Building Partnerships…Working Together Conference Jackson, MS

After I signed up for this conference, I wanted to make sure everyone knows about it! Dr. Emily Rubin will be here as the keynote speaker which is super exciting along with many other speakers. Dr. Emily Rubin is a coauthor of the SCERTS model, which I am a big fan of- SCERTS combines teaching social communication and behavioral skills with child-centered activities while also focusing on how parents and professionals can better meet the needs of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder.

The conference will be held in Jackson, MS March 4-5, 2013 at the Jackson Convention Center. The fee is only $25 and there are stipends available for parents through the MSPTI. Encourage your teachers to attend also! This is a great opportunity for parents, teachers, school districts, etc. to learn more in order to facilitate the best opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Jackson Autism Center will have a table, so please stop by and visit.

MS CEC February Conference to include Dr. Rebecca Mullican of Jackson Autism Center

The fast approaching MS CEC conference will be held at the Golden Moon Casino and Resort in Philadelphia, MS on February 6-8, 2013. Dr. Rebecca Mullican will have two presentations that you will not want to miss during this conference! One will discuss her dissertation topic of children with autism who use speech generating devices to communicate and the other focuses on the connection between behavior and communication. You can review the schedule here and the session topics here. If you would like general information about Mississippi’s Council for Exceptional Children, you can visit here.

Dr. Mullican’s first presentation, Linking Communication and Behavior, will focus on the need for all individuals to have a consistent way to communicate. Individuals are misunderstood because of challenging behavior and a lack of communication. Through a better understanding of the connection between behavior and communication, professionals and parents can assist individuals with special needs in creating a communication system that works.

Dr. Mullican’s second MS CEC presentation, “It Is His Voice” Daily Device Use with Children who Have Autism, will share information from Dr. Mullican’s dissertation which focused on families of children who have autism and use a Speech Generating Device (SGD) to communicate. Six families across the United States participated in two interviews to share their experiences with their child who has autism and communicates with a SGD. Dr. Rebecca Mullican will be presenting with Dr. John Bishop, a CISE professor at the University of Southern Mississippi.

These and many more presentations will make the MS CEC conference one you will not want to miss. A variety of information will be presented, from the DORE program to positive behavior support, Mississippi Alternate Assessment, Common Core for individuals with moderate and severe disabilities, and twice-exceptional children. Hope to see you there.

~I was unable to attend CEC as scheduled for personal reasons. However, I will be participating in other speaking events so stay tuned…