2009 OCALI Conference a Success
Thursday, November 19, 2009
By: Carin Yavorcik

November 17-19 in Columbus, Ohio

Today is the final day of the 2009 Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI) Conference, a statewide educational conference in Columbus, Ohio. This year, 23-year-old entrepreneur Joe Steffy keynoted on Wednesday. Steffy, diagnosed with autism and Down Syndrome, owns Poppin’ Joe’s Kettle Corn, a successful business in Louisburg, Kan. He is nonverbal and used his AAC device to present the session. On Thursday, Dr. Ann Turnbull, a professor of special education at the University of Kansas, presented. Tunbull co-directs the Beach Center on Disability’s doctoral program focusing on systems change to enhance quality-of-life outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Autism Society board chair Dr. Cathy Pratt and Autism Society of Ohio executive director Barbara Yavorcik also spoke during the keynote sessions.

The conference featured a State Team Forum of educators, social workers, and other interdisciplinary stakeholders focused on interagency collaboration and delivery of services across state regional and local levels. The forum was sponsored by the Autism Society, OCALI, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, IDEA Partnership, the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, and the Network for Autism Training and Technical Assistance Professionals (NATTAP). Coming away from the meeting, 17 state teams committed to advocating for state autism task forces from their governors back home.

The conference also hosted the first Ohio District Team Forum, designed to provide each school district team with information on how students with autism and low-incidence disabilities are being effectively supported across the state through comprehensive program planning and utilization of a variety of supports and services available through OCALI.

For the second year, the conference hosted a University Summit on autism spectrum disorders, which gathered university faculty, instructors and personnel interested in ASD, giving them an opportunity to network and share information on best practices, national teacher competencies in autism, autism internet modules (AIM) and a variety of resources and textbooks.

As part of the conference, the Autism Society of Ohio sponsored Parents’ Corner, an informal meeting and collaboration room designed by parents for parents. Parents' Corner allowed parents of individuals with disabilities a chance to connect with one another and share ideas, tips and suggestions on the latest resources and information. 

Learn more about the conference at www.ocali.org.

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