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COVID-19 and Special Education
Overview
These Exceptional Student Services Unit (ESSU) webpages are continuously expanding to support educators who serve, and families of Colorado children with disabilities through the provision of Special Education-specific information and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.
State & Federal Guidance
This section organizes guidance provided by the U.S. Department of Education, State Of Colorado Agencies including the CDE Exceptional Student Services Unit.
Learning Supports for Students With Disabilities
This section provides resources across a wide multitude of disability topics.
Resources for Families of Students with Disabilities During COVID-19
This section provides access to resources for families and caregivers of children with disabilities, as they support their children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Disability & Topic Specific Information
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Brain Injury & Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Facility Schools Information
IEP Tele-Facilitation
Serious Emotional Disability, Social Emotional Learning, Mental Health & Behavior
Significant Support Needs
Speech & Language
Transition Age
Visual Impairment, Including Blindness
Virtual Office Hours
After the time of remote instruction, the Office of Special Education has been fielding many phone and email questions regarding how best to support the accessibility, behavior, learning, social-emotional, and transition needs of learners with disabilities. In response to requests from the field, the following office hours have resumed:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Office Hours
- BCBA Conversations
- Blind/Visually Impaired (B/VI) Sound Bites
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing Listen, Learn, Ask, Answer
- Multilingual Learners with Exceptional Disabilities
- New or Near-New Special Education Directors - Lunch Connect Meetings
- Serious Emotional Disability, Social Emotional Learning, Mental Health & Behavior
- Significant Support Needs Power Hour
- Special Education Evaluation Webinar Series
- Speech-Language Pathology Office Hours
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
The ASD team has concluded the 2022-23 ASD Office Hour Sessions. ASD Office Hours will resume in the fall; please check back for more information.
BCBA Conversations
If you are a BCBA working in a public or facility school across the state of Colorado, you are invited to a monthly gathering of other BCBAs to collaborate, problem solve and share resources. We will gather from 4:00 - 5:00 PM, on the first Wednesday of each month, to discuss topics relevant to our work, host guest speakers and collaborate with others around the state doing the same work.
2023-2024 Dates
- September 6, 2023
- October 4, 2023
- November 1, 2023
- December 6, 2023
- January 3, 2024
- February 7, 2024
- March 6, 2024
- April 3, 2024
- May 1, 2024
Blind/Visually Impaired (B/VI) - Sound Bites
Tanni Anthony will be providing Sound Bites for the 2023-2024 school year. Sound Bites provides opportunities for personnel trained to work with learners with visual impairments, including blindness to gather once a month for professional learning and conversations on improving educational assessment and programmatic practices.
Some sessions will be restricted to teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs).
All participants must register no later than two weeks in advance for each training/conversation event.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Listen, Learn, Ask, Answer (LLAA)
Shauna Moden and the Deaf, Hard of Hearing team will have Listen, Learn, Ask, Answer sessions two times a month. One session will be for "New D/HH Employees" and the other will geared for "Seasoned and New Employees"
Participants must register for each session individually.
New D/HH Employee LLAA Session Dates, Topics & Registration Links:
- September 14, 2023 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- How Do We Identify and Serve D/HH Students?
- Register for "How Do We Identify and Serve Students" on September 14th
- October 12, 2023 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- IEP SOS: The Golden Thread
- Register for IEP SOS: The Golden Thread on October 12th
- November 9, 2023 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- The Communication Plan
- Register for "The Communication Plan" on November 9th.
- January 12, 2024 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
- Getting Started with Transition
- Registration link coming soon.
- February 9, 2024 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
- More About Language
- Registration link coming soon.
- March 8, 2024 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
- Prepping Families for Summer
- Registration link coming soon.
- May 10, 2024 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
- The Finish Line is Near
- Registration link coming soon.
Seasoned & New D/HH Employee LLAA Session Dates, Topics & Registration Links:
- September 21, 2023 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- On the Road Again: Life as the Itinerant
- Register for "On the Road Again" on September 21st.
- October 19, 2023 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- Effective Collaboration with Your Educational Audiologist
- Register for "Effective Collaboration..." on October 19th.
- November 16, 2023 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- Communication is Key: Working with Your Educational Interpreter
- Register for "Communication is Key" on November 16th.
- December 14, 2023 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- D/HH Transition Stories - Showing you Students and Families that Deaf CAN
- Register for "D/HH Transition Stories" on December 14th.
- January 18, 2024 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- Language Assessment - Do you know their level of English of ASL Proficiency?
- Register for "Language Assessment" on January 18th.
- February 15, 2024 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- Summer is Coming...Do Your Families know their Options?
- Register for "Summer is Coming" on February 15th.
- May 2, 2024 from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- Lessons Learned During the First Year of UPK
- Register for "Lessons Learned During the First Year of UPK" on May 2nd.
Multilingual Learners with Educational Disabilities Webinar Series
Hunter Smith is holding a webinar series for Colorado educators. After attending each webinar participants will receive a certificate. Registration for each webinar will close 2 weeks prior to scheduled webinar date.
Date, Time & Topic
- October 12, 2023 from 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
- Literacy for Multilingual Learners and those with Exceptionalities
- Register for Literacy for Multilingual Learners and those with Exceptionalities on October 12
- November 15, 2023 from 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
- Multilingual Learners: EL Identification, Obligation to Serve and Problem-Solving
- Register for EL Identification, Obligation to Serve and Problem-Solving on November 15.
- February 19, 2024 from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
- Foundations of Dynamic Assessment for Multilingual Learners
- Register for Foundations of Dynamic Assessment for Multilingual Learners on February 19
- TBD 2024
- Expanding on Ethnographic Interviewing and Family Partnerships
- Register for Expanding on Ethnographic Interviewing and Family Partnerships
New or Near-New Special Education Directors - Lunch Connect Meetings
Lunch Connect meetings have concluded for the 2022-23 school year. Please check back for more information.
Serious Emotional Disability, Social Emotional Learning, Mental Health & Behavior
Bill Brown will be holding monthly office hours the first Tuesday of each month from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM. All participants must register no later than two weeks in advance for each office hour due to logistical requirements.
Session dates & topics of focus are:
- September 5, 2023 - Elopement
- October 3, 2023 - Perfectionism
- November 7, 2023- Selective Mutism
- December 5, 2023 – Learned Helplessness
- February 6, 2024 – Lying
- March 5, 2024 – Stealing
- April 2, 2024 – Avoidance Behaviors
- May 7, 2024 – Attention Seeking
Significant Support Needs - Power Hour
The Significant Support Needs Network Team and the Significant Support Needs Task Force Members will be holding monthly office hours. The SSN Power Hour will be on Wednesdays of each month from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM.
Dates:
- September 27, 2023 - Individual Student Score Reports (DLM) Accessing Student Data
- October 4, 2023
- November 1, 2023
- December 6, 2023
All participants must register no later than two weeks in advance for each power hour session/conversation.
Special Education Evaluation Webinar Series
Krista Klabo will host a six-part monthly webinar series on foundational concepts of special education evaluation! Throughout the series, we will cover essential topics, including comprehensiveness in evaluations, meaningful family participation and collaboration, cultural considerations, building a thoughtful body of evidence beyond standardized measures, and assessment interpretation and communication. These topics are crucial for ensuring thorough evaluations, fostering strong partnerships with families, addressing cultural diversity, utilizing alternative assessment methods, and effectively communicating assessment findings.
This monthly series will be held on Tuesdays from 8:00 – 9:30 am. Registration is required to attend.
Dates and Topics:
- September 19, 2023 - Comprehensiveness in Special Education Evaluation
- October 24, 2023 - Meaningful Family Participation and Collaboration
- November 28, 2023 - Cultural Considerations in Special Education Evaluation
- January 30, 2024 - Assessment Interpretation and Communication
- February 27, 2024 - Basics of Building a Thoughtful Body of Evidence
- April 16, 2024 - Convergence of Data to Build a Stronger Body of Evidence
Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) Office Hours
Shani O'Brien will hold Speech-Language Pathology Office Hours on Mondays from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM. Registration is required to attend.
Dates and Topics:
- September 11, 2023 - Evaluation and Eligibility
- October 16, 2023 - Autism and Communication Strategies - Guest Speaker
- November 13, 2023 - Collaborative Goal Writing
- December 11, 2023 - Open Hours - Bring your questions!
- January - No office hours
- February 19, 2024 - Dynamic Assessment Mediated Learning Experiences - Guest Speaker
- March 11, 2024 - Making the Most of Push-In Services
- April 8, 2024 - Transition Planning
- May 13, 2024 - Open Hours - Bring your questions!
Registration for each session closes two weeks prior to the session
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