Adaptive Life Skills

Dear Parents, Families, and Community Partners,

Thank you for visiting our website!  I am pleased to serve as Program Administrator for the Adaptive Life Skills program at South Coast ESD. We currently have classrooms in Coos, Curry, and Western Douglas county schools.  The ALS Program strives to provide quality instruction and therapy services to students in kindergarten through age 21. Our school district partnerships permit students to have their educational needs met in their local schools, which provides opportunities to access schoolwide activities with their grade level peers.

Our program staff includes licensed special education teachers, instructional assistants, a licensed speech pathologist and speech pathologist assistant, a registered nurse, and a behavior technician.  The ALS staff work alongside additional related service providers to support students in the Adaptive Life Skills program. Together, they help to develop, design, and implement services outlined in the student’s Individual Education Program (IEP).

The safety, growth and success of our students is exceedingly important to South Coast ESD. Collaboration with parents, community agencies, and district staff is vital.  Students’ team members must have a mutual understanding of their goals, therapy and safety plans, and the manner in which success is measured.

If you have any questions about our program or services, please feel free to reach out to our office.

Sincerely,

Georgeann Harty

Georgeann Harty
Program Administrator
541-266-4025

The Adaptive Life Skills Program provides inclusive school and community instruction for students ages five to twenty-one with significant, multiple disabilities. The program emphasizes development of daily living, real life problem solving, and communication skills. The program is designed to facilitate the students’ development of maximum independence and quality of life. This program is responsible for the following services:

Specially-designed instruction based on individual student needs and the service provider’s recommended level in natural settings such as the general education and special education classrooms, playground and lunchroom for young children, and the community and job sites for older students.

Functional Behavior Analysis and Behavior Intervention Plans for students receiving services from the Adaptive Life Skills Program who require highly-structured environments and supports.

Augmentative communication services for students requiring either low- tech supported communication devices such as visual schedules, communication books, voice output devices, or high-tech computer or assistive technology devices.

Program nurses will develop specific medical protocols, participate in feeding evaluations and training of staff in following safe feeding plans and protocols, and to consult and problem solve with IEP team members concerning the medical needs of students.

Extended School Year Program for students served in the Adaptive Life Skills Program who require and based on regression / recoupment data, qualify for services beyond the regular school year to receive instruction to maintain priority goals based upon each student’s individual needs and the service provider’s recommended level.

Service Description

Cognitive Scores: SS 65 and lower
Communication Scores: SS 65 and lower
Adaptive Behavior Scores: SS 65 and lower

A student eligible for Adaptive Life Skills would need standard scores in 2 out of 3 areas listed above. For students with Autism, they would need a standard score of 65 and lower in the areas of Communication and Adaptive Behavior.

Students in Adaptive Life Skills typically display the following characteristics:

Performs several grade levels below their same age peers in most academic areas.

Lacks academic progress despite the district’s documented efforts to try a variety of curriculum based and/or research based instructional interventions including specially designed instruction.

Requires accommodations/ modifications beyond what is typical to function in educational environments.

Would educationally benefit most from specially designed instruction in the areas of communication/social skills, independent living skills, functional academics, daily living/self-care and/or vocational and community skills.

The ALS program utilizes cluster sites to maximize staffing, provide access to specialized programs like RPATS, Adult Transition Program and Medically Fragile Sites. Considerations of school environments and student community needs are taken into account.

Contacts

Stacy Matthews
Assistant Director
541-266-3938

Heather Reday
Department Secretary
541-266-3943

Jennifer Tudor
Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA)
541-269-4539

Parent Rights Handbook

Parent SAFE SCHOOLS