Part+1+-+Group+6

=Group 6 - Part 1 - Chapter 3 and Appendix D=

How are placement options determined?
Placement is determined by the student profile. The team considers current performance, learning needs and strengths and student goals. They should consider all relevant domains when determining goals and placement options.

Placement options and learning environments for students with ASD should be done on an individual basis. Most students with ASD attend their local public school, and their programming, supports and services are identified in an IEP. Educating students with ASD in regular classrooms in public schools is the first placement option considered by a school division, in consultation with parents, staff, and students.

A school team developed a student profile in order to make decisions about appropriate educational programming for the student. The process used to prepare the profile includes:

1 Gathering information: The team asks, "What do we know? What are the gaps in our knowledge? What do we need to know?" 2 The team shares information gathered and assessment results to create a fuller profile 3 The team prepares a summary about the student, including current level of performance, interests, strengths, and learning needs. It is important that the team consider all relevant domains, espeically social and communication development.

The information gathered by the school team in the student profile informs decisions about programming. The team, which includes the resource teacher, guidance teacher, classroom teacher, parents, and student, review the student's current level of performance and priority learning needs and select the programming options that match the student profile.

What are student-specific outcomes (SSOs) and performance objectives (POs)?
IEPs should contain SSOs that reflect the priority learning needs identified in the student profile, but not everything a student might learn or experience in school. SSOs are necessary when curricula are modified, individualized programming is provided, or when the student is working to achieve the learning objectives of provincial curricula but has needs in other domains, such as social and communication development.

SSOs are clear but brief descriptions of what a student will learn or accomplish by the end of the school year. They are "S.M.A.R.T": specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time related. The scope and degree of specificity is determined by the needs of the student.

POs are performance objectives the student should attain on the short term as they progress towards their year end SSOs. POs are the milestones towards those goals. They are part of the SSO that is broken into small, manageable sections.

Describe the Observation Inventory in Appendix D.
The observation Inventory is a tool for gathering information about the student with ASD to build a student profile. It addresses the primary and associated characteristics of ASD by providing open-ended prompts for observation of students' current level of performance. It can provide a comprehensive picture of a student's performance. Teams may wish to focus their efforts on areas of priority. It includes information on social relationships, communication, restricted behaviours and interests and other associated features.

Describe how to use the Observation Inventory to gather information about the student.
The inventory is used to gather information by assigning specific sections to members of the team best qualified to evaluate the student in that domain. This includes parents, psychologists, classroom teacher, para professionals, PT and OT. The Inventory is scanned, sections are assigned to those best qualified, a timeframe for completing the sections is agreed upon, each section is to be answered as completely as possible and then it is summarized to give a complete profile.