The Executive Director has a very key role at BTLC. The person in this role oversees planning, implementation, and evaluation of the school programs and services (both onsite and offsite). This includes leading the development and review of IPPs for the students, coordinating with and supervising the Teacher and other professionals involved in the program, acting as transition facilitator for children leaving the program, managing PUF applications, and much more. The Executive Director also works closely with the Administration team to keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes.
The Behavioural Consultant develops behaviour intervention plans for the children in our program and provides assistance to the Teacher and Educational Assistants in implementing those plans and strategies. He or she also summarizes and interprets behaviour data that has been collected and participates in the IPP process.
Through regular programming meetings, the FOP Consultant engages parent(s) in activities that will assist them in implementing their child’s IPP goals and objectives at home and in the community. Plans for these meetings are developed with input from the Teacher, Special Education Consultant, and Behavioural Consultant. While these FOP sessions may be conducted by a dedicated FOP Consultant, they can also be facilitated by a different professional from the learning team who operates under the direction of a Certificated Teacher.
The Special Education Consultant must be a Certificated Teacher with appropriate training and experience. He or she provides support to the classroom teacher and recommends materials and resources for programming, providing demonstration of activities as needed to address IPP goals. The Special Education Consultant will also assist the Teacher in identifying training goals and providing support for Educational Assistants to enhance the education of the children in the classroom. In addition to the above, the person in this role is involved with the development, assessment, and review of the IPPs.
The BTLC Teacher is responsible for developing a classroom environment with activities that are age-appropriate yet adaptable to the varied target objectives of each student. Every month the Teacher plans activities around a specific theme and addresses each child’s IPP goals through circle time, songs, stories, group activity centers, outings, and much more. The Teacher also provides leadership for the Educational Assistants, coordinates consultations with all other members of the learning team, and is responsible for the development, review, and assessment of each child’s IPP.
Working closely with the Teacher, the educational assistants help to plan and implement learning activities for the children in the classroom and keep the students as engaged as possible. They run activity centers in class, adapt activities based on recommendations from other team members and keep the classroom running smoothly.
Within their disciplines, the SLP, OT, and PT engage in structured and unstructured observation of the children within the setting where their centre-based programming hours are provided. They contribute to the IPP process, consult to and train the classroom staff, and provide hands-on assistance in the implementation of appropriate strategies and recommendations.
Agency policies, accounting, staffing, marketing, scheduling, coordination with the learning team and families: these are just a few of the many tasks that the Executive Director and Administrators are responsible for on a daily basis. These professionals work hard to keep the program running behind the scenes.
Erin has been supervising and implementing ABA treatment programs to children diagnosed with ASD since 1997. She has worked in several different capacities, including: Senior Behaviour Therapist, Educational Assistant, Special Education Teacher, Assistant Program Coordinator, and since 2002, as a member of the Psychology Team/Behaviour Consultant with Autism Partnership (www.autismpartnership.ca). Erin has also provided numerous workshops, presentations and training sessions to parents, behaviour therapists, teachers, educational assistants and professionals in the field on the practical implementation of behaviour theory and strategies. Erin currently fills the roles of Executive Director, Family-Oriented Planning Consultant, and Special Education Consultant with BTLC.
Julide has been supervising, directing and implementing Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) programs for children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD since 1993. Her comprehensive background includes working as a Research Assistant in the field, providing program supervision and consultation for families and schools throughout Western Canada, an extensive role as the on-site Behaviour Consultant for an ABA model classroom for adolescents with ASD in Maui, Hawaii, and presently as the Behaviour Consultant for BTLC and Site Director for Autism Partnership, Calgary (www.autismpartnership.ca).
