School Psychologists Association of S.E. Manitoba
Present: Jeremy Davidson, Carol Gieni, Ron Teffaine, Michelle Bahuaud, Toni Cascegna, Colleen Doerksen, Graham Watson, Dr. Karen Pain, Jo-Anne Burt, and Maggie Wilman.
This meeting was hosted by Jeremy Davidson from Interlake SD. Thank you to all who attended and participated.
Minutes
Ron Teffaine - conducted a presentation on the use of the DANVA-2 and NEPSY-II to assess "social perception." Unlike the mistaken attempts years ago to measure problems with social perception by examining low scores on the WISC-III Comprehension and Picture Arrangement subtests, the DANVA-2 can assess affect recognition in facial expressions and voice tone, whereas the NEPSY-II can assess affect recognition in faces, as well as theory of mind (important of course in assessing autism). The NEPSY-II Social Perception Battery is insufficient in helping to assess the presence of Asperger's Syndrome, but when Memory for Faces is added, it improves the ability to detect this disorder. Individuals with conduct problems also have trouble with social perception. A case study was used to illustrate this.
Graham Watson - shared information about the Auditory Continuous Performance Test. Only has cut-off scores between normal and abnormal.
Colleen Doerksen - presented a new book by Dr. Ross Greene called Lost At School. She said it really captured the problem of EBD youth in schools and the struggles they face. The book examines the current school system and how it can be changed to address the needs of youth with conduct problems. Of course, Dr. Greene advocates the Collaborative Problem-Solving approach in schools, which is used to understand the multi-faceted problems of disordered youth, and the mostly proactive strategies for treating them.
Carol Gieni - shared a booklet on strategies for treating students with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD).
Elaine Shortridge & Lynne Erickson - did a presentation on "assessments for transition planning." They talked about Children's Special Services (CSS) and The Supported Living Program (SLP) for adult individuals with a significant cognitive disability. To access CSS, the child must have an IQ or DQ of 75 or less. However, for the SLP, the criteria requires an IQ below 70, along with significant impairment in adaptive functioning.
Michelle Bahuaud - shared news from MECY, such as the Annual Student Services Forum, the attendance problem review, remote child & adolescent mental health workshops, core competency workshops, POP web-based project, MASP workshop, etc.
Next Meeting - will be on June 4, 2009. Toni Cascegna agreed to host the next meeting.