Centres of Excellence

Inclusive Education Service Management Commitee (IESMC) and the five Centres of Excellence (CoE)

Who do we offer service to?

The IESMC/CoE are a provincial service designed to offer support and expertise to the English sector for the organization of programs and adapted teaching to students with special learning needs in an inclusive setting. Funded and mandated by the MEQ, the IESMC is managed through the boards, specifically through the Inclusive Education Management Committee (IESMC).

What is the Centres of Excellence mandate?

   * Support to School Boards and Schools
   This support is primarily for the organization of adapted services, the professional and technical means for adapting these services, the use of the best strategies to ensure the help required for the success of students, the assistance for the drawing-up and carrying out of IEPs, the quality of relations with parents, etc. These support measures are undertaken with the intent to create a support network that will promote an ongoing exchange between the various partners of the English sector across the province.

   * Continuous Professional Development
   The intent of continuous professional development is to offer training that focuses on developing the capacity of school personnel to offer adapted services to students with special needs. The intended outcome is for schools to have a level of expertise and autonomy enabling them to deliver quality services to students with handicaps or with learning adaptation difficulties.

   * Research and Development Activities
   Research and development activities aim to develop a body of knowledge and to advance research in this field. These objectives will be attained through the design and the carrying out of specific projects. Necessary means must be taken to keep the English sector informed about innovative projects undertaken and to ensure that they can be adapted and implemented elsewhere.

   * Contribution To the Development of Provincial Expertise
   The service maybe called upon by the MEQ to contribute to the development of certain dossiers regarding a particular population served.

Centre of Excellence for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Lester B. Pearson School Board
1925 Brookdale
Dorval, QC,
H9P 2Y7

Contact: Dr. Andrew Bennett, Psychologist
Tel.: (514) 422-3000 ext. 4395
Email: abennett@lbpsb.qc.ca

Centre of Excellence for Physically, Intellectually and Multi-Challenged
Eastern Townships School Board
Princess Elizabeth Elementary School
420 rue Bellevue Ouest, Room 117
Magog, QC,
J1X 3H2

Contact: E. Baylis Creary, Administrative Coordinator
Tel.: (819) 868-0512
Email: buttersl@etsb.qc.ca

Inclusive Learning Resource Network (I-LRN)

Contact: Lynn Senecal
Tel.: (514) 973-4784
Email: learning_resources@videotron.ca

Center of Excellence for Behavior Management
Riverside School Board
299 Sir Wilfred-Laurier Boulevard
Saint Lambert, QC,
J4R 2V7

Contact: Eva de Gosztonyi
Tel.: (450) 672-4010
Email: edegosztonyi@rsb.qc.ca

Centre of Excellence for Speech and Language Development
English Montreal School Board
6000 Fielding Avenue
Montreal, QC,
H3X1T4

Contact: Carol Jazzar
Tel.: (514) 483-7200 ext. 7238
Email: cjazzar@emsb.qc.ca

Centre of Excellence for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

The Lester B. Pearson School Board’s ASD Team is designated as the Centre of Excellence for Autism Spectrum Disorders in the province of Quebec. The team is comprised of many professionals with a variety of specializations. Our mandate is to:
•    Assist schools in the implementation of best practices for the inclusion of students with an ASD
•    Serve as a resource to the other English school boards in Quebec.
•    Provide professional development, direct intervention, coaching and the sharing of resource materials to support educational personnel in developing their capacity to meet the wide range of needs of students with an ASD in the inclusive classroom

What is Autism?
Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that impacts significantly on an individual's ability to learn and manage the routine demands of school. In order to understand how these students experience the world and how best to teach them, it can be helpful to consider the model of a triad of impairments. The triad includes qualitative impairments related to language and communication, qualitative deficits in the area of social interaction, and difficulties with flexible thinking and behaviour. This triad of impairments applies to the entire spectrum of ASD.

Best Practices for Students with ASD:

• Use visual supports

Visual supports are a key strategy to help prevent behavioural difficulties, improve communication, decrease anxiety and increase the autonomy of students with an ASD. Schedules, cue cards, task breakdowns, motivation cards, and social stories are some examples of visual strategies that can be effective in school settings.

Visual Supports for People with Autism By Marlene J. Cohen
Visual Strategies for Improving Communication By Linda Hodgdon
Solving Behaviour Problems in Autism By Linda A. Hodgdon

• Structure the learning environment

Students with an ASD learn best when routines are predictable and expectations are clear. Tasks that are presented need to have a clear beginning and a clear end to them, and students need to know what to do once they have completed the task and what their reinforcement will be for having completed the task. Concrete visual representation of these items will increase compliance, motivation and independence in the classroom.

• Be an effective communicative partner

Although there is a variability in impairment with individuals across the spectrum, expressive and receptive language difficulties are a core characteristic of all individuals with an ASD. As educators, it is important that we simplify our language, reduce the number of questions we ask, provide time for processing and for the student to respond, and not overestimate the comprehension level of the student.

• Use Sensitization and Promote a Climate of Acceptance

Peers are the most valuable resource in making inclusion successful. It is important to celebrate diversity in the classroom and to speak honestly with the class about autism. Capitalizing on the strengths of all students strengths and reinforcing peers being supportive and friendly with one another encourages acceptance and compassion for all students who have learning differences.

The Autism Acceptance Book By Ellen Sabi

• Address sensory challenges

Many students with ASD present sensory challenges of varying degrees that impact their functional alertness, attention and activity level for comfortable and productive interaction and learning. In addition to impacting social-emotional and behavioral regulation, sensory processing and modulation challenges may interfere with the development of gross, fine and perceptual motor skills. It is important to be aware of the sensory profile of the individual, in order to adapt tasks and accommodate the learning environment to meet their needs. Referral and consultation with an Occupational Therapist (OT) is recommended in this regard.

• Develop Social Skills

Individuals with ASD need direct and concrete teaching to learn the rules of social conduct in schools and in the community. Regular feedback and reinforcement is essential in the development of skills such as self-regulation of emotions, reading non-verbal cues, and avoiding dangerous situations.

• Provide tools to help students to manage anxiety

High levels of anxiety are an important feature of ASD to consider in school context. Students with ASD benefit from regular breaks throughout the day where they can get away from the sensory and social demands around them. They also benefit from learning to recognize their stress levels and implementing strategies to help them to relax.

The Incredible 5-Point Scale By K.D. Buron & M. Curtis

• Use positive behaviour supports

Features of positive behaviour supports are that they are respectful, normalizing, preventative, educational and individualized, all of which make it ideal for use in an inclusive setting. Rather than intervening in response to a behaviour, this approach focuses on indentifying the function that the behaviour is trying to communicate and providing more appropriate alternatives for expressing needs and wants.

No More Meltdowns By Jed Baker, PhD

Through the Centre of Excellence, the ASD Team has set up a professional resource library and a website. The website, which is updated regularly, contains information about Autism, printable visuals and materials, an annotated bibliography of the ASD’s collection of books, DVD’s and magazine subscriptions, as well as links to other useful online sites related to ASD.

Please check us out online at: http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/eng/asdn/index.asp