Sensory Low Incidence Work Group

Next Meeting: Thursday, May 14th

Remember to invite others who would be interested in this workgroup.

9:00 am to 12:00 pm
at Mediation & Facilitation Resources
11 King Street
Augusta, ME 04330
Click Here for Directions

Anne Smith has put together some resources for the group, 
They and the meeting handouts can be found on the Documents page.

Thursday, May 14th Outcomes and Agenda:

• Showcasing 2 or 3 exemplars with double encryption
• Investigating Pam Dawson’s idea for number collection
• Continuing to design a matrix of services for Maine’s children with low incidence sensory disabilities
• Identifying other resources or contacts
• Defining next steps

Agenda
9:00  Welcome 
9:15   Introductions
9:30   Summary of past two meetings
10:00  Best Working Conditions
10:15   Exemplars/new ideas
11:00   Break
11:15   Improving the Matrix of services
11:30   Next Steps 
11:50   Closing

---

Letter Sent to Group 2/29/09

From: David Noble Stockford
To: Sensory Low Incidence Work Group Possible Participants
Subject: Low Incidence Work Group

A group is being convened by the Department of Education, The Department of Labor (John Shattuck, Director of Special Projects, and John McMahon, Director of the Division of Deafness and Visually Impaired) and the Maine Center for the Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Lynn Schardel) to identify some of the issues associated with serving the population of individuals, ages 5 – 20, whose disabilities are considered as sensory low incidence.   Your expertise, experience, and passion for serving this population are needed. 

One of the major outcomes of the work of this group will consist of developing a matrix of the services available for this population of youth.  Together we will examine the eligibility requirements and definitions being used in different agencies and organizations.  We will identify variances and similarities among these and create a document that allows for communication across agencies regarding this population of youth. 

Larger, and perhaps, longer range goals for this could be to provide recommendation to help design a coordinated, integrated and aligned system.  This system would include the following: (1) a flow chart that identifies all of the support services available; (2) identification of efficient and efficacious support services, and (3) recommendations to create a coordinated, integrated and aligned data capacity that will allow for the documentation of supports, interventions, and services overtime for this population of youth. 

It is important to note that our work at this time is concerned with the identification of gaps and overlaps and NOT to solve the challenging issues associated with effectively serving this population of youth.

Your participation in this committee will consist of participating in at least 4 meetings that will last approximately 3 hours each.  The intention of this group is to identify gaps and overlaps.  We realize that we will not be able to solve any of the issues in this process.  We may, however, have the opportunity to address the issues identified down the road. 

Interpreters and live captioning will be provided at all of the meetings.  If there are other accommodations that you require to be able to fully and thoughtfully engage in this work, please let us know.  For example, we will ensure you have all materials at least three days prior to the meeting to provide you the opportunity to review beforehand. 

Please, respond to this email to indicate your willingness to participate, and to ensure we are aware of your accommodation and learning needs.  Your response may be sent to Coleen at coleen@mainesupportnetwork.org and/or to Gaylord Weston at gaylord.weston@maine.gov.

Once we receive your confirmation you will receive more specific information about the up-coming meeting.  The first meeting is scheduled for March 27th from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at Riverview Psychiatric Center in Sebago Conference Rooms A & B.

We hope you join us in this important work.  Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

David Noble Stockford
Policy Director and Team Leader
Special Services
Maine Department of Education
(207) 624-6643