Emporian awarded Special Education Professional of the year ...

An Emporian has been awarded the Kansas Special Education Professional of the Year by the Kansas Council for Exceptional Children.

Angela Ryan-Davis received the award in September during a KCEC convention in Wichita.

She is an infant-toddler specialist for the Flint Hills Infant-Toddler Network through the Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative.

The co-op serves children in five counties ? Lyon, Chase, Coffee, Greenwood and Morris.

Originally from Smith Center, she had come to Emporia to attend ESU, where she graduated with a bachelor?s in elementary education and early childhood, and a master?s degree in early childhood special education.

Ryan-Davis has worked with the Flint Hills group for six years, and previously worked with infants and toddlers at Emporia State University.

She had been surprised to hear she?d been chosen for the state award. She was one of nine finalists, and had not known she?d been nominated.

?I think everything was completed by the parent, because I didn?t know anything about it until about a week and a half before,? Ryan-Davis said.

A representative of the state organization had tried to notify the co-op director, Elena Lincoln, in mid-September.

?Actually, when Elena told me, it was through a message that had been left for her, and it took a few more days after that to even find out what we were talking about,? Ryan-Davis said.

The award recognized the work Ryan-Davis does with children with varying degrees of disabilities and aged from birth to 3 years old.

?Since I work with both the children and their families, our goal is to build the capacity of the family to be able to provide for the child, what their needs are -- developmental needs, social needs financial needs,? she said.

As a result, the rewards of the job are two-fold -- ?getting that ?Aha!? moment from the parents when they find out they can do these things to help their child,? Ryan-Davis said, and ?the little successes, when a child figures out how to do something they haven?t been able to do.?

Referrals usually are made after the babies have been released from the hospital, although occasionally the infant-toddler division begins work while a baby remains in the hospital for medical treatment.

?Anyone can make a referral. It can be the parent, it can be the doctor, it can be the hospital, it can be a care provider,? Ryan-Davis said. ?Anyone who sees the need can make the referral.?

The network sends out packets to doctors approximately every six months, so the medical staff and patients in the waiting room have access to the materials. A new brochure has been created to help provide necessary information and encourage participation.

Disabilities may be serious or simply something that requires a more intense type of training for a short period of time.

Some infants toddlers may lag behind developmentally because they were born prematurely; once they have progressed to their age levels, they leave the network, she said

?We also have a lot of children that just need some help,? Ryan-Davis said. A 2-year-old who isn?t talking, for example, would receive therapy for that particular problem. ?Then all of a sudden, they?re talking.?

More-serious disabilities may require longer-term therapy or special training throughout their time in the school system.

The key, Ryan-Davis said, is identifying and treating disabilities quickly. Early diagnoses can sometimes allow corrections to take place even before the child enters school, and can prevent the need for extra therapies.

Infants and toddlers who will need long-term or lifetime services also benefit more when therapy begins as soon as possible.

?Early intervention is proven for school success and success later in life. The earlier we help them, the more successful they will be,? she said. ?Since you have the brain develop the most in the first five years of life, whatever changes we can make during that time are going to be lifelong benefits.

?Those who don?t have early intervention and just appear in the school system, it?s a real struggle to get them what they need.?

Some of the services provided to young children and their families include:

assistive technology

early childhood education

family service coordination

hearing and vision

nursing and nutrition

occupational therapy

physical therapy

speech/language pathology

social work

Mass screenings to determine eligibility and needs of the children and their families is scheduled in Lyon County on Wednesday.

?We can do them at any time that there?s a concern, but we do in-house in October and February,? Ryan-Davis said. ?If you ever have a concern with your child -- parenting questions, feeding questions. Any time you have a concern, you?re welcome to call. ...

?Babies don?t come with handbooks, so we do the best we can helping families get what they need.?

Appointments for the screenings may be made by calling Geralyn Arndt at Maynard School, 341-2216.

A educational video about the services available through the infant-toddler network may be seen online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p9kaBaOM4E.

Source: http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2012/oct/09/emporian-awarded-special-education-professional-ye/

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