MO-CASE hosted the 5th Annual Winter Institute on December 2-3, 2010.  The Winter Institute was held this year in St. Charles at the Convention Center, a great facility for a conference!  

Dr. Tim Lewis was our Keynote Speaker.  Dr. Lewis is well known in Missouri and across the nation as an expert in behavior issues, especially in Positive Behavior Supports.  He is a professor of Special Education at the University of Missouri-Columbia and is Co-Director of the OSEP Center on Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.  Tim is also the Co-Director of the Center for Adolescent Research in Schools and Editor of the journal "Behavior Disorders".  His keynote address will be "Seclusion and Restraint:  Prevention, Practices, Policy and Politics".  With state and federal legislation enacted and/or being drafted addressing the use of aversive and restrictive responses to severe behavior problems in school, this keynote will provide an overview of the issues and recommendations for best practice.  Key points of discussion will focus on a) definitions of restrictive practics, b)current poliy recommendations offered by the field, and c) systemic strategies to reduce the likelihood of using such practices.

Dr. Lewis also presented a breakout session on Preventing Escalating Behavior: Focusing on the Calm not the Storm.

Other breakout sessions included:

Teri Goldman-Legal Primer on Behavioral Issues
Celynda Brasher-Difficult vs. Violent Behavior- 45 Days or 45 Days?
Kaye Otten- Crisis Prevention (handout)   (handout)    (handout)
Principals Forum
Behavior Assessment
Tier II Supports
Developing a Seclusion/Restraint Policy
TESP Program-Francis Howell School District

A special conference rate for teams of four from a district will be available if one of the four is a regular educator.  Cost for MO-CASE Supporters is $124 and for Non-Supporters- $140.