• Stress: Family Caregivers of Children with Disabilities (PDF)
• Most Common Special Education Acronyms (PDF)
• Building a Bridge: A Transition Manual for Students (2009) (in PDF)
• Transition Bill of Rights for Parents of Students Receiving Special Education Services (in PDF)
• Guidelines For Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE) (in PDF)
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center
• CT State Dept. Of Education, Bureau Of Special Education
• Parents Guide To Special Education (in PDF)
• Guidelines For Identifying Children With Learning Disabilities (2010) (in PDF)
• Procedural Safeguards for Parents

American School Counselor Association

Career Center

Newtown High School Counseling Office

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the science of understanding and improving socially significant behavior.  Observable behaviors are objectively defined and analyzed within the context of the environment to determine what factors influence the behavior.  Procedures are then put into place to either increase the behavior deficits or decrease the behavior excesses.  Some common procedures include the use of positive reinforcement, discrete trial instruction and verbal behavior analysis.

Research, literature, and current practice support the efficacy of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as a primary intervention for many students with an autism spectrum disorder.  The incidence of autism is rising at alarming rates.  Consequently, the need for ABA programming is also increasing.  The Newtown Public Schools currently provides ABA services to our students within the least restrictive environment.  In order to meet the diverse needs of the students who may require ABA services, the district employs two, full-time Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) as well as a number of Behavior Therapists (BT) specifically trained in the principles and practices of ABA.
 

Meet our Behavior Analysts

Christina Ayoub, MSW, BCBA, LBA
Board Certified Behavior Analyst

Lauren Connor, MA., BCBA, LBA
Board Certified Behavior Analyst

Danielle Kennedy, MA., BCBA, LBA 
Board Certified Behavior Analyst

Click on the following links for additional information.

National Association of School Psychologists
http://nasponline.org/

Connecticut Association of School Psychologists
http://caspweb.org/

PBIS for families-website contains links to many resources for parents
http://www.pbis.org/family/faqs.aspx

Family partnership-link to PBIS website
http://www.pbis.org/family/family_partnership.aspx 

Newtown High School - School Psychology Week
http://sites.google.com/a/newtown.k12.ct.us/nhs-pupil-services/schoolpsychweek

Click on the below links for further information

School Social Work Association of America
http://cecp.air.org/teams/stratpart/sswaa.asp

National Association of Social Workers
http://www.naswdc.org/

“Occupational Therapy is as a profession concerned with  promoting health and well-being through occupation.  The primary goal of Occupational Therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life.  Occupational Therapists achieve this outcome by enabling people to do things that will enhance their ability to participate or by modifying the environment to better support participation” World Federation of Occupational Therapists

School based Occupational Therapy is a related service of special education that assists the student in performing learning and school related activities. We help children fulfill their role as students.    

Occupational Therapists: remove barriers, adapt tools and the environment, educate school personnel for carryover skills and help students to develop underlying skills for academic learning.

We specialize in:  hand function, visual perceptual skills, sensory processing, self help skills

Click here to meet our Therapists

"Occupational Therapy in the Educational Setting"  a powerpoint presentation

"Graphomotor Development" a powerpoint presentation
 

  

Click on the following links for additional information. 

Guidelines for Occupational Therapy in Educational Settings (PDF)

The American Occupational Therapy Association
http://www.aota.org/

American Physical Therapy Association
http://www.apta.org/

 'If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose to keep the power of communication, for by it I would soon regain all the rest.’  

Daniel Webster 

Speech & Language Development Newtown Public School District
 

•  Articulation and Motor Based Speech Disorders
•  Language Disorders- Including Basic Concepts, Semantics, Morphology, Syntax and Pragmatics
•  Fluency (Stuttering)
•  Voice Disorders
•  Hearing Impairments
•  Augmentative Communication

 

Information for parents with questions about speech and language development.
http://www.speech-language-development.com/index.html

Free Language Stuff!
http://freelanguagestuff.com/

Free Language Activities!
http://www.speechlanguage-resources.com/free-language-activities.html

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
http://www.asha.org/

The Newtown Community Partnership (NCP) is the transition program for students aged 18-21 who receive Special Education through an IEP. The students must have completed their academic requirements and have been referred through the PPT process. The goal for every student is to gain the necessary skills to become as independent as possible upon exiting the program. Students work in community “internship” sites, where adult support is provided if needed, and have classroom time to work on functional academics, such as banking, interviewing skills, etc. needed for daily life. The Better Day Café is located inside the Newtown Community Center, and is operated by the NCP students. Students have been involved in all aspects of the Café since its inception in 2019. Newtown Community Partnership (NCP) Brochure For more information, please contact Noel Loveland, Transition Coordinator, or call 203-426-7690. Better Day Cafe Brochure 2022

Program for Adaptive Learning (PAL)

Social Emotional Adjustment Learning (SEAL)

Supportive Alternative Individualized Learning (SAIL)

Other:
Special Education Presentation (PDF)