Free Webinar on Measuring Transition Outcomes

The National Autism Data Center: 

Building Gauges to Measure National Progress on Transition Outcomes

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. ET

Location: Webinar

Paul Shattuck, founder of the National Autism Data Center, will describe the Center's activities with special emphasis on national indicators related to transition, and Laura Ivanova Smith, UW LEND Advocate Faculty, will describe the support she received while transitioning out of high school and into college.

To learn more about this webinar and to register, please visit:
https://www.aucd.org/template/event.cfm?event_id=7863

The Aspie College, Work & Travel Survival Guide

The Aspie College, Work & Travel Survival Guide is 236 pages of guidance on transitioning from high school to adult life, not only to higher education and/or the workforce, but also travel tips when visiting a foreign country or a large city and tips on family emergencies and ill health. Written by a young man with Asperger syndrome, the author offers his personal experience of life as an "Aspie." It's uplifting message is encouraging for other Aspies who are nearing the end of public school life and beginning to answer the question, "What's next?"

More than half of the book covers the end of high school, planning for college, and college life. It discusses the different types of colleges and costs, applying to colleges and scholarships, study tips, and graduation. The chapters that follow cover topics such as building a resume, interviewing tips, and accepting a position. Toward the end of the book, the author highlights concerns for an Aspie regarding domestic and international travel as well as topics on families and emergency situations.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Check out the latest article by researcher Kim Davis on IRCA's Website!

What Do I Really Need to Know?

Contributed by Kim Davis

Many students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are included in general education classes. In some instances, the general education teacher may be comfortable with having a student with ASD enrolled in his or her class. Yet, some general education teachers may feel a sense of discomfort or fear, or maybe even overwhelmed and unsure. These are all legitimate feelings which may lead to undesirable behaviors or attitudes from those teachers. Let's take a minute to begin to understand those feelings and behaviors.

When a student with ASD is included in a general education class, that student can enter with a preconceived reputation based on past experiences between the student, the student's family, and other school staff. In many cases, if the reputation is positive; the inclusion process can move forward smoothly. In other cases, where the reputation is not so positive, the process can be filled with resentment, discomfort, and even anger. These feelings can also be generated when a teacher suddenly feels unsure or inadequate in his or her skills. The anger and resentment may have nothing to do with the student at all, but be a very personal response to the situation.

Read More...

Accommodations for Students on the Autism Spectrum

On Wednesday, December 2 at 1 pm, Cathy Pratt of the IRCA will host a seminar in the Dogwood room of the Indiana Memorial Union on the IU campus. Here are the details:

IU is seeing greater numbers of students with autism enrolled in its programs. Because of this growing student population, IUB's Disability Roundtable is sponsoring an Accessible University session to create awareness of how our campus can be as welcoming and supportive as possible to this student group.

Dr. Pratt will share some of the characteristics of students on the autism spectrum and the issues they may face while attending college. She will also provide guidance on ways to support them in their classes, in planning their programs, and in participating other University activities and events.

Dr. Pratt is Director of the Indiana Resource Center for Autism at IU’s Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, and is a Special Education faculty member in the School of Education. She currently serves as Chair of the Board for the National Autism Society, serves on the Panel of Professional Advisors for the Autism Society, and is part of the Network of Autism Training and Technical Assistance Programs plus many advisory boards.

Bring your questions and concerns and join us for this timely and relevant discussion! Please also share this information with others who may be interested.

Requests for Accommodations
If you plan to attend this session and require a sign language interpreter, real time captioning, assistive listening system, another auxiliary aid or information in alternate format, please contact Alice Voigt, Accessibility Specialist, at the National Center on Accessibility, ajvoigt@indiana.edu, (812) 856-4422 (voice) or (812) 856-4421 (tty).

For More Information
Accessible University is a monthly series of presentations sponsored by the IUB Disability Roundtable. The purpose of the series is to educate the university community about accessibility issues and methodologies to create a more accessible university environment fully inclusive of students, faculty, staff, and visitors with disabilities.

The Accessible University series is a collaborative activity of IUB’s Disability Roundtable, coordinated by Vicki Pappas of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and Alice Voigt of the National Center on Accessibility. For further information about the Accessible University series or the Disability Roundtable, please feel free to contact Vicki (cpps@indiana.edu) or Alice (ajvoigt@indiana.edu).

The way to Work

The Way to Work: How to Facilitate Work Experience for Youth in Transition by Richard G. Luecking is designed for educators, transition specialists, and employment specialists to help high school age and young adults with disabilities transition into the job force. Within the book readers will learn how to discover students' strengths, weaknesses through various assessments, help people decided when and how to tell an employer that they have a disability, how to get families involved in the student's work experience and much more.

The Way to Work comes complete with examples of programs , including tools and forms that can be photocopied for your convenience at the end of one of the chapters.

If interested in this book and live in Indiana?

If not, search WorldCat to see if your local library has it.

Transition to Adulthood

Paul Wehman and Co. have produced a "can't live without" guide to transitioning to adulthood for the Autism community with their new book "Autism & the Transition to Adulthood: Success Beyond the Classroom. In this book readers will find "information on how specific social, behavioral, and cognitive characteristics of people with autism affect the transition to adulthood," as well as tips and tools to help teens identify and explore their strengths. Not only will readers find a practical guide for the transition process, but they will also find real life stories of 3 teens and their transition experience. For more information check out the publishers website.

Interested? Indiana residents can call us at 800-437-7924. Not an Indiana resident? No worries! Find this title at your local library!