer Closson – virtual training series
We are bringing back these popular virtual trainings from last year AND have added more trainings. These 90-minute to three-hour virtual trainings are scheduled twice per month from September to June. Topics include:
Using Evidence-Based Practices to Teach Safety Skills
Breaking Down Executive Functioning Skills
Educating Parents and Peers about Autism
Neurodiversity Makes Life Better
Understanding Brain Differences in Autism
Evidence-Based Practices for ASD
Girls with Autism
Stop Behavior Before It Starts
You can view the full training schedule, session descriptions, and register for upcoming trainings here.
MonTECH Assistive Technology series (virtual training)
Each month we will feature a different assistive technology (AT) training from MonTECH. These virtual trainings will be from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. Two OPI renewal units will be provided for each training. Registration will open for each training ~ 30 days prior.
November 15: Note-taking and Organization
December 20: Behavior/Sensory Part 1
January 17: Behavior/Sensory Part 2
February 21: Success with Communication
March 21: Communication Part 1
April 18: Communication Part 2
More information about each training and registration for the next upcoming workshop(s) can be found here.
Upcoming Trainings: You can always find our trainings on the Montana Autism Education Project blog at: http://mtautism.opiconnect.org. We will be adding virtual and in-person trainings to the blog as we schedule trainings throughout the school year.
For more information, contact:
Doug Doty, Statewide Coordinator, OPI Montana Autism Education Project
Direct replies to this email will not be forwarded or received by Doug.
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The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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