Core Vocabulary as an Effective Tool for Teaching Curriculum

This Friday, the IU School of Education will host a presentation by Bruce R. Baker, Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, entitled "Core Vocabulary as an Effective Tool for Teaching Curriculum content: High Frequency Vocabulary, Language Learning, and Communicative Competence." His talk will focus on "how to involve students who use AAC in classroom interactions in a way that is enriching to all."

Baker is the President/CEO of Semantic Compaction Systems, which developed the Minspeak language representation technology now used internationally in eight different languages. He has won several awards for design and service, notably from United Cerebral Palsy and the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

The talk will be held in room R2277 (the Alumni Room) from 1 to 3 pm. For more information, contact Erna Alant at ealant@indiana.edu.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Profile

CeDIR recently acquired a diagnostic kit for professionals with Speech and Language Pathology licences: the Augmentative & alternative communication profile by Tracy M Kovach. The kit consists of a users manual and forms for the administration of "quality performance measures in speech-language therapy" for children and adults.

The kit is produced by LinguiSystems, which also produced our popular Functional Communication Profile, The Listening Comprehension Test, the Social Language Test - Elementary and more. If you're interested in any of these materials, email cedir@indiana.edu for information on how to check them out.

Disability Law Clinic at IU

A new resource as cropped up at Indiana University: The Disability Law Clinic. Students at the IU School of Law have volunteered to provide free legal assistance to families with children grades K-3 enrolled in Monroe County Schools who have been denied benefits or are unsatisfied with the services provided to them. Students grades 4-12 with complaints may also be assisted on a case-by-case basis.

For more information about the program, contact Ginny Phero at gphero@indiana.edu with "Disability Law Clinic" as part of the subject line. The offices may be reached at (812) 855-9229.

Local Bloomington Resources on Disability

Have you thoroughly explored all the Bloomington community has to offer individuals with disabilities and their families?

Make sure you haven't missed something by visiting the official city page on Programs and Services for People with Disabilities. The website names a whole host of information, including:

-how to request accessibility counseling and workshops
-an official list of accessible apartment housing in Bloomington
-restaurants with Braille embossed menus
-inclusive recreation programs

Also check out the side menu links to such vital information as emergency preparedness for PWDs and a growing Resource Directory maintained by the Council for Community Accessibility.

Insurance and Assistive Technology

An author for the New York Times recently covered the inefficiencies in Medicare and other insurers with regards to assistive technology for persons with speech impairments. The article highlighted a woman named Kara Lynn who must pay out of pocket for cheap devices that allow her to communicate (like iPhones with speech-generating software) because insurers do not want to cover technologies that may be used by persons without disabilities.

The author states that "...people with speech disabilities have a choice: pay for a cheaper product from their own pockets, try to borrow one from a private assistance group or spend their insurer’s money on a specialty device" which has been severely limited to comply with insurance regulations.

You can read the original article here. For more information on assistive technologies, visit some of our old posts on the subject, or check out our Resource Guide listing titles in our library collection.

Kunstfest 2009

This weekend, the 19th and 20th of September, CeDIR will have a booth at Historic New Harmony's Kunstfest 2009.

Also at the festival will be black smithing and weaving demonstrations, live music, family-fun activities like pumpkin painting and horse-drawn wagon rides, and traditional German foods (bring on the bratwurst!)

New Harmony is located in southern Indiana, about a three-hour drive from Bloomington.


For more information, visit http://www.newharmony.biz or call 1-800-231-2168.

Key Issues in Healthcare Decision Making and Care at End of Life

Next Wednesday, September 16th at 1 pm EST, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities will host a webinar entitled: Key Issues in Healthcare Decision Making and Care at End of Life: How to use person-centered to support quality planning with people with critical, chronic and/or terminal illnesses. The webinar will feature gerontologist Leigh Ann Creaney Kingsbury, the author of People planning ahead : a guide to communicating healthcare and end of life wishes held here at the CeDIR library.

For registration and more information on this event, visit the AAIDD website at http://www.aamr.org/content_2609.cfm. The IIDC's Center on Aging and Community will also host a group viewing in Building J; to RSVP email Lora Wagers.