Autism Mentoring Guides

If you are looking to onboard a teacher that is new or new to teaching students with autism, TSLAT now has mentoring guides for both our special educators and general education staff. The TSLAT Mentoring Guides are a resource that makes it easy for a mentor to plan and administer training to educators and other LEA staff working with students with autism in various settings. These guides are available at no cost and can be individualized for the participants' need. Let's explore. You can find the guides on the TSLAT Mentoring Guides page on our website. There are three guides: a Mentor's Guide for Onboarding General Education Teachers, A Mentor's Guide for Onboarding Special Education Teachers, and a Mentor's Guide for Behavioral Evidence Based Practices. Let's take a look at one of the guides. After you register and gain access to the guide, you'll see a home page with information about the guide. Each module in these guides is set up in a similar fashion. For each module, you'll see proposed scope and sequence of the trainings to be completed. Then, you'll see key points. These key points provide the mentor with a good understanding of what their participant is learning. You 'll also see a vocabulary list with terms found in the foundational courses. Then, below the vocabulary list, are some sample questions for the mentor to ask their educator upon completion of a training. These questions help drive discussion on how a participant can apply the training to their individualized role. We also provide sample answers to these questions so the mentor is equipped with talking points to participate in the discussion. If more training is needed for each individual module, we also provide an Extended section. In this example for Preparation Extended, this extends the training an additional three and a half hours. Extended sections are organized in the same way with a scope and sequence, key points, vocabulary, sample discussion questions, talking points to assist the mentor. Finally, at the end of each module is a collection of tools and resources. Now let's look at the Mentor's Guide for Behavioral Evidence Based Practice Training. Within this guide, we have a foundational track. The foundational track is for educators who just need to know the basics of behavior and autism. Foundations include behavior assessment, functional communication training, social skills training, peer mediated instruction intervention, and self management. We also have in-depth trainings meant for those who are practicing and implementing the intervention. These trainings can be done individually or they can be done within professional learning communities. Each of the trainings earn your participant a digital badge or certificate. If the entire extended program is completed, then a Superbadge can be awarded. These badges allow administrators to track the progress of a participant and act as proof that training has taken place for a new teacher. These badges are shareable and most participants attach them to their email signatures or on their personal LinkedIn profiles. One of the major perks of these mentor guides is the individualization that can take place. If a teacher needs a large amount of training, the guides are organized to provide a half year or even a year long program. But for those that maybe are missing training on a particular area or a skill, the guides are organized in a way that mentors can handpick specific trainings for their educator. We hope that you have a successful year, and we thank you for your contribution in positively affecting the educational impact of our students with autism.