Meeting Minutes: October 11, 2012

Meeting Minutes from OI Consortium Meeting: October, 11 2012

Gwinnett Instructional Center, Duluth, Georgia

The meeting today centered on the topic of utilizing organizational strategies as well as various types of AT that will further increase a student’s overall organization.

Mrs. Bytheway presented a powerpoint presentation discussing the various realms of organization, and how students with physical and health impairments are more directly affected by a lack of organization resulting in failing grades, lack of confidence, etc.

The group also discussed options for students who are medically fragile and require multiple breaks throughout the day to prevent fatigue. One teacher discussed how a student would use Skype within the school in order to participate in her classes in another part of the school building that was more comfortable for her. This accommodation allows the student to attend school without causing extreme fatigue during the day, offering a creative solution to the problem of prolonged and frequent absences.

The group offered many suggestions as well regarding other organization strategies as well as AT that will further enable organization skills.

–         Teacher websites are useful for students to keep up with their homework assignments as well as long-term planning for upcoming tests and quizzes. It was also recommended that students use a regular hanging calendar to write their long-term or short-term assignments on as a visual reminder that can be displayed at home.

–         AT solutions that were offered were:

–         Scanning wands (Less than 50 dollars at Wal-Mart)

–         Web Based version of Kurzweil

–         Microsoft 7 version of their on screen keyboard (useful for students with Muscular Dystrophy or other degenerative conditions)

–         Utilize the hover feature instead of requiring mouse clicks.

–         Speech to text on Microsoft 7

–         Dragon on Iphone

–         Swiftpoint 300 Mouse

–         Having someone from CATEA come out again to offer another presentation on their research at Georgia Tech, or even going there to tour the facilities.

–         Attending another tour of the AT department at the ShephardCenter

–         The group also wanted to discuss how a planning tool could be developed for determining service hours for a student.

–         Lastly, the group wanted to discuss how to write IEP objectives for students who are served on a consultative basis. It was recommended that the each person brought a copy of their Present Levels of Performance in order to discuss possible service times for that student, and how the OI teacher should effectively serve that student. There may be differences among the counties regarding how students are served, and this would be a helpful exercise in comparing service models for OI Itinerants across the Metro Area. Lastly, the group discussed future topics for upcoming meetings.