WELCOME TO UCSHA

As per Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers, parents, and any service provider working with students knows what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that

our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.

New Jersey is one of the forty-one out of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) that has adopted full implementation of the Common Core State Standards. The

purpose of this presentation is to explore the Common Core State Standards and illustrate how SLP goals can be created directly from the Common Core State Standards to ensure students will succeed in the classroom.

Dr. Elisabeth Mlawski is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor at Yeshiva University in New York. She completed her Undergraduate degree at The Ohio State University, Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northern Arizona University and PhD in Health Sciences with a concentration in Speech-language Pathology at Seton Hall University. She began her career in 1994 working in the NYC Public Schools as a school-based speech therapist. She has presented research both nationally and internationally on mechanisms for peer learning relating to the Common Core State Standards, using peer learning as a tool in clinical and academic education, language acquisition and supervision. Her areas of interest include normal/disordered language development, literacy, clinical training, assessment/diagnostics, and supervision.

5:00-5:30 Check-in and brown bag dinner (bring your own)

5:30pm – 8:30pm Presentation

3 Hours Towards Licensure NJ Dept. of Ed. Registered Development Provider, ID# 1617

Rachel Fisch-Kaplan, Clinical Director and Senior Speech Language Pathologist, and Laura Martucci, Director of Occupational Therapy, at CommuniKids, have been collaborating with one another for over a dozen years. They will share their insights and multi-level strategies that they have developed during their work together. After a brief introduction to the field of pediatric occupational therapy, Ms. Martucci will elaborate on the major therapeutic areas that OTs target with children: fine/gross/visual motor skills and sensory integration/self-regulation. She will then explore developmental milestones, identify red flags, and share strategies that promote attention and self-regulation. Ms. Kaplan will discuss how the lower-level skills targeted in occupational therapy springboard into the issues addressed by speech-language pathologists. These will include the foundational skills of joint, auditory and visual attention; oral motor strength and coordination; planning, sequencing and play; auditory processing; pragmatics/social skills; functional communication and executive functioning. Prepare to learn strategies in synthesizing a dual modality approach to treatment, dissect case studies and ask questions along the way!

Rachel Fisch-Kaplan is a speech-language pathologist and Clinical Director at CommuniKids, a speech, language and occupational therapy center with offices in New York City and Summit, New Jersey. With over 25 years of experience, Rachel is responsible for clinical supervision as well as providing both therapeutic and diagnostic services for children with articulation, oral motor/feeding deficits, receptive/expressive/pragmatic language delays, dysfluency, and autism spectrum disorders.

Laura Martucci is the Director of Occupational Therapy at Communikids and has been practicing OT for over 19 years. She is a certified sensory integration therapist and has worked in numerous settings including hospitals, school systems, home care, and private clinics.