Minutes – April 20, 2010
District ABA Advisory
Meeting called to order 7:08
Attendance – 14
§ Comment from Anne Turner this afternoon “she is not anticipating that we will be compromised in support.”
§ Slight increase in funding for low incidence kids will be very beneficial to the district – level 2 (ASD) from 16,000 to 18,300
§ Question about SET BC is there a funding reduction?
§ One parent’s IT was told that Level G kids were not supported by SET BC (we will look into this)
§ Can SET BC or District software be used on computers supplied by the parents
§ If you need Occupational therapy or Speech Language Pathologists – you need to get a consultation in Kindergarten
§ Assessments are automatically done before high school transition
§ Assignment of hours – question who made the recommendation for hours per child – question how do parents find out how many hours their children have been assigned ? – what can parents do if the child’s hours are reduced?
§ ABA SW question – I found someone who is in the course – who wants to work with my child should she post the job in June or August – interesting question
§ There are currently some new ABA SW’s in the district in the if you are still looking you should call the student services and see if any are looking for postings
§ BCBA conference info has gone out – if you are interested you should register and go – Nancy Walton and Sharon Baxter will be giving their presentation on “ABA in Schools at this conference”
§ Pro – D’s for support workers – we are looking forward to having more in the future
§ In Services for teachers and principals – there is a need to talk about ABA with schools that have never had ABA and high schools – Ann is planning to talk to Secondary Schools as they are about to receive many new ABA SW’s that will be attending
§ North Surrey has the Basis program for kids who can participate academically they also have the Lifeskills program for kids work on more rudimentary skills
§ When Nancy Robins went to North Surrey they were surprised to hear that her child would come with an ABA SW who was child specific – this lead to further discussion with Ann about the need to talk to secondary schools and let them understand
§ A parent asked if it is recommended that ABA SW’s change to go to Secondary School – there is no recommendation for change – it is a rule that the job be reposted however the ABA SW will have the opportunity to post to the new position
§ An ongoing challenge is IT’s – the District has been working through in- services and hiring new IT’s who have a collaborative focus to move in a positive direction – this administration is requiring collaboration
§ The Advisory Exec talked to Ann about writing a document for teachers and ABA SW’s about roles and responsibilities, the hope is that it would clarify that the ABA SW is child specific and delivering against the IEP is their responsibility
§ Is there any change for what to do when your support worker is sick – to get who has experience the child
§ Safety Plans – can we use these to specify who would work with the child if there was a spare board person – can a safety plan trigger a “higher priorty” on the spare board
§ A parent mentioned that their teacher and SEA were both away on a day when their consultant was coming in – they wondered if they would be overstepping their bounds to ask for warning if a substitute was planned – the answer is NO set up a relationship with the principal to get a phone call
§ Google docs – can be shared back and forth to add ABC’s or other data
§ Electronic data is working for some parents where teachers are onboard
§ Once special needs kids go to Secondary School they are automatically eligible for bus pick up if you want it
§ If a principal called Ann and asked if ABA SW’s were child specific would she say yes – our belief is YES
§ Summer school – is there ABA SW coverage available and what do schools offer – if your child is doing regular curriculum and need July class time to catch up or stay caught up. The teacher approves it and the principal approves it.
§ Summer camp registration started – yesterday April 19th
Post a link in the minutes that gives the most up to date version of the Home/School Collaboration document
Adjourned 8:47
District ABA Advisory 