Indiana Resource Network (IRN)
The Indiana Resource Network (IRN) is made possible by the Indiana Department of Education’s Office of Special Education. The IRN offers Indiana public schools free or low cost in-person and virtual professional development and technical assistance options to improve teaching and learning.
Indiana Educational Resource Center
The IERC is a statewide, centralized repository of Accessible Education Materials (AEM) for school-age students who are blind or visually impaired, or have other documented print disabilities, in local education agencies (LEA).
The IERC manages the delivery of AEM to the ordering LEAs via the On-Line Ordering system. Requests for instructional materials are submitted by the LEA appointed Digital Right’s Managers (DRMs) and are processed by the IERC. All materials are provided at no cost to eligible students and are on loan to the ordering local education agencies.
Project Director: Martha LaBounty
ATLAS Project at Easterseals Crossroads
The ATLAS Project offers an Equipment Lending Library, a no-cost service, that loans assistive technology devices, tool, apps and resource materials to school personnel at Indiana’s Local Education Agencies (LEAs). Items are loaned for a six-week evaluation period for the purpose of previewing and/or trialing with students.
Equipment Demonstrations and Technical Assistance (TA) may be requested to accompany equipment loans. Technical Assistance (TA) involves focused support to ensure students have equitable access to curriculum through the use assistive technology tools, devices and apps.
Contact Email: K12atlas@eastersealscrossroads.org
IEP TA Resource Center
Focus: To increase Indiana educators’ knowledge and skills that will (a) support the use of Indiana IEP to develop legally compliant IEPs that follow Article 7 requirements, (b) provide technical assistance and professional development for Indiana educators and staff who are involved in the development of high quality IEPs and (c) support Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) in the development and use of procedures to ensure compliance and the fidelity of implementation of IEP goals and services that will result in high quality instruction and programming evident by data review and progress monitoring.
Project Director: Jolly Piersall
IN*SOURCE
Focus: To provide assistance, support services and educational resources to the community of individuals and organizations that serve and support persons with disabilities. Through the provision of information, training, individual assistance and support, they work to help countless families confront the complexities and challenges of having a loved one with special needs. IN*SOURCE celebrates the accomplishments of individuals with disabilities and their families and affirms their ongoing commitment to them.
Project Director: Dawn McGrath
Additional Resources
The Indiana Resource Network (IRN) also contains additional valuable resource centers that support teachers, schools, and corporations but that are not financially supported by DOE.
Center on Education and Lifelong Learning
Focus: The Center on Education and Lifelong Learning (CELL) provides tools, training and technical assistance as schools increase student achievement, build staff capacity and align resources. Their work focuses on professional development related to teacher evaluation systems, differentiated instruction, classroom management, co-teaching, instructional consultation teams (ICT), culturally responsive practices, and PBIS. In addition, CELL conducts program evaluations for a variety of district, state and national programs.
Project Director: Sandi Cole, Ed.D.
Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education (CDHHE)
Focus: To promote positive outcomes for all deaf and hard of hearing children through information, services, and education. The CDHHE provides direct services and facilitation of services to children birth through school exit. The Indiana State Department of Health has executive oversight of the CDHHE. The CDHHE (The Center) works directly with school districts, professionals, parents/guardians and with State agencies, including the Department of Education, the Indiana School for the Deaf, the Family and Social Services Administration, and the Indiana State Department of Health. Services provided for school-age children include:
Transition support from Part C to special education services, comprehensive multidisciplinary assessments, hearing assessments, technical assistance and professional development to schools, Teacher of Record services, secondary transition support, and school program consultation.
Executive Director: Bethany Colson
Deaf Education Coordinator: Sarah Kiefer
The Early Childhood Center (ECC)
Focus: As one of seven centers at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, ECC provides training, technical assistance, data analyses, and strategic planning to support schools in improving the quality and impact of their preschool programs. Its work has focused on program evaluation and professional development related to inclusive services, universal design, collaborative service approaches, transition, family engagement, and high quality early education practices for all children. ECC has worked with early education programs serving children with and without disabilities throughout Indiana. It also works closely with Indiana’s First Steps system in providing evaluation and continuous quality improvement services.
For more information, visit our website at www.iidc.indiana.edu/ecc
Director: Katie Herron Ph.D.
HANDS (Helping Answer Needs by Developing Specialists) in Autism Resource Center
Focus: To help school personnel increase knowledge, skill and application of research-based academic and behavioral strategies related to working with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. These interventions will foster collaboration, data-driven decision making, and alternatives for discipline that will lead to improved instruction and limited behavioral challenges in the classroom.
Project Director: Naomi Swiezy, Ph.D., HSSP
Indiana Center on Teacher Quality (ICTQ) | Video Overview
Focus: In partnership with schools, families, agencies and communities, the Indiana Center on Teacher Quality (ICTQ) intends to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of students with disabilities by 1) increasing the number of teachers delivering high quality instruction to students with disabilities in the general education classroom through job embedded professional development at
the state, regional and district levels; 2) maintaining and increasing the number of licensed special education teachers with improved recruitment, support and retention of teachers for students with disabilities; 3) increasing the capacity of school leaders at the school and district level to develop, implement and sustain inclusive practices through systems of support implemented through the framework of implementation science, and 4) increasing support for families of students with disabilities through effective partnerships that support teacher development and student and school improvement.
Project Director: Sandi Cole, Ed.D
Indiana Deaf-Blind Services Project
Focus: To improve the quality of educational services available to Indiana’s infants, toddlers, children and youth who have a combined vision and hearing loss.
Project Director: Carol Wetherell
Indiana Disability Resource Finder
Focus: FINDER is an online tool offered completely free, 24/7 through the Library of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community (IIDC), the research institute dedicated to disability issues for the state of Indiana and housed at Indiana University Bloomington. FINDER connects people with service providers, events in their community, webinars, articles, and other disability-related information of interest to them. FINDER is administered by the IIDC and funded by grants from AWS for the use of Hoosiers with any disability across the state, their families, and the professionals who serve them.
Indiana School Mental Health Initiative
Vision: To ensure all of Indiana’s students, including those with disabilities, are socially, emotionally, and mentally healthy so they are ready to learn and can achieve their full potential. Mission: To build local capacity by providing resources and training with the goal of supporting schools and their community partners as they work together to address the social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs of Indiana’s students. Values and Beliefs: the function of an education is to address the development of the whole child; attachment is the carrier of all development, including learning; meeting the social, emotional, and mental health needs of teachers and other school staff is as important as meeting those of the student’s; and our schools and communities are stronger when we work together. Goals: raise awareness on the effects of trauma, stress, and adversity on social, emotional, and cognitive development; promote the development of multi-tiered, cross-system infrastructures to support school communities in addressing the social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs of their students and staff within existing structures; share best and promising practices across Indiana by building a community of practice and harnessing our collective knowledge; identify barriers that exist and work to close gaps in systems; assist school districts in building strong community partnerships and connecting to their local System of Care; and identify funding mechanisms and cross-system collaboration opportunities to promote the above.
Director: Kristine Eaton, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., Ed.D.
Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center
Focus: To create and enhance professional development activities and resources in order to build capacity to improve school and post-school outcomes. The center’s work focuses on student-focused planning activities and self-determination skill development; improved Transition IEPs and use of transition assessments; access to effective academic and life-skills instruction, quality work-based learning; interagency collaboration; and family involvement.
Project Director: Judith Gross, Ph.D.
Email Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center
Indiana Resource Center for Autism
Focus: To actively engage in work that leads to improved outcomes for individuals on the spectrum and their families. Specifically, the center’s work is focused on goals around early detection and diagnosis, effective early childhood and school-age programs that utilize evidence-based practices, transition across grade levels and across stages of life, post-secondary opportunities, community employment and living options, family support, and other activities that lead to an improved quality of life. IRCA staff works in collaboration with other agencies and organizations to assist in achieving these outcomes by providing information and training on a variety of topics, strategies, and methods.
Project Director: Rebecca Martinez, Ph.D.
The Library at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community
Focus: Hoosiers with disabilities, their families, and those who work with and for them need access to disability-related information and resources. The Library at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community strives to be the primary disability library for residents of the state of Indiana by providing access to appropriate, quality materials and services. We offer more than 6,000 books, kits, and DVDs about disabilities across the lifespan that are available to borrow by anyone in Indiana. Regardless of where you live, we will lend our materials to you through the mail or to help answer your disability-related questions. Can’t get to Bloomington? We are happy to loan our library materials to users through the mail, sending them out to our expense and just asking that users return them at their expense. Alternatively, our library materials can be returned to any IU campus library statewide.
Library Coordinator: Sharon Soto
Email Library at Indiana Institute on Disability and Community
PASS Project: Promoting Achievement for Students with Sensory Loss
Focus: To provide statewide support and professional development opportunities for educators to improve instructional quality, promote academic achievement, and foster successful post-secondary transition outcomes for students with sensory loss. This program was developed especially for Indiana teachers, educational interpreters, paraprofessionals, related service personnel, and administrators who serve students who have sensory loss (including blind or low vision; Deaf or hard of hearing; or Deaf-blind).
In addition to hosting conferences, workshops, and webinars, the PASS Project facilitates the Visual Impairment Licensure Program and Deaf/Hard of Hearing Licensure Program at Indiana State University. These programs are for individuals who hold a teaching license and wish to obtain training in the area of blind/low vision or deaf/hard of hearing.
The PASS Project also supports the Educational Interpreter Mentoring Program. The goal of the program is to guide and assist in the development of educational interpreting skills. An interpreting mentor will be assigned to each mentee to provide support, encouragement, and direct feedback on their interpreting skills. All mentees will have the opportunity to set professional goals and improve their skill level in order to meet the requirements set forth by the state of Indiana.
Project Director: Robin Thoma
PBIS Indiana: Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports Resource Center
Focus: To develop and establish a statewide network of culturally responsive school-wide positive behavior support sites and increase educators’ knowledge and understanding of how PBIS impacts student achievement, family engagement, dropout rate and least restrictive environment placements.
Project Director: Sandi Cole, Ed.D.
Project SUCCESS
Focus: To support teachers and administrators in the design and implementation of Common Core Standards in curriculum and instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities. This includes providing critical background information and access to instructional and resource materials developed by NCSC. Project SUCCESS provides monthly professional development sessions to participating teams and on-site technical assistance as needed.
Director: Amy Howie
Virtuoso Education Consulting
Focus: To empower educators to meet the needs of all students by developing practitioners’ awareness, knowledge, and skills related to best practices in the PK-12 environment. The team helps educators meet school improvement goals, remediate disproportionality, close discipline and achievement gaps, and develop proficiency in culturally responsive practices.
Director: Renae Azziz, Ed.D.
State Associations
CEC – Council for Exceptional Children
The Council for Exceptional Children is a professional association of educators dedicated to advancing the success of children with exceptionalities. CEC accomplishes their mission through advocacy, standards, and professional development.
IASP – Indiana Association of School Psychologists
The Indiana Association of School Psychologists (IASP) is a non-profit professional association established in 1987 to encourage and grow the profession of School Psychology in Indiana.
ISHA – Indiana Speech-Language-Hearing Association
The Indiana Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ISHA) supports its members in the provision of quality services through advocacy, professional development and public awareness.
LDA – Learning Disabilities Association of Indiana
The Learning Disabilities Association of Indiana is a state affiliate of the Learning Disabilities Association of America. LDA of Indiana is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all volunteer organization of parents, educators, and other individuals who are committed to promoting awareness, knowledge and acceptance of individuals with learning disabilities (LD) and associated disorders such as attention deficit deficit/hyperactivity disorders (AD/HD) by encouraging early detection, appropriate educational services, accommodations and programs at all educational levels, vocational and career opportunities, and by offering information, advocacy training and support through hosting an annual state conference, publishing our state newsletter, and contacts across Indiana.
Family Resources
Autism Evansville
Autism Evansville offers children with a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder up to the age of 18 are eligible for assistance if living in the counties of Posey, Gibson, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer and Pike in Indiana. Autism Evansville also has Parent Support Groups and Family Fun Nights.
Center for Parent Information and Resources
The Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) serves as a central resource of information and products to the community of Parent Training Information (PTI) Centers and the Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs), so that they can focus their efforts on serving families of children with disabilities.
Center on Technology and Disability (CTD)
The Center is designed to increase the capacity of families and providers to advocate for, acquire and implement effective assistive and instructional technology (AT/IT) practices, devices, and services. Research-based technologies, used appropriately, have great potential to help infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities participate fully in daily routines; have increased access to the general education curriculum; improve their functional outcomes and educational results; and meet college and career-ready standards.
Cerebral Palsy Group
The Cerebral Palsy Group shares helpful and up-to-date resources to assist family members and caregivers in making the best decisions for their loved ones. Their team of doctors and healthcare professionals provide high quality, medically-reviewed data on everything related to cerebral palsy as well as birth injury topics.
Hands & Voices
Hands & Voices is a non-profit, parent-driven organization dedicated to supporting families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The organization is non-biased about communication methodologies and believes that families can make the best choices for their child if they have access to good information and support.
Indiana Family to Family
Indiana Family to Family provides information, training, and one-on-one support to Indiana families of children and youth with additional health and education needs, and the professionals who serve them. They aim to provide families with tools to make informed decisions, advocate for improved systems and policies, and build partnerships between professionals and families. They are Indiana’s Parent-to-Parent organization and an Alliance member of Parent-to-Parent USA; the state affiliate organization for Family Voices; and they serve as Indiana’s Family-to-Family Health Information Center.
LD Online
If you are a parent or a family member of a child with learning disabilities or ADHD, LD OnLine has information to help you get started in understanding what your child needs, your rights and responsibilities in working with the school, and ways to support your son or daughter at home.
National Center on Accessible Educational Materials
The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials provides resources and technical assistance for educators, parents, students, publishers, conversion houses, accessible media producers, and others interested in learning more about AEM and implementing AEM and the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS).
OSEP IDEAS that Work
The Office of Special Education Programs provides documents that were written specifically for parents and include information they need as they work with schools to ensure that their children are receiving a quality education. These materials provide information that will help parents of children with disabilities become active and informed participants in IEP discussions and other decision-making meetings.
PACER, Inc. (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Education Rights)
The mission of PACER Center is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families, based on the concept of parents helping parents. Through its alliance and other national projects, PACER, a national center, responds to thousands of parents and professionals each year. PACER offers assistance to individual families, workshops, materials for parents and professionals, and leadership in securing a free and appropriate public education for all children.
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets is a parent resource for teaching kids to read and helping those who struggle.
TheBestSchools.org
TheBestSchools.org Guide for Students with Disabilities has information on common accommodations available for students to use when attending college online.