JOHNSON CITY – Three special education faculty members from East Tennessee State University
are reaching out to offer assistance to teachers and parents who are now trying to
educate students at home who have severe disabilities, such as significant Autism
or significant cognitive, physical or sensory disabilities, or multiple disabilities.
Beginning Thursday, April 2, these faculty will hold a Zoom meeting from 4-5 p.m. for educators and parents who have questions and are looking for ideas, strategies and best-practices for teaching children with severe disabilities in an online environment. The meetings will continue throughout the spring.
“In recent weeks as schools have been closing, we have been hearing from a lot of people who are asking for help,” said Dr. Pamela Mims, associate dean of ETSU’s Clemmer College. “Our goal is to be a resource for them during this time when so much in education has changed.”
Mims said the move from in-person classes to learning at home online can be very disruptive to students with high-intensity support needs.
“These kids need structure and routines, and much of that has been taken away from them,” Mims said.
Mims will be joined by Dr. Cindy Chambers and Dr. Dawn Rowe, both faculty in Clemmer’s Department of Educational Foundations and Special Education.
Rowe is editor of TEACHING Exceptional Children, a top-tier, peer-review journal produced by the Council for Exceptional Children, which has over 30,000 members, and Chambers has been lauded for her work in the community to build inclusivity for persons with disabilities through the establishment of book clubs, internships and other programs.
Mims has received extensive federal funding to support her work in developing interactive reading and learning tools for students with disabilities.
ETSU recently received a $1.24 million grant that will fund educational costs for graduate students whose career goals are to work with young people who have high-intensity support needs. Financial assistance will be available for graduate students in special education and speech-language pathology.
The Zoom sessions are open to those working with students who have severe disabilities. For more information about attending the meeting, contact Mims at mimspj@etsu.edu.