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Ygnacio Valley Offers New Collaborative Program
Spectrum – Ygnacio Valley is the newest program in the organization’s collaborative classroom service
model. The classroom is on the campus of Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, Calif. within the Mount Diablo Unified School District and is designed to meet the needs of students in grades nine-12 with mild cognitive
delays.
Spectrum offers collaborative classrooms as an
option for school districts to effectively meet the learning needs of students with special needs while allowing them to remain in a public school
setting. Spectrum works alongside the school’s specialists to help address individual needs, giving each student a chance to
succeed.
Spectrum – Ygnacio Valley students are supported at various levels of
instruction and encouraged to work toward increased independence on campus, at a specific work site, and ultimately, as productive members of the
larger community. California Content Standards are implemented through
group and individual instructional lessons. Staff members assist students to ensure an enriched learning environment where individual IEP goals are
addressed throughout the school day and across a variety of settings.
In addition to academics, social skills development is incorporated into the
daily schedule. The social skills curriculum includes calming strategies, techniques to cope with frustration, and conversation etiquette. Social
skills practice is reinforced throughout all aspects of the students’ routines.
The inclusion program at Spectrum – Ygnacio Valley provides
opportunities for students to interact with peers during lunch, break time and student assembly. It also allows them to enroll in a variety of
elective courses such as physical education, art, dance and woodshop.
Collaborative classrooms, such as Spectrum – Ygnacio Valley, allow
districts to continue delivering a quality educational experience to students with special needs.
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Up for the Challenge
When Edward first agreed to start work training at Safeway grocery store,
he wasn’t quite sure if he was up for the job.
Although Edward was participating in vocational training through Spectrum Center’s WorkAbility I Program on the Camden campus in Oakland, Calif., he didn’t know if was ready to generalize his emerging work skills in a real employment
setting such as Safeway. Since 2004, ESA-Spectrum Center’s WAI program
has partnered with a local Safeway, providing students with vocational training to develop their employability skills. Safeway is one of the
nation’s largest employers of people with disabilities.
But with encouragement and support from job coach Dave Lechtaler, Edward
swapped his oversized baseball cap and hooded sweatshirt for a Safeway cap and work apron. That was two years ago and Edward, now
18, knows he made the right choice.
Edward’s first job was learning the art of facing products -
moving products to the front of store shelves to keep the store aisles neat and organized. Edward's co-worker and mentor Chris Marines has provided
on-the-job training to many Spectrum students over the last four years.
At first, Edward was shy and unsure of himself. But
over time, his confidence grew. “Edward has come out of his shell,” Lechtaler said. “He’s got more confidence now,” Marines said. “I’m proud to be part of Spectrum’s
vocational program and I take great pride in Edward’s progress.” Edward is facing and stocking shelves independently now, no longer
requiring direct supervision from his job coach.
The store manager also noticed Edward’s progress. He
recently asked if Edward would be interested in a permanent part-time position at the store. Lechtaler is currently helping Edward
navigate the job application, resume and job interview process. Edward is ready to challenge himself once again. “I like
working at Safeway. It’s cool.”
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Growing into Your Own
I was introduced to Jobonne last summer while observing the eighth grade
students at Sequoia Middle School who were getting ready to transition to high school. When I first spoke to Jobonne, he did not
say anything in response when I introduced myself with, “Hello. My name is Miss M. What is your
name?” He looked at me with a smile on his face and then down at his desk where he was drawing cartoon characters from a
video game he enjoyed. His teacher told me he did not communicate in most social circumstances with people he did not know
well. An assistant in the room commented, “Jobonne is a quiet young man who really likes to keep to himself most of the
day.” In the days that followed, I found this to be true. However, that was about to change.
Since entering high school here at Spectrum/Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, Calif., last
September, Jobonne has grown into a highly social, interactive, humorous young man. At first, he was the same young man I observed
at Sequoia- quiet and in his own world. His speech pathologist told me of instances where Jobonne didn’t quite know how to
react and would engage in behaviors as coping mechanisms during stressful moments in middle school, behaviors that have since been extinguished and
replaced with appropriate communication of his needs and wants. A staff member is always available for Jobonne
and his classmates if they need us to guide them through utilizing social skills taught to them from daily lessons. Jobonne has
really benefited from this and, due to his immense growth, he is able to talk about his feelings, compliment others, use manners, ask others
independently if they are OK , use figures of speech appropriately and stay on topic in a conversation or lesson. (More...)
Talie Massoli is a teacher in Spectrum’s newest collaborative
classroom at Ygnacio Valley High School.
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Delta Students’ Talent on Display
Spectrum students from
Delta campus' Community Integration Classroom (CIC) received awards in May for their entries in a “Leibovitz Like” photography
contest sponsored by a local library. The contest honored Annie Liebovitz, one of the world’s renowned photographers whose unique photographic style has inspired many. Submissions
in the Liebovitz Like contest were judged by professional photographers.
Students used disposable cameras to catch some qualifying
photos during outings, gardening and P.E. All students took at least three “Leibovitz Like”
pictures, then selected their best for submission to the contest. CIC staff members Robert Lefler, Chris Henry, Trisha Cervantez and Karen
Lee assisted with the project, especially during the initial “aim and shoot” challenges. Lefler
further offered his skills refining the finished products with cropping, appropriate mounting, and creating images in sepia to simulate the faded brownish color of early photography.
The library created a
special category and exhibit for the CIC students’ collection which was on display for public viewing with all other
submissions. Lefler attended the judging and accepted the awards on behalf of the Spectrum students. In addition to a first
place and two runner up awards, the class earned gift certificates totaling $45. The amount will be saved for some future fun event.
The display has been
recreated at the Delta campus front office for
parent, caretaker and student enjoyment.
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Earth Day
Awareness
Room 203
at the Solano Campus participated in a coloring
contest for “Earth Day” awareness. In April, the class received a phone call from the Vacaville Reporter newspaper saying that Abraham (age eight) took second place in the contest. The paper
framed and displayed his beautifully colored picture during the Earth Day
festival and presented prizes. Abraham earned a prize for his work, but said he was more excited about seeing his picture framed than receiving
a $30 gift certificate to the movies.
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Site Updates
New Sites
The Spectrum Center division of Educational
Services of America (ESA) opened two new programs this school year. One campus is in Daly City, Calif and the other is a collaborative site in
Concord, Calif.
Site Updates:
Camden:
The Camden students and staff recently presented their annual talent show. Most classrooms participated with
group and individual singing and dancing acts. The enthusiastic audience included students' parents, care providers, and bus
drivers.
Jay, a student in
one of Camden’s Autism Specific classrooms, is taking an on-line computer course through a local community college. The course is titled
Intro to Computer Information Systems.
Mission
Valley:
The Mission Valley Campus has joined thousands of schools nationwide in implementing Positive Behavior Supports (PBS). Positive Behavior Supports is a
school-wide system that includes proactive strategies for defining, teaching and supporting appropriate student behaviors
to create positive school environments. Augmenting individual behavioral management plans, a continuum of positive behavior support for all students
within a school is implemented in areas including classroom and non-classroom settings such as hallways and restrooms. Positive behavior support
is an application of a behaviorally based systems approach to enhance the capacity of schools, to design effective environments that improve the link
between research-validated practices and the environments in which teaching and learning occurs. Mission Valley staff met as a team and redefined
their school-wide expectations. All classrooms will teach these expectations in all settings and the students will be awarded
“star”-bucks for modeling the expectations. Then they can spend their “star”-bucks at the Friday Store or at many
other special events and activities.
San
Francisco:
Students at the San Francisco campus entered a contest for a city-wide student art exhibit at the de Young Museum and were accepted. The art has been matted and
everyone is eagerly awaiting the opening gala which is scheduled for May 23, 2008 from 5-8pm. The students who were chosen to
show their work are: Michael, Ryuji, Rosie, and Todd. The show will run through late May.
San
Jose:
Maggie Cox has been promoted from education coordinator to assistant program director. Christi Bantz will be earning
her master’s in special education through our partnership with CSUS in
summer ‘08. She earned her credentials in mild/moderate & moderate/severe disabilities education through the CSUS program as well.
San Jose has transitioned five students to a less restrictive environment during the 2007-2008 school year.
Solano:
In March, Solano students and their families joined staff members for their fourth annual Bowling Night at Stars Bowling
Alley in Vacaville. In April, Solano students and staff worked together to clean up the campus. Several
students got a good workout spreading wood chips around our playground equipment. Solano students are busy planning and preparing projects for the
4th Annual Science Fair which will take place in late May.
Tara
Hills:
Spectrum Center Tara Hills hosted its second annual all school talent show in May. Students showcased talents such as
singing, art, joke-telling and much more. Prizes were awarded to all participants.
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Spectrum Experts Reaching Parents and Professionals
Sharing our expertise in the field of behavior analysis is a critical part of our service to
local and professional communities. This year, Spectrum Center continues to make a huge contribution in this area.
Amy Crye, senior autism specialist at Spectrum Center, presented “Promoting
Independence in Young Adults” at the Transition Conference for Contra Costa County Transition Task Force. This presentation identified key
strategies for selecting IEP goals and the teaching strategies that will result in increased independence. It also included information on
transferring to self-management strategies.
Lisa Britton, clinical director at Spectrum Center, and Crye followed up with two workshop
presentations at the California Association for Behavior Analysis. The first,
titled “Conducting Detailed Functional Analysis,” was presented to help professionals learn how to run the basic
conditions of an experimental analysis of inappropriate behavior, analyze this data and include more refined conditions within a functional analysis.
The second workshop, entitled “Assessment and Teaching of Academic Skills,” was
presented by Aurora Risdon, senior clinician at Spectrum’s Tara Hills campus, Whitney O’Keefe, assistant director at the Tara Hills
campus, and Jennifer Carvalho, assistant director at Spectrum’s Valley campus. Participants learned how to conduct academic assessment for
spelling, reading, writing, and math. Emphasis was also given to appropriate teaching strategies for academic students.
Members of the Spectrum team traveled to Los Angeles in April to present to the California
Association of Private Special Education Schools (CAPSES). Crye and
O’Keefe presented the paper, “Autism, Behavior Analysis and School Districts: Who’s Prevailing in Court Cases and
Why?” In this paper, they identified key components affecting the outcomes of published hearing officer reviews and court
cases regarding behavior analytic programs for students with autism. Crye and Carvalho also presented the training, “Let’s Get
Visual!,” to identify many visual strategies that can be used to teach students who do not respond well
to auditory stimuli.
At the Alameda and Contra Costa County STAR Parent Conference on Autism, Crye,
O’Keefe, and Angela Zamora-Castillo, assistant director at Spectrum’s Solano campus, presented “Strategies for Evaluating the
Quality of Classroom and In-Home Services for Children with Autism.” Zamora-Castillo presented to Spanish-speaking attendees while
O’Keefe and Crye addressed the English speakers.
In May, several Spectrum team members will head to Chicago for the annual convention of
the Association for Behavior Analysis
International. Shawn Bryant, senior clinician at Spectrum’s Valley campus, will serve on a panel discussion titled “Increasing the Acceptance of Behavioral Interventions in Applied Settings: Lessons from the Field.” This will be a
discussion of strategies and tactics that increase the acceptance and utilization of behavioral interventions among direct care staff, teachers,
paraprofessionals, parents and professionals from parallel fields. Bruce Hauser, senior clinician at Spectrum’s Delta campus, Nicole Bryant,
education coordinator at Tara Hills, and Brad Assenzio, education coordinator at Tara Hills, will present the workshop, “Assessing and Teaching
Functional Skills for Continued Progress.” This workshop is designed to provide attendees with the information needed to select, adapt and use
a variety of assessments to develop appropriate IEP goals and teaching plans to teach functional skills to students at all levels of development.
Crye, Carvalho, Nirupama Lal, education coordinator at Spectrum’s Mission Valley campus, and Sarah Pinkelman of the University of North Texas
will present a review of the literature on common strategies used to teach social skills to children and adults with autism and determine if these
strategies meet the criteria of being evidence-based.
Rounding out the semester, Zamora-Castillo will present to
Spanish-speaking families of children with autism. She will discuss key issues for the education of these children at the Congresso Familiar in
Hayward, Calif.
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