Presenter: Dante Chavarria

Session Description: This session will provide participants with essential knowledge and practical skills in co-regulation that leads to developing a student's ability to self-regulate, fostering a more supportive, emotionally intelligent, and effective learning environment.

This session will also focus on an understanding of the causes of emotional dysregulation and conflict escalation in students. 

Room: Real/Maverick

Ideal for: Behavior/Social-Emotional Learning, Paraprofessionals, ECSE, Inclusive Practices, Low Incidence Disabilities, Autism

Session Handouts

Presenters: Sam Gonzalez & Anna Olguin

Session Description: Career and Technical Education (CTE) serves as a powerhouse for student engagement, yet aligning the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) with the specific mandates of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) requires intentional collaboration. 

This session explores practical strategies for ensuring that secondary transition plans aren't just paperwork, but active blueprints for postsecondary success in CTE courses.

Room: Pecan

Ideal for: Secondary/Post Secondary, Leadership, Evaluation, Inclusive Practices

Session Handouts

Presenter: Dr. Allegra Montemayor 

Session Description: This session supports paraprofessionals working with students with autism by addressing common challenges related to behavior management and limited access to ABA training. Participants will learn to view behavior as communication and apply practical, ABA-aligned strategies to support engagement and reduce escalation. 

By the end of the session, paraprofessionals will leave with clear, actionable tools they can immediately use to support students with confidence and consistency.

Room: Oak

Ideal for: Paraprofessionals, Autism, Early Childhood Special Education, LID, Behavioral/SEL 

Session Handouts

Presenters: Sarah Cave & Diana Glass 

Session Description: Not all heroes wear capes—some carry laminators! In this session, we’re assembling a league of extraordinary educators to build the ultimate behavior basics utility belt. You’ll spend the session crafting "Power Tools" (choices include a variety of self-regulation tools, choice boards, and other visual supports) designed to build your educator superpowers. 

Leave the session with a hero’s kit of POW-erful tools to support diverse learners ready to go for back to school supercharged instruction!

Room: Kinney/Kerr

Ideal for: Early Childhood Special Education, Behavioral/SEL, Autism, Paraprofessionals

Session Handouts

Presenters: Erika Guerrero & Megan Lozano 

Session Description: Every hero needs a mentor, even after they’ve mastered their powers. In this session, we tackle the "Program Completion Myth" and dive into the critical Maintenance & Growth phase of the literacy journey.

We will investigate how support transforms within the General Education "Multiverse." 

Instead of hanging up the cape, we’ll show you:

• The Power of Advocacy: Helping students use their "voice" as their greatest superpower.

• The "Utility Belt": Supporting students to effectively and independently use their accommodations and tools.  

• The "Multiverse": Moving between Special Ed and General Ed.

Room: Medina/La Salle

Ideal for: Secondary/ Post Secondary, Leadership, Inclusive Practices , Dyslexia 

Session Handouts

Presenters: Bianca Cole

Session Description: Every superhero knows that solving the toughest challenges requires strategy, skill, and finding the perfect fit. Goldilocks had the right idea, the search for “just right” matters! Determining the best placement for each learner can feel like a superhero-sized puzzle: too restrictive, too unsupported, or somewhere in the powerful middle where students can truly thrive. 

Join us as we decode Least Restrictive Environment and Continuum of Service expectations and uncover practical strategies for making placement decisions that maximize support, meaningful access to peers and instruction, and opportunities for greater independence.

Room: Mesquite

Ideal for: SPED Teachers, Paraprofessionals, Evaluation, Leadership, Inclusive Practices

Session Handouts

Presenters: Rachel Collins & Sarah Mossberger, TSBVI

Session Description: This session will touch on how traditional assessment protocols fall short for complex learners and explore a simple, meaningful tool that guides goal writing and functional instruction. We’ll also focus on identifying prerequisite skills that are developmentally appropriate for this group of students, ensuring more effective and personalized educational strategies.

Objectives:

1. Participants will explore an assessment tool that is more effective for assessing the functional and developmental needs of complex learners.

2. Participants will examine the role of prerequisite skills in developing meaningful instruction for students with diverse needs.

3. Participants will apply practical strategies for creating developmentally appropriate, functional instruction based on assessment results.

Room: Magnolia

Ideal for: Low Incidence Disabilities, Evaluation, Autism, ECSE

Session Handouts

Presenters: Robert Higle

Session Description: Does an educator’s professional responsibility end when the school bell rings? This session explores the critical impact of an educator’s private life on their professional standing. As public figures and role models, teachers are held to a high standard of conduct by the community, students, and the state. 

This session focuses on the ethical "red flags" that can arise outside of school hours and provides strategies for maintaining a positive balance between personal freedom and professional integrity.

Room: Laurel

Ideal for: Paraprofessionals, Leadership, Insclusive Practices, SpEd Teachers, All

Session Handouts

Presenters: Gracee Condor 

Session Description: The reevaluation process can often feel like a looming deadline, but through the Review of Existing Evaluation Data (REED) process, it can actually your best opportunity to tell the story of a student's progress. Instead of starting from scratch every three years, what if you had a "data bucket" already filled and ready to go?

In this session, we will break down the essential components of preparing and holding high-quality REEDs. We’ll discuss how to curate "living data"—including progress monitoring, work samples, and classroom observations—to determine if additional testing is truly necessary or if the existing data already paints a clear picture. 

This session is designed for the busy provider who wants to go into the REED process more efficiently and consider evaluation data with confidence and clarity.

Room: Maple

Ideal for: All, Evaluation 

Session Handouts

Presenters: Cristina Popescur & Adam Carvalho, Apple

Session Description: Given the range of learning styles and abilities of students today, educators need technology and resources to accommodate and personalize learning. Apple builds accessibility features into every product, so everyone can use them in ways that work best for them. 

Join us to discuss how Apple allows all students and teachers to explore, communicate, and create.

Room: Hickory

Ideal for: All

Session Handouts