Welcome to the official website for the 2024 TASH Conference!
Each year, the TASH Conference brings together our constituents to share resources and success stories, learn about field-driven best practices, and network within a community engaged in shared values. The Conference is attended by passionate leaders, experts, and advocates from every corner of the disability community. Conference attendees are influential in their fields and communities, and play an important role in the provision of services and supports for individuals and organizations around the world; and include professors and researchers from leading institutions; those involved in local, state, and federal governments and public policy; special and general educators, and school administrators; self-advocates, adult service providers; students, family members, and many others. This year’s conference theme is Celebrate Together: Let the Good Times Roll!
Click on the "Registration and More" tab for additional information about our Conference location, registration, reserving a guest room, sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, and more! The full Conference schedule is now available for viewing. Registered attendees will receive an invitation to log in and create a personalized schedule.
Log in to bookmark your favorites and sync them to your phone or calendar.
In this pilot randomized controlled trial, we tested two reading curricula designed to teach early literacy skills to nonspeaking students—Early Literacy Skills Builder and Accessible Literacy Learning. Twenty-four participants were randomized to an ELSB, ALL, or control group, and we measured outcomes for all groups at 4 time points for phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and word reading. We used growth curve modeling to analyze our data. We found statistically significant effects for both ELSB and ALL compared to the control group on some outcomes, although ELSB outperformed ALL on most measures. We will report on effects of each intervention relative to each other and a control group, and share practical implications for practitioners.
Matt Brock has two major lines of research including (1) inclusion and peer-mediated intervention for students with significant disabilities, and (2) coaching paraprofessionals to implement evidence-based practices. He currently is implementing a large-scale federally-funded efficacy... Read More →
Communication skills are essential to everyday life to express our thoughts, needs, feelings, and to connect with others. Thus, access to communication should be available to all. Yet, due to complex communication needs, many children with significant cognitive disabilities do not have access to reliable communication modes. For these presymbolic communicators, we must take on creative approaches to improve access to communication. I used qualitative interviews to explore how 10 educators of young children with significant cognitive disabilities think about supporting complex communication needs. Findings suggest that, in addition to extensive support needs, factors such as, quality of relationships, school environments, and perceptions of disability affect communication outcomes. Findings also highlight strengths in educators’ commitment to their students but identify a discord between educators’ expectations and beliefs vs. actual feasibility due to school environment and resources.
