The Autism Consulting Team is available to our member districts to help support Autistic
students and their school teams. We look forward to working with you.
students and their school teams. We look forward to working with you.
Nancy Goodner, Erin Miller, Kari Gough, Laura Woods, and Andrea Yeager
Introduction:
The Autism Consultant Team (ACT) has played an important role supporting school teams and their Autistic students for the past 15 years. It has recently grown to include now 5 staff members that work across elementary, junior high, high school, communication disorder classrooms, and multi- needs classrooms in all of the districts LADSE serves.
Nancy Goodner
LADSE Autism Consultant
A speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of experience, Nancy has been providing Speech-Language services in a variety of intervention settings from medical, clinical, and most- recently, the public school environment. She has been a LADSE employee for the past 10 years and has worked with students placed in the Early Childhood Special Education and Multi-Needs classroom settings. As a result of her clinical experiences throughout her career as well as her continuing education opportunities, Nancy has experience working with children through adolescence demonstrating a wide variety of developmental disabilities and has gained expertise in the following areas:
Nancy received her master’s degree in Speech Pathology at Porland State University and completed her Clinical Fellowship at the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center of Oregon Health Sciences University. As a component of her fellowship, Nancy completed specialized
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Pragmatic/Social Communication Assessment and Intervention Assistive Technology Suppor
- Visual Language Systems & Supports
- Language (Auditory) Processing
- Curricular Adaptations & Modifications (Academic and Social) Modulation and Sensory Integration Deficits
Nancy received her master’s degree in Speech Pathology at Porland State University and completed her Clinical Fellowship at the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center of Oregon Health Sciences University. As a component of her fellowship, Nancy completed specialized
What Does An Autism Consultant Do?
An Autism Consultant works as a member of the student’s school team consulting with the teacher, educational team, and administration on best practices to support Autistic students in the school environment. They serve as a coach and consultant to the team that knows the student best. This can include the family and depending on the age, the student themselves. The primary focus of the Autism Consultant’s role is to provide space for the teacher and team to preventively plan for how best to support an Autistic student* they have in their classroom.
*You may notice how you we are referring to the Autistic population using person first language. This is due to requests from the Autistic population directly to be referred to in this way. To learn more, this article is a great resource.
In addition we provide:
*You may notice how you we are referring to the Autistic population using person first language. This is due to requests from the Autistic population directly to be referred to in this way. To learn more, this article is a great resource.
In addition we provide:
- Individual Consultation and Coaching for staff with knowledge in the areas of Executive Functioning, Sensory Processing Issues, Social Communication, and engagement in learning
- Observation utilizing data collection to provide in depth behavior analysis
- Assistance to teams in identifying strengths and areas of continued growth
- Partner with the team to support educational plans and interventions
- Knowledge of a variety of research based interventions and frameworks used with Autistic students and their educators, to include Flootime, SCERTS, PECS, TEACCH, UDL, among others
- Professional development and learning resources district wide, to include paraeducators, grade level teams, and specials teachers
Referrals: When and How
The sooner the better! An Autistic student entering a new classroom for the school year is already feeling anxious and unsure what to expect. It is best to make a referral once you begin to feel the student is staring to show signs of disconnecting from their environment as a result of stress or when you as the teacher feel support would be helpful to meet the student’s educational needs.
Autism Consultation services are made available to our member districts as par of the membership assessment. No additional fees are assessed for Autism Consultation services. If interested, a school district has the option to have a dedicated Autism Consultant for their district as an additional purchased service.
Referrals can be made through the website by completing the Request Assistance Google Form located above.
Autism Consultation services are made available to our member districts as par of the membership assessment. No additional fees are assessed for Autism Consultation services. If interested, a school district has the option to have a dedicated Autism Consultant for their district as an additional purchased service.
Referrals can be made through the website by completing the Request Assistance Google Form located above.
What Can I Expect to Happen Next?
An Autism Consultant will reach out to you directly to set up a meeting to discuss your goal for consultation. Once the initial goal has been established, the Autism Consultant will complete an observation. An Appreciative Inquiry Meeting will take place with the team to discuss the student’s strengths and areas of challenge.
Who Works With The Autism Consultant On The School Team?
The Autism Consultant works with all members of the school team, from the student’s direct teachers to any one else that has contact with the student during their school day. As the family are considered members of the educational team, the Autism Consultant works with them as well to learn about the student in order to best support them.
How Often And How Long Would I Work With The Consultant?
Autism Consultation is a flexible support that is student progress and team goal driven. Services can take place as needed, often starting out with consistent support that fades as progress is achieved. Consultation services are responsive to student and team need and can be accessed at any time.