Do you have students who are dysregulated? Having difficulty sitting still or initiating tasks? Having difficulty working through assignments to completion or attending to the details of their work? Children need to develop calming strategies for self-regulation and executive functioning so that they can effectively interact with their peers and be available for learning.
This course will help participants understand how to incorporate principles of universal design for learning, and to implement effective tools and strategies to address these challenges. It will provide strategies to improve children’s independent work habits, sustained attention, and output to progress successfully through “just right” challenges.
Participants will learn how to use low-and high-tech tools to facilitate the development of self-regulation, attention, organization, and memory as well as environmental accommodations and modifications. This course will provide methods for evaluation and data collection to determine the effectiveness of strategies used in facilitating students’ learning.
This course qualifies for the DESE license renewal requirement of 15 PDPs in Special Education.
About the Instructor
Jocelynn B. Wallach, OT, MS, OTR, has been working as a pediatric occupational therapist for over 48 years including 27 years for the Westwood Public Schools as well as managing her private practice Capable Hands and Associates. Previously, she worked in VNAs, early intervention centers, and hospitals. She developed the pediatric occupational therapy departments for the Brockton Visiting Nurses Association, Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital, and the New England Sinai Hospital. She has been an associate professor at Boston University, lectured nationwide, and taught courses locally through The Education Cooperative and Westwood Public Schools which were affiliated with Framingham and Worcester State Colleges in Massachusetts. Topics included “Sensory Diet in the Classroom” and “Executive Function Skills to Support Student Success”. She is in the process of writing a book Declassify Your Superpowers: How to Succeed in School and Be Happy.