Spring/Summer

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Volume 4, Spring/Summer 2009, Issue 2/3

NCRTM Today

Michael J. Millington, NCRTM Director

Vocational Evaluation and Work Adjustment Journal Archive Available Online

The Vocational Evaluation and Work Adjustment Association (VEWAA) is sponsoring a VEWAA Journal resource page on the NCRTM website. This is a central feature of their new strategic plan to greatly increase the value of membership and the centrality of VEWAA leadership in the field. They are proud to announce that, starting on March 28th, NCRTM will begin posting the entire archive of VEWAA journals in digital format...available for free download. The collection will also be housed in the NCRTM digital library by issue and by individual article. The collection is estimated to be completely on line by June 1. To view the work in progress, go to the VEWAA Journal Resource page at: http://ncrtm.org/course/view.php?id=98.

Journal of Rehabilitation Administration Abstracts Available On-line

The National Association for Rehabilitation Leadership (NARL), a professional division of the National Rehabilitation Association, is sponsoring an NCRTM webpage that hosts an archive of article abstracts from the Journal of Rehabilitation Administration. Graduate student Heather Kaasa from MInnesota State University at Mankato is currently publishing the entire collection on the website and has completed volumes for 2005-2008. This project began in March and the abstract archives have had 238 non-administrative hits as of April 19. Glen Peterson is providing supervision. We are hoping to have all of the abstracts on line by the end of summer. You can view this resource at: http://ncrtm.org/course/view.php?id=158. Be sure to visit the NARL homepage for other related projects and news.

RSA Sponsors TA Webinars on Stimulus Funding and More

The Rehabilitation Services Administration has been hosting a series of technical assistance webinars on the NCRTM website since the Fall of 2008. In the previous months topics have included documentation for the business enterprise programs, state plan submissions, and most recently needs assessments and work plans for the TACE centers. Coming very soon, the RSA will be announcing a series of 4 special webinars addressing the emerging funding issues surrounding the stimulus funding. People interested in attending these or other trainings are encouraged to visit the RSA Webinar website on a regular basis at: http://ncrtm.org/course/view.php?id=96.

Special Education Digital Multimedia Library

Robert Morgan, Professor, Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation

Erin Horrocks, Doctoral Student, Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation

A new Special Education Digital Multi-media Library will soon become a companion to the NCRTM Digital Library. The Special Education Library will be used to organize and store multi-media instructional materials and disability-related files so it can be shared across faculty members of the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation at Utah State University. Initially, the information stored in the digital library will be password protected and only USU faculty members will have access to materials in the digital library.

Within the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation at Utah State University, there are eight teacher education programs. Up to this point, most programs have operated independently. Instructors maintain a set of media and instructional materials for their individual use. Yet, these files may well be useful in other programs. For example, an instructor of teachers working towards licensure in severe disabilities, located in Salt Lake City, may possess materials, such as videos or narrated PowerPoints, which may be useful to teachers in Logan. Moreover, guest speakers presenting in Logan may offer valuable information for teachers in Salt Lake City. A method for sharing information is needed to strengthen the availability of information to all programs.

The Special Education Digital Multi-media Library will undergo beta testing preparatory to launching around September 1, 2009. Plans are underway for the site at www.spedlibrary.org.

It will also be accessible at http://ncrtm.org. A preliminary set of catalog categories appears below.

Although the initial plan is to develop a library exclusive to special education faculty, the future of the library may include public access to certain files and sharing between rehabilitation and special education personnel. For example, a special education file on transition from school to employment may be pertinent to rehabilitation counselors. A rehabilitation file on traumatic brain injury may be important to special education teachers. The future library may bring professionals from the two fields closer together and provide a forum for discussion of key issues. Although the fields address many of the same issues, they usually operate independently because of different standards, policies, administrations, and infrastructures. Creating a web-based location for sharing and interaction may provide one avenue for connection.

Contact Erin Horrocks at erin.horrocks@aggiemail.usu.edu for more information on the future Special Education Digital Multi-media Library. See categories below.

Catalog Categories for the

Special Education Digital Multimedia Library

Applied Behavior Analysis/Behavior Management

Assessment

Assistive Technology

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Collaboration

With general education teachers

With families

With district personnel

Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

Disability Categories (Examples)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Health Related Issues (e.g., seizures, tube feeding, etc.)

Individual Education Plan (IEP) process/procedures

Inclusion

Instruction for students with severe disabilities

-Reading Instruction

-Math Instruction

-Functional/Life Skills Instruction

-Social Skills Instruction

-Leisure/Recreation Instruction

-Community Instruction

-Functional Communication Instruction

Instruction for students with Mild/Moderate disabilities

-Reading Instruction

-Math Instruction

-Social Skills Instruction

Instruction for early childhood students with disabilities

Observation/data recording procedures

Paraeducator (i.e., teacher assistant) training

Post-secondary education

Special Education Law

Teacher Training

Transition from School to Adulthood

Utah Effective Practices Conference Presentations

In 2008, Senate Resolution 566 and House Resolution 1188 were unanimously passed to proclaim June National Aphasia Awareness Month.

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The National Aphasia Association (NAA)

http://www.aphasia.org/index.html

The National Aphasia Association (NAA) is a consumer-focused, not-for-profit organization that was founded in 1987 as the first national organization dedicated to advocating for persons with aphasia and their families. The NAA’s mission is to end the devastating consequences of aphasia through increasing understanding of the disorder, encouraging the development of community resources and advocating on behalf of those left, literally, without a voice. The NAA works to reach out to people with aphasia to help them move forward with their lives. This year marks the NAA’s 22nd year of promoting public education, research, rehabilitation and support services to assist people with aphasia and their families.

Did you Know?

• Over 1 million Americans struggle with the devastation of aphasia.

• There are over 200,000 new cases each year; the numbers are expected to rise as the population ages.

• Aphasia is more common than cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or spinal cord injuries, yet most people have never heard of it.

• The causes are stroke, head injury, brain tumor or neurological conditions.

• Aphasia can occur in people of all ages, races, nationalities and gender.

• Aphasia is a communication impairment but not an impairment of intellect.

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New Look, New Capabilities

Cassie Walker, NCRTM Office Assistant

For the past couple months, NCRTM as been reviewing and revamping its equipment, processes, and programs. Our goal in mind has been to have better organization, better quality in digitized materials, more digitizing capabilities, faster availability, and more efficiency. The outcomes have been magnificent.

We now have two new remarkable, faster, media-based computers with well-reviewed programs to help us more efficiently catalogue and digitize items. We have also put in a media center with a matrix switcher that allows us to digitize or copy many things at once. We have expanded our digitizing capabilities to microfiche, film reels, and beta tapes (of every style). Our other digitizing capabilities include documents, books, programs, slides, filmstrips, audiotapes, transparencies, CDs, DVDs, and VHS. Supplemental training for our equipment has also been a big priority, as we realize there may be many qualities in our equipment we have yet to learn and incorporate.

NCRTM has also had the opportunity to work with WebAim to make our website and all items in our library accessible to those with disabilities. We realize this will be a huge project, and ask that if there is anything in our library that you would like to have accessible, please email Jennifer Robinson at jennifer.robinson@usu.edu and we will put it to the top of our priority list.

We have also added five new employees to our digitizing staff this summer. Welcome to Rebecka Gregory, Mark Mitchell Glade, Heidi Randall, Marie Elegante, and Larissa Ivory

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