As the largest gathering of special education stakeholders in Michigan, the 84th annual conference will be held February 28, 29 and March 1, 2024, at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids. This year’s conference theme, An Exceptional Celebration, will uplift learning while highlighting the work and achievement of special education students, educators, and parents. It will accomplish this by delivering an array of carefully curated content to foster improved outcomes for students with exceptionalities. It also serves as a premier source for relevant and timely training and information from the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education.

Join trailblazing leaders and educators at this exclusive event where you'll gain the essential tools and strategies to seamlessly integrate behavior systems into your MTSS framework. Whether you're a seasoned educator or new to the field, this professional development opportunity is your gateway to transforming your approach.

The Office of Educational Technology and the Office of Special Education Programs recently released guidance "in support of children with disabilities who need assistive technology (AT) devices and services for meaningful access and engagement in education." Join the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and Innovations in Special Education Technology (ISET) for a free half-hour webinar providing an overview of the guidance and what that means for your IEP writing.

It is time to reframe our thinking and best practices in disability services to better serve the diverse populations coming our way in higher education. Discrimination and exclusion are not resolved by focusing on a single issue or influence. This webinar will explore the useful framework of “Intersectionality” as it relates to equitable opportunities, legal compliance, accessibility, barrier elimination, and resources for serving BIPOC disabled students.

Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation presents Reeve Summit 2024: Where Care, Cure and Community Connect

The Reeve Summit will touch on topics and themes relevant to the paralysis community and give everyone a chance to hear from experts, ask questions and share experiences on many aspects of life. Topics include:

• Advocacy
• Caregiving
• Employment
• Health & Wellness
• Research

This exciting conference offers sessions, events and networking opportunities that rejuvenate your spirit and hone your skills. To assure that every child you represent has a chance to learn, to achieve and to contribute, to graduate ready to attend college or pursue a career, and to be a productive and contributing member of their community.

• Access to high quality training, the only conference of this kind in the country
• Peer to peer networking
• Strategize with the best and brightest in this field
• Meet service providers to fill your toolbox
• Engage while learning effective approaches to advocate and support students for best outcomes possible
• Typically approved for up to 22 CLE hours

In this free digital event, you can explore new accessible technology and learn from leaders with a deep and sometimes personal understanding of disabilities in the workplace. This is your chance to find out how to embed accessibility into your organization and improve opportunities for people across the disability spectrum.

Parents of and students with disabilities have important information and experience to share with policy makers that impacts systems change and improves outcomes for students throughout the state of Minnesota.

PACER realizes that it can be intimidating to share your story with a stranger. However, legislators say repeatedly that what they hear from parents makes a difference. Your story is important; PACER will work with you to make sure you are comfortable sharing it.

• This workshop will train and assist you in working with your legislator for changes impacting children with disabilities.
• PACER's Day at the Capitol provides participants with tools to share their stories to affect such change.
• Participants receive information on pending and proposed legislation related to children with disabilities.
• PACER will also assist registrants to schedule in-person or online appointments to meet with their legislators following the presentation.

This year’s Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education 2024 Conference will take place in Seattle, Washington from March 9th – 13th. This conference invites thousands of participants and exhibitors each year, and organizers are looking forward to connecting with student affairs professionals, administrators, and others to share resources and support the work they are doing on their campuses.

Learn the benefits of dispute resolution, including IEP Resolution Sessions, mediation as well as how to file complaints when necessary

Employees and applicants with disabilities have the right to participate in all aspects of employment (applying, training, the job, insurance and wellness programs). In order to participate, people sometimes need a change in the way things are normally done. This webinar will discuss possible reasonable accommodations and the interactive process.

Northstar Career Center presents The Job Search: Planning and Supports

Learn about:

• Lining up the details: emails, IDs, online applications, etc.
• Importance of work experiences
• Role of an ESO and Job Coach

Each year at the CEC Convention & Expo, thousands of special education professionals from around the world come together to learn, share, grow, and connect. With hundreds of sessions on just about every topic in the field, the CEC Convention & Expo is THE professional development event for special educators to find research, tips, and strategies you can actually apply to supporting students with disabilities and/or gifts and talents.

The AHEAD Program Domains, Standards, and Performance Indicators provide fundamental guidance about the daily work and practice of disability resource offices (DROs). The inaugural version of the Standards, released in 1999, were updated in 2004 to reflect a maturing field of practice. The latest updates to the Standards, approved by the AHEAD Board of Directors in 2021, marked a significant shift in our understanding of equity and inclusion of disabled students that is reflected in the daily work of the DRO.

Whether you are new to the field or an experienced colleague, an understanding of this professional document and the framework for equity that it promotes is an essential aspect of DRO management. Come join to hear about the evolution of the Standards, the processes used to involve the AHEAD membership in revisions and updates, highlights of new and important features, and practical strategies for using the Standards particularly in the areas of DRO data collection and program evaluation.

Join this workshop to learn about math tools that can help build math skills for all ages and levels. Presenters will review a variety of math tools from beginner level tools to tools that can help with advanced math.

This annual one-day conference is a unique opportunity for professionals to benefit from knowledge from a range of specialists; giving opportunities to learn from personal insight, professional practice, lived experience and research evidence. The program will include a number of important topics related to autistic children and adults. 

See all of the products, tech and resources to help you up your game. Buckle up for an all-inclusive climbing wall, a meet-and-greet with a star of Disney's Wish, a slew of adaptive sports, fun dance opportunities, info-packed workshops and more. 

For years, the field of disability services has been moving their hearts and minds towards a program model that espouses a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. But turning words into actions requires taking a hard look in the mirror and a courageous examination of our institutional practices, including the policies and processes of a Disability Services office, that exclude multiply marginalized students. This program will be an overview of the journey that our Disability Services Office took to initiate and execute an action plan towards anti-racism, including how we developed and carried out a self-audit, the findings and results from that work, and a guided workshop so that DSPs can develop this for their own places of work.

For over 37 years, the Center on Disabilities, through the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, has provided an inclusive setting for researchers, practitioners, exhibitors, end users, speakers and other participants to share knowledge and best practices in the field of assistive technology. In 2019, the conference drew more than 5,000 people to Anaheim, CA. Known as a forum that showcases cutting edge technology and practical solutions that can be utilized to remove the barriers that prevent the full participation of persons with disabilities in educational, workplace and social settings, the conference is the largest of its kind in the world.

Much focus is given to exploring and implementing reasonable accommodations in the workplace, but it is equally important to continue to monitor accommodations to insure they remain effective over time. This session will explore best practices for the employment service professional to consider in their work with employers and supported employees when monitoring the ongoing effectiveness of workplace accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.)

Spend World Down Syndrome Day on Capitol Hill advocating for the Down syndrome community at the NDSS Down Syndrome Advocacy Conference, March 20-21, 2024! On Wednesday, March 20, attendees will participate in advocacy training, learn more about legislative priorities, and hear from guest speakers. Then, on Thursday, March 21 – World Down Syndrome Day – advocate together by meeting with Members of Congress on Capitol Hill!

Effective transition assessment and planning are critical to increasing people’s employment outcomes. Discovering ME! is a person-centered transition assessment and planning process. This process is designed to build customized work-based learning experiences for school-aged students with significant needs who may otherwise become unemployed or underemployed. The long-term goal of Discovering ME! is for all people to find and maintain employment in careers that best match their strengths and contributions, interests, challenges to consider, and conditions for success. Collaborative teams develop authentic opportunities in the home, school, and community settings to explore career options, learn workplace readiness skills, and connect with their communities. Please join this discussion on Discovering ME! and the many resources available to support the development of this tool.

Whether in housing, dining, or classrooms, students are bringing animals to campus more frequently. Join this discussion for guidance on how to address the different types of animals on campus. The presenters will cover how the ADA, Section 504, and the Fair Housing Act apply to different parts of campuses and how they act separately and together to control campus policy about animals on campus. Presenters will also address related issues including allergies, animal species, and conflicts with other animals and people. Plenty of time will be reserved for Q&A!

A wide range of assistive technology (AT) can be used to support teens and adults with disabilities to complete tasks at home or at work. Presenters will demonstrate apps and devices that help with reminders, timers, task directions, and visual and audio prompts. Join to learn about tools that can help individuals function more independently at home or on the job.

Did you know that people with disabilities have worse health outcomes than other people?

People with disabilities are more likely to die young. People with disabilities have higher rates of physical and medical health conditions. People with disabilities face more barriers in their environments.

So, on World Down Syndrome Day, the Down Syndrome International network will be launching a campaign calling for Health Equity for People with Disabilities. On 21 March 2024, they will take their campaign to the United Nations for the 13th World Down Syndrome Day Conference. Self-advocates, supporters, government and UN officials and NGO representatives will share knowledge, experience, and good practice.

You are invited to join in New York or watch online as they launch our call for Health Equity for People with Disabilities.

Aprender los beneficios de la resolución de disputas, incluyendo las sesiones de resolución del IEP, mediación y como presentar una queja cuando es necesario

On Thursday, March 28, the Center for Research on Disability will host the 2024 Annual Disability Statistics Conference. This one-day event will be available for both in-person attendees in Washington, DC, and remote participants joining via Zoom. During the conference, the Center for Research and Disability will release the Annual Disability Statistics Collection, which fills gaps in national, state, and historic data related to people with disabilities by synthesizing complex data from numerous U.S. federal agencies into accessible formats. The conference will also include two sessions addressing the latest in disability statistics, including survey methods and how disability is defined in national surveys.