Episode 013 "Turning Three" and the Transition to Public School Services

Episode 013 "Turning Three" and the Transition to Public School Services

In this episode, I’m joined by early childhood special educator and my dear friend, Jenn Lauriat, to hear more about “turning three” and transitioning to special education preschool services.  Jenn is a wealth of knowledge about preschool, as she’s worked in special education at this level for many years, across a variety of settings, and even in different states!  She spent quite a few years as an administrator for a special education preschool, so she really knows the ins and outs of transitioning from early intervention to public school special education.  In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Referral from early intervention to public school special education
• Referral meetings
• Child outcome summaries (or COS)
• Evaluation for special education
• Eligibility meetings
• Social/emotional supports for both children and families/caregivers

Links:  

• Child Outcome Summary (COS) Overview
• COS ratings explanations
• Massachusetts-specific COS information
• Massachusetts information on transition from Early Intervention to public school

Episode 012 MINI Episode "How'd You Get Here" With Early Childhood Special Educator Jennifer Lauriat

This is the third episode in our mini-series “How’d You Get Here”?!  I talk with my dear friend and colleague Jennifer Lauriat to hear more about her journey as an early childhood educator and administrator.  Jenn and I met when we were both fresh out of college and working at a private special education school for children with autism.  Jenn’s next job was at another private special education school where she helped develop a program for children with more significant special needs and put into practice many of the ABA skills that she learned in her previous placement.  From there, she moved through a variety of public school settings, working to provide special education services within the least restrictive “home school” environments.  Next, Jenn made the jump to administration where she worked as the preschool coordinator for a public school district in Rhode Island.  After working in that role for four years, she came back to her passion… teaching… and now works as an itinerant special education preschool teacher for a large district in Rhode Island.  

Jenn’s journey shows that your career may have twists and turns.  You may try new things, stay for a while, and then move on.  You may learn something at one job that helps you land a new job that you didn’t even anticipate.  Or your personal life (such as a interstate move!) may force you to look for something new.  Throughout it all, Jenn always found the right job for the right time in her life.  If you’re not sure about your current classroom or school, I hope Jenn’s story gives you hope that you can keep going, try new things, and find the right place for yourself as a special educator.  

Episode 011 Inside Early Intervention with Allison Osipow, Pediatric OT

In this week’s episode, we’re talking more about early intervention as I interview Allison Osipow, an early intervention occupational therapist. We talk about the evaluation and eligibility, the Individualized Family Service Plan or IFSP, and what service can look like.  We also touch on transition to public school and “turning three”.  Allison has a wealth of knowledge about both EI and OT so I’m sure you’ll enjoy the interview.  

Links from the show:  

• IFSP template for Massachusetts
• Early Intervention Transition Plan for Massachusetts
• Key Principles of Early Intervention 
• FAQs about transition from Early Intervention to Special Education in the public schools
• Tips for families transitioning from EI, from parents/families who have received Early Intervention

Episode 010 MINI Episode "How'd You Get Here" With Special Educator Erin O'Brien

Today we’re here in our second episode in our mini-series “How’d You Get Here”?!  We talk with our own Erin O’Brien to hear more about her journey as a severe special educator at the middle school level.  Erin knew from an early age,  while she played in her mother's preschool classroom, that she was going to be an educator.  Her college degree covered the wide range of both special education and gifted education.  After graduation, she moved up to New England to attend graduate school at Boston College and studied deaf-blind education.  While at BC, she had a variety of professional experiences, including research and practicum work.  Erin then moved on to work at in inclusion preschool before jumping up to the middle school level where she worked for thirteen years.  In that position, she was able to develop and grow a school-based special education program. She also got involved in training new teachers through the teacher induction program and the mentoring program in her district.  Erin has a wide variety of professional experiences that are sure to inspire any special education teacher. 

Episode 009 Early Intervention Overview

This week we talk about Early Intervention (EI), as it is a program that nearly all of our students accessed, yet we did not learn about it in our teacher training programs. In this episode, we looked through our lens of veteran teachers to identify and explain the beneficial basics of EI for all educators. We give a little background about how EI started, then talk about what IDEA mandates and how children and families qualify for services. We discuss some differing state qualifications and implementation of the program. We review how an Individual Family Support Plan (IFSP) is different from an IEP and how services can be implemented across settings.  Stay tuned for our next episode when we’ll interview an EI provider to get the inside scoop!

Links:

• Wrightslaw and EI
• Understood’s article on EI
• Outline of minimum components of EI
• Individual state qualifications
• CDC’s Developmental Milestones Checklists
• Differences between an IEP and IFSP
• Digital note-taking template sample