Oklahoma LEND

Interdisciplineary Leadership Education for Health Professionals Caring for Children with

Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Program

Click here to visit the Oklahoma LEND website!

 

Person-Centered Thinking

“Help people get better lives, not just better plans.”

(The Learning Community for Person Centered Practices, Inc. 2008) 

What is Person-Centered Thinking?

Person-Centered Thinking (PCT) offers tools and skills that help put information into a format that is easy to understand and easy to share. The tools that are used in PCT help identify and describe routines, things, and people that matter the most to people. This information includes what is important to and what is important for a person on a day-to-day basis, during times of stress, and during times of celebration. The tools help  describe what other people might need to know and do in order to support  the individual at home, school, work or in their activities in the community.

The Center for Learning and Leadership/Oklahoma UCEDD and the Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council with support from the Oklahoma Disability Law Center and Bios have formed the Oklahoma Learning Community for Person Centered Practices. The purpose of the Learning Community is to make training in Person-Centered Thinking skills and tools available throughout Oklahoma. Training teams consisting of a family member and a professional are available to provide presentations and training to family members, self-advocates, advocates and professionals. The training is free and can be tailored to meet the needs and time constraints of your group or agency!

Wondering what you will learn from Person-Centered Thinking?

If you are a Self Advocate or a family member, friend, or paid staff of a person with a disability, you have a wealth of information about “what works” and “what does not work.” You can share information about preferences in music, foods and TV shows. You also know subtle things, like how to make sure that bath time goes well or the best ways to give instructions or share information.

Person-Centered Thinking was developed by The Learning Community for Essential Lifestyle Planning; the materials were written by Michael W. Smull and Helen Sanderson with Bill Allen.

 

Registry Training

Registry Training is a project funded by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Special Education Services and coordinated by the Center for Learning and Leadership/UCEDD. Registry Training was created as a mechanism to provide approved training in federal criteria areas for which no special education certification exists. Federal criteria areas include: Autism, Traumatic Brain Injury, Multiple Disabilities and Deaf-Blindness. Special education teachers holding categorical certification and serving as teacher of record for a student with Autism, TBI, Multiple Disabilities or Deaf- Blindness are required to take registry training. All trainings are thirty-two hours in duration and include a practicum or hands-on experience.

Project Tasks
Registry trainings are designed to expand special education professionals’
knowledge and skills. All training includes the following components:

• A common base of knowledge regarding the disability or condition.

• Appropriate and effective evaluation and assessment practices.
• Key issues in educational programming.
  
• Functional curriculum, adaptations and accommodations.
  
• Information about state and national resources available for this population.
  
• Information about coordinating with other professionals and families in planning the most appropriate and meaningful service plan for these children.
  
• This coordination should include information on effective communication, family dynamics, cultural considerations, and interdisciplinary teaming.

Project Results

Since 1994 over 7,846 special education professionals have taken the Registry Training sessions. The numbers of special education professionals attending each training session are provided below.
1,252 in the area of Traumatic Brain Injury
3,121 in the area of Autism
1,391 in the area of Multiple Disabilities
1,391 in the area of Deaf-Blindness

2,118 in the area of Other Health Impairment (discontinued in '08-'09 school year)

Satisfaction With Registry Training

All training sessions are evaluated. On average all sessions rank 2.75, with 3 being the highest score possible. Samples of participants’ comments are provided below.

"I learned to identify the form and function of the behavior. I learned the importance of collecting data in order to find the function. I need information on the setting, what happens before the behavior, what happens after the behavior and how does the child react to consequences. I learned I needed to teach a replacement skill not just punish. I also learned to provide reinforcement closely in time with the mastered or desired behavior. It's important to provide reinforcement for an alternative behavior (replacement) an put targeted bad behavior on extinction. For example, I would replace hitting with using words or pictures."

"Actual need for sensory stimulation is more intense in these students and must be addressed. I need to explore other communication opportunities. Data interpretation tools."

"I learned that my student has sever self-regulation requirements and what reinforces one child is not a cure all or reinforcer for another student. And that data collection can be simple, and if done regularly can show m what's not working, what is , and improvements made in areas."

"Learning and understanding the reason or need for a behavior has to be addressed before you can help the student learn a new behavior. Also that consequences are what happens after a behavior and not always "bad". The student needs to be taught appropriate ways to get their needs met. Generalization does not work. It needs to be specific and task oriented."

Lessons Learned to Date

• Providing training to teachers who are already in the classroom and have an immediate need to apply the information to their students makes the training relevant.
  
• Including family members of students with disabilities as presenters in the training enhances the participants’ ability to partner with families in educating their children.

For more information, please contact:

Ephelders Lipscomb, Project Coordinator,

Oklahoma Teacher Registry Training Project, Center for Learning and Leadership

Mailing Address:

OSDE Teacher Registry

Attn: Ephelders Lipscomb

PO Box 26901

ROB 342

Oklahoma City, OK 73126.

(405) 271-4500 Ext., 41009, or e-mail, Ephelders-Lipscomb@ouhsc.edu

2011-2012 Registration Form

Memo                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Competencies