Camie is a third-grade student. She has a physical disability that makes it difficult for her to speak. From the earliest days in her development, she couldn’t communicate what she wanted or what she’s excited about, no matter how hard she tried or how carefully her parents listened.
One day Camie came home from school excited to share something with her parents, and this day was different. Just a year prior she’d been given a voice-output communication tool. She went to the device and selected the picture of another student in her class. Her parents were then able to figure out that she was asking for the same haircut as one of her classmates. They immediately drove to the hair salon.
For parents who struggle to have a meaningful exchange with their children, this was a huge step forward and one of the driving forces behind the Placer County Special Education Local Planning Area (SELPA) Open Access Project.
SELPA is a state-mandated association which oversees and facilitates education services for students with disabilities.The SELPA office for Placer County is located at the Placer County Office of Education, and its operations are cooperatively governed by the Placer County Superintendent of Schools and member district superintendents. SELPA’s role is to ensure the specialized educational needs of each student with a disability in the county are appropriately met.
The project provides leadership and training to local education agencies across the state on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Assistive Technology (AT) and Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) strategies. These strategies eliminate barriers that students with disabilities face when they are in a classroom. The goal of the project is to make it possible for every teacher in Placer County and beyond to provide the technology, access and support to help all students learn.
Special Education in Placer County:
- Nearly 12% of students in Placer County require specialized education programs designed to meet their individual needs whether it be hearing or visual impairment, orthopedic disability, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders or emotional disturbance.
