Southern Utah Autism Conference 2025

Join us for an informative and educational workshop for family members with loved ones of all ages with Autism or any other types of physical or cognitive disabilities or special needs. The topics covered in this workshop include Guardianship vs Alternatives to Guardianship, Wills, Family Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, SSI, Social Security Disability, Social Security Retirement/Survivors Benefits, Medicaid/Medicare, ABLE Accounts, Budget Planning and Lifestyle/Transition Planning. This workshop will explain why these disability and special needs planning aspects and documents are important to have and how they complement each other in a plan designed to protect yourself, your family and/or your loved one’s current and future quality of life and care.  Don’t be afraid to plan… be afraid if you don’t plan.

Supplemental Aides and Services (SAS) are the “linchpin” of inclusion in general education. With limited guidance from the research literature, identifying appropriate accommodations can be difficult. Sometimes, decisions are based more on IEP team members’ personal experiences than the student’s individual needs in general education. In the session, we will discuss guiding questions IEP teams can use to determine supplemental aides and services. We will discuss a framework for considering a student’s need for SAS, (physical/accessibility, instructional, behavioral, social-communication, collaboration).

Identifying the Hidden Curriculum
General education curriculum is made up of the ‘explicit curriculum’ (linked to core standards and essential elements), ‘hidden curriculum’ (unspoken, implicit, values, and social norms for student’s behaviors, attitudes, and expectations), and the ‘null curriculum ‘(the knowledge, skills, or topics that are intentionally or unintentionally omitted). For all students to access each part of the general education curriculum, it is important for the IEP team to consider each aspect. In this session, we will discuss using assessment practices that support the IEP team in understanding what needs the student has regarding the ‘hidden curriculum’, and ideas for planning intervention and specially designed instruction to support their acquisition of skills.