Hill Country Summer Institute

Jim Walsh, Attorney at Law Jim Walsh graduated from the University of Texas, School of Law in 1975. In 1983, he was one of the three lawyers who founded the firm now known as Walsh Gallegos Treviño Russo & Kyle P.C. From the beginning the focus of the firm was on serving public schools—helping the people who help the kids. In his career of over 40 years, Jim has provided training to all of the Education Service Centers in Texas, numerous statewide organizations, and hundreds of school districts.

Dr. Gail Cheramie Dr. Gail Cheramie is a Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Specialist in School Psychology and Nationally Certified School Psychologist. She was the Director of the UH-Clear Lake nationally-approved specialist program in School Psychology for 30 years, where she taught courses in assessment and participated and supervised practicum at the UH-CL Psychological Services clinic. She retired from the university in 2017. Dr. Cheramie has several publications, including case study chapters in Mather and Jaffe’s Comprehensive Evaluation text, Flanagan, Ortiz & Alfonso’s Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment-3rd Edition, and Alfonso & Flanagan’s Essentials of Specific Learning Disability Identification-2nd Edition. Dr. Cheramie has an extensive history of providing professional development training to school districts and region service centers throughout our state. She consults with school districts throughout Texas on matters related to evaluation, identification, and educational programming for students with developmental, learning, and behavioral disorders.

Dr. Teresa Guerra Teresa Guerra, Ed.D., CCC-SLP serves as a Clinical Manager for a Winter Pediatric Therapy outpatient rehabilitation clinic. Dr. Guerra is responsible for managing approximately 40 speech, occupational, and physical therapists serving the pediatric population in the greater Houston area. She continues to develop and manage the feeding clinic program across all five Winter Pediatric Therapy facilities. Dr. Guerra is responsible for training and collaborating with speech and occupational therapists on the team, as well as for conducting assessment and treatment. Additionally, Dr. Guerra serves as a Clinical Educator and guest lecturer for the University of Houston Communication Sciences and Disorders Department (UH COMD). She provides clinical education and supervision for the graduate bilingual evaluation specialty team across various settings (i.e., University Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, community outreach clinical partnerships, and charter schools). Dr. Guerra guest lectures on bilingual topics for several undergraduate and graduate courses throughout the academic school year at UH. Her clinical and research interests include assessment and treatment of culturally and linguistically diverse populations, curriculum equity for preschool bilingual learners in special education programs within the public schools, and pediatric feeding disorders among children with autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Guerra is a UH Alumna from the COMD program and graduated with her doctorate from the UH College of Education, Professional Leadership program with a concentration in Special Populations. Dr. Guerra's doctoral dissertation focused on curriculum alignment for bilingual students with autism spectrum disorder and teacher's perceptions regarding the professional development opportunities received to support inclusive instructional practices. Dr. Guerra is currently serving on the State of Texas Early Childhood Assessment Review Panel for pre-kindergarten assessments.

Nanette Deaton Nanette Deaton is a certified Professional School Counselor, Principal, and former middle school language arts teacher with 31 years of education and counseling experience. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas A&M University-College Station and a Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling from University of Houston-Victoria. In addition, Ms. Deaton holds a Principal certification. During her career, Ms. Deaton was a vocational and academic counselor with the Windham School System at the TDCJ John B Connally Unit. She continued her work in public education in Goliad, Pettus, and Round Rock ISD at elementary, middle, and high schools in the position of counselor and administrator. With this broad knowledge base, Ms. Deaton served as the Director of Guidance and Counseling with Manor ISD and Project Manager for the district's Gear Up grant. She most recently worked at a private school as Dean of Students with St. Mary’s High School. Ms. Deaton is currently an Education Specialist III for Counseling Services and Title IV Part A programming and support at Region 13 in Austin, TX.

Dr. Jon Lasser Dr. Jon Lasser is a University Distinguished Professor and Regents’ Professor in the School Psychology Program at Texas State University. He holds a master’s degree in Human Sexuality Education from the University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate in School Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He has served as Chair of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), Associate Dean for Research in the College of Education, and Program Coordinator for the School Psychology Program. His books include Tech Generation: Raising Balanced Kids in a Hyper-Connected World (Oxford University Press), School Psychologist as Counselor: a Practitioner’s Handbook (National Association of School Psychologists), and a series of social-emotional learning books with the American Psychological Association’s Magination Press (Grow Happy, Grow Grateful, Grow Kind, & What Boys Do).

Dr. Mary Beth Schmitt Dr. Mary Beth Schmitt is an associate professor at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Schmitt and her team work to identify child-level, treatment-level, and classroom-level ingredients of public school therapy that affect outcomes for children with developmental language disorders (DLD). Dr. Schmitt works in collaboration with SLPs and families to ensure that the research aligns with the needs of practicing clinicians and children with DLD. Her work is currently supported by NIH and the US Department of Education. Dr. Schmitt has over 43 publications and she serves as editor for EBP Briefs, a peer-reviewed publication supporting evidence-based practice for SLPs.

Dr. Grace Mucci Dr. Grace Mucci is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in pediatric neuropsychology, and practices in both hospital and private practice settings. She is board certified in Pediatric Neuropsychology by the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology (ABPdN). She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a Health Psychology Emphasis from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant University in San Francisco and completed a post-doctoral master’s degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology. She completed her APA-Accredited internship and post-doctoral fellowship at CHOC Children’s Hospital in Orange, California, and additional post-doctoral training in Neuropsychology with the Neurobehavioral Clinic and Counseling Center in Mission Viejo. Dr. Mucci is on medical staff at CHOC and is an Associate Clinical (Volunteer) Professor at University of California, Irvine. She is involved in training and supervision of psychology interns, neuropsychology fellows, and medical residents, and specializes in the neuropsychological effects associated with childhood oncology, epilepsy, genetic and metabolic disorders, learning disabilities, and ADHD. She is involved in several research projects involving the long-term neurocognitive effects of cancer, metabolic, and neurological disorders. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Pediatric Neuropsychology (Grand Rounds), has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, and is co-editor of a comprehensive book entitled Handbook of Long Term Care of the Childhood Cancer Survivor with Dr. Lilibeth Torno, Pediatric Oncologist at CHOC Children’s Hospital published by Springer. Dr. Mucci is currently Executive Director of the Academy of Pediatric Neuropsychology (AAPdN). She also co-chairs the Physician Well-Being and Physician Wellness Committees at CHOC Children’s, with an increasing affinity towards promoting physician and provider wellness.

Dr. Chris Kearney Christopher A. Kearney, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of Psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is also the Director of the UNLV Child School Refusal and Anxiety Disorders Clinic. Dr. Kearney received his B.A. in psychology and sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton and his M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology (clinical) from the State University of New York at Albany. Dr. Kearney’s research interests include school attendance problems and school refusal behavior, selective mutism, posttraumatic stress disorder in maltreated youth, and other anxiety-related conditions in children and adolescents.

Monday, June 12th Schedule

Time	Session	Presenter
9:00 AM - 12:15 PM	Legal Update for Evaluation Staff: 2023	Jim Walsh, Attorney at Law
1:00 PM - 4:15 PM	OHI and ID: FIE Components and Important Issues	Dr. Gail Cheramie
1:00 PM - 4:15 PM	Considerations for Best Practice during Speech Therapy Assessment and Treatment of Emergent Bilinguals (EB) with ASD	Dr. Teresa Guerra
1:00 PM - 4:15 PM	The School Behavioral Threat Process and the Support of SPED staff	Nanette Deaton

Tuesday, June 13th Schedule

Time	Session	Presenter
9:00 AM - 12:15 PM	Creative Counseling with Bibliotherapy	Dr. Jon Lasser
9:00 AM - 12:15 AM	Ethical and Practical Use of Current Research for School-Based SLPs	Dr. Mary Beth Schmitt
9:00 AM - 12:15 AM	IDEA Disability Condition Determination: Co-occurring or Differential. Are we asking the right questions?	Dr. Gail Cheramie
1:00 PM - 4:15 PM	Understanding Genetic Disorders in Children and Adolescents for School Based Evaluations	Dr. Grace Mucci
1:00 PM - 4:15 PM	The Intersection of Academic Language Therapy and Neurodiverse-Affirming Practice	Dr. Mary Beth Schmitt
1:00 PM - 4:15 PM	School attendance problems and school refusal	Dr. Chris Kearney

Sessions are ordered by conference schedule

Legal Update for Evaluation Staff

Jim Walsh, Attorney at Law

This legal update will cover critical information evaluation personnel need to know in order to stay legally compliant.

OHI and ID: FIE Components and Important Issues

Dr. Gail Cheramie

This workshop is divided into two sections focusing on the following topics:
Part 1: (a) ID criteria regarding intellectual and adaptive behavior assessment. (b) Critical issues to consider when determining the condition of ID (e.g., variability within the cognitive profile, appropriate use of the SEM, defining “deficit” for adaptive behavior, variability between informants for adaptive behavior). Case studies will be used in this section.
Part 2: (a) OHI as an IDEA category and medical versus behavioral diagnoses within the category. (b) The FIE related to conditions under this category with emphasis on ADHD (e.g., observational methods, rating scales, and direct assessment). (c) Critical issues to consider when determining condition and eligibility.

Considerations for Best Practice during Speech Therapy Assessment and Treatment of Emergent Bilinguals (EB) with ASD

Dr. Teresa Guerra

Two populations within the U.S. educational system steadily on the rise are emergent bilinguals (EB) and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This seminar will begin with a review of evidence-based literature supporting bilingualism for this population. Followed by a discussion of the differentiation of stereotypic language patterns related to ASD versus language differences of EBs. Assessment strategies will be presented for EBs from Spanish-speaking backgrounds, as well as for other common languages within Texas schools. Lastly, treatment considerations such as selection of language of intervention and strategies for cross linguistic transfer during therapy activities will be explored.

The School Behavioral Threat Process and the Support of SPED Staff

Nanette Deaton

Participants will learn about the Pathway to Violence, review the processes of a SBTA team, discuss SPED support to assist the SBTA team in keeping a student off the pathway to violence, and investigate scenarios of student threats and determine next steps.

Creative Counseling with Bibliotherapy

Dr. Jon Lasser

Participants will learn about bibliotherapy as a creative counseling intervention to address social, emotional, and behavioral goals and objectives. We will review the research base supporting the use of bibliotherapy as an effective intervention and look at practical applications of bibliotherapy across a wide developmental range. Finally, participants will gain a better understanding of the "how to" of bibliotherapy, including ways to measure progress on counseling goals when bibliotherapy is used.

Ethical and Practical Use of Current Research for School-Based SLPs

Dr. Mary Beth Schmitt

This session will summarize current research from speech-language pathology, psychology, and education on what matters for children’s learning. Participants will receive specific guidance on how to ethically decide when and how to apply research to their caseloads. Participants will also learn practical ways to stay current on research amid rising workloads and limited time.

IDEA Disability Condition Determination: Co-occurring or Differential. Are we asking the right questions?

Dr. Gail Cheramie

The purpose of this workshop is to discuss (a) the multi-method, multi-source, multi-trait assessments that comprise the FIE, (b) the analysis of data sets with consideration of factors that affect decision-making such as reliability and convergence, “weight” and validity, and common errors in clinical judgment, and (c) the specific components of the FIE that facilitate disability determination addressing overlapping symptoms, differential classifications, and co-occurring conditions.

Understanding Genetic Disorders in Children and Adolescents for School Based Evaluations

Dr. Grace Mucci

Genetic disorders often have significant implications for a child’s education and learning. While there are many types of genetic disorders, which are characterized by genetic mutations with multiple environmental and idiopathic causes, there are few studies that have addressed the cognitive and learning challenges these children face. This workshop will review the most common genetic disorders, identify the typical physical characteristics, and discuss the known neurocognitive phenotype and its effect on cognition, communication, and learning abilities. This will be followed by considerations for both assessment and educational needs. Questions are encouraged to facilitate a more in-depth understanding and application to daily practice.

The Intersection of Academic Language Therapy and Neurodiverse-Affirming Practice

Dr. Mary Beth Schmitt

This session will explore short and long-term impacts of language disorder on academic language for preschoolers through adolescence. In this session, participants will learn the research supporting an academic-language approach and specific assessment and treatment strategies to use with clients of varying ages. The entire presentation will be framed from a neuro-diverse-affirming approach to working with children in the public education system.

School attendance problems and school refusal

Dr. Chris Kearney

This session will cover assessment and intervention recommendations for largely Tier 2 cases of school attendance problems, with a particular focus on school refusal or anxiety-based absenteeism. This will include a discussion of the four main treatment packages related to a functional analysis of school attendance problems/school refusal, including special circumstances that often apply to each. Coverage will also include, to a lesser extent, recommendations for Tiers 1 and 3