Scholarships provided by Grand Valley State University's START program will allow teams from schools across Michigan to attend a conference focused on addressing the needs of K-12 students who are hard to teach.
Hundreds of educators and parents are expected at the Great Lakes Institute, which will be held July 15-18 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City. The conference is sponsored by the Michigan Department of Education and Sopris West Publishers and will include presentations from autism experts, including Amy Matthews, GVSU assistant psychology professor.
The GVSU scholarships, provided through the university's Statewide Autism Resources and Training (START) program, will allow 40 school-based teams to attend the conference.
GVSU was awarded Michigan Department of Education grants totaling $1.5 million to establish START, which will aid students with autism, their parents and educators in these ways:
- Establish regional teams of experts to provide support for schools and parents;
- Create a Web site and resource centers that serve as an information clearinghouse;
- Develop a teacher certification program in coordination with five other state universities;
- Identify demonstration sites that model best practices.
There is an increased need for trained teachers to work with students with autism; experts have identified about 5,000 Michigan students with the disability.
