April 3, 2020
Issue 13, Volume 13
It's All About the Choices!     
          
Greetings and Happy Friday!

Please enjoy our newsletter as we all navigate a "new normal."
 
News Items:
  • Trump Administration Says Disability No Reason To Deny COVID-19 Care
  • 'Going on a Bear Hunt' Makes Life Bearable During COVID-19
  • Updated Map of School Closures
  • Students Deprived Of Crucial Special Ed Services Due To Closures
  • As Schools Close to Coronavirus, Special Educators Turn to Tele-Therapy
PediaStaff News and Hot Jobs - WE ARE HIRING NOW!

PediaStaff is interviewing now!.  For 14 years, our trusted clients have looked to PediaStaff to help them serve special needs children.  When schools, clinics and EI providers reopen, they will rely on us more than ever to get services kick-started.

With that in mind, please consider the following (anticipated) opening we are currently looking to fill with a quality therapist like you:
  • Hot, New Jobs! Pediatric Occupational Therapist - OT - Madison, IN
  • Hot New Job! Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist - San Antonio, TX
  • Hot, New Jobs! Elementary Special Education Teacher - Chicago, IL
Therapy Activities, Tips and Resources
  • Kids Are Loving the New Handwashing Song by Baby Shark
  • 25 Quarantine Activities for Toddlers from No Time for Flashcards
  • Distance Learning Planning Sheet for Therapists and Teachers
  • It's Autism Awareness Month! Let's Celebrate Neurodiversity, Even if It's Virtually!
Articles and Special Features 
  • NEW ISSUE:  Teaching and Therapy Resources for Homebound Families
  • Autism Corner: Coping with COVID-19 Disruptions (Video)
  • OT/PT Corner: Therapy Ideas for Telehealth
  • Special Ed Corner: Tips for Parents Turned Homeschool SpEd Teachers
  • School Psych Corner: How to Teach Social-Emotional Learning When Students Aren't in School
  • SLP Corner: 10 Ways Children With Language Disorders Can Maintain Both Physical Distance and Social Connection
Feel free to contact us with any questions about our openings or items in these pages. Have you discovered our RSS feed? Click on the orange button below to subscribe to all our openings and have them delivered to your Feed Reader!  Don't have an RSS Feed Reader set up? Sign up at Blogtrottr and have our blog posts delivered right to your email.

Have a great weekend and Take Care!

Heidi Kay and the PediaStaff Team
8

The Career Center

The links to the right are "live" and reflect the most recent SLP, OT, PT and related assistant jobs, and ALL our Bilingual and School Psychology Jobs. 
Girl
To further narrow your search by state,
setting, bilingual, or term, use the
check boxes drop down menus.

If a particular search is returning
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you with that selection criteria.

To see ALL our openings
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Recent Occupational Therapist and COTA Jobs 

Trump Admin. Says Disability No Reason To Deny COVID-19 Care
[Source:  Disability Scoop]

The Trump administration is warning states and health care providers not to discriminate against people with disabilities as coronavirus spreads.

In a  bulletin issued Saturday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights said that the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and other laws prohibiting discrimination in federally-funded health programs remain in effect.

Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
'Going on a Bear Hunt' Makes Life Bearable During COVID-19
[Source:  USA Today]

Teddy Bears are appearing everywhere along streets made empty by coronavirus.   

And they're fair game for bored kids turned hunters.

The stuffed animals are appearing in windows around the world in global "Teddy Bear Hunts" for children - uniting neighborhoods and giving children an exciting, social-distancing-safe scavenger hunt activity during coronavirus lockdowns.

Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
Updated Map of School Closures
Editor's Note:  We are very grateful to Education Week for their Coronavirus in Education coverage.  Here is an updated map of school closures as of March 30th.

[Source:  Education Week]

Currently, we are updating this page at least once a day on weekdays and at least once on the weekends.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced widespread school closures in the United States in an unprecedented disruption of K-12 schooling.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
Students Deprived Of Crucial Special Ed Services Due To Closures
[Source: The Los Angeles Times]

Nine-year-old Trevor de la Torre was home with a migraine when his parents got word that his school was closing in response to the coronavirus emergency - and his critically needed hands-on therapies would effectively stop, too.

His one-on-one reading specialist, gone. His speech therapy, gone. His occupational therapist who is teaching him how to write letters, gone. His one-on-one classroom aide is no longer by his side to help him understand assignments and break down lessons into more manageable parts.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
As Schools Close to Coronavirus, Special Educators Turn to Tele-Therapy
As students with learning disabilities enter distance learning environments, a tangled patchwork of state regulations, a lack of therapist training, and limited access to high-speed internet threatens to limit their access to key services that help them speak, move, and acquire skills for daily living.
The sudden shift to online learning going on across the country to tamp down the spread of the coronavirus will, at best, place new burdens on children with disabilities and their families-and, at worst, lead to extended disruptions in services such as speech,

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
PediaStaff is searching for a Pediatric Occupational Therapist for a clinic about an hour north of Louisville, KY.  This is a wonderful historic town with a low cost of living and a high quality of life.

* Start part-time for now, and move to full-time in June 2020
* As a Pediatric Occupational Therapist you'll work kids aged birth to 18 years
* You'll appreciate the variety here, providing clinic-based services, EI in children's homes, and school visits during the school year
* A major part of your position will involve sens

Learn About / Apply for This Job on our Blog
PediaStaff is searching for Texas licensed CCC-SLP to start work ASAP!

*  School-based and home health are both available
*  Your Choice of a Full-time position with benefits or part-time
*  You'll be employed by a local provider in San Antonio with a large, supportive, collaborative team of SLPs and other therapists
What about pay and benefits?
*  Competitive pay based on your experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist, extra pay for bilingual skills, evals, supervision
*  Benefits package that will meet your needs but not break the bank

Learn About / Apply for This Job on our Blog
Would you like to work in a unique school as a Special Education Teacher that offers a unique curricular approach to learning?  If so, then we have a great opportunity for you! We are looking for LBS1 Special Education teachers to work with a K-8th-grade population in a school in Chicago! You will work alongside an excellent teaching team for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.

*  You will begin as soon as possible and work through June 15, 2020
*  You will work Monday - Friday from 8:00 am - 4: 00 pm

Learn About / Apply for This Job on our Blog
Kids Are Loving the New Handwashing Song by Baby Shark
[Source: Kids Activities.com]

Parents may already know that the Baby Shark song is the perfect tool to help your kids learn how to wash their hands properly, and right now, it's even more important to make sure kids know exactly how to do that.

Singing the chorus of Baby Shark  helps kids time the 20 seconds they need to thoroughly wash their hands according to the CDC guidelines, and now Baby Shark has added a video to help your kids remember all the steps, sung to the tune of the biggest hit!

Learn More About this Activity Through a Link on our Blog
25 Quarantine Activities for Toddlers from No Time for Flashcards
[No Time for Flashcards]

In this list of 25 activities for toddlers in quarantine, you will find some super simple ideas, and you will find some pretty elaborate ones. I wanted to share both extremes because people need quick ideas to engage their little ones, as well as big projects to work on themselves. 

When my children (who you will see in all these posts) were toddlers prepping these projects helped me feel busy and made my long days at home with small children a little brighter.  Life is weird right now, adults are stressed, friends and families are separated, and you may even be dealing with serious health issues. I hope 

Read More About this Activity Through a Link on our Blog
Distance Learning Planning Sheet for Therapists and Teachers
[Source:  Your Therapy Source]

f your school is starting distance learning, this planning sheet for therapists, teachers and school staff will come in handy. You can download the distance learning planning sheet at the  bottom of this post for free in Word (so you can edit it) and PDF.

Download this Freebie Through a Link on our Blog
It's Autism Awareness Month! Celebrate Neurodiversity, Virtually!
Its April.   That means its Autism Awareness Month.  Tomorrow, April 2nd, is World Autism Day.

Unfortunately, our skies and windows won't be lit up nearly as blue this year.  From coast to coast and sea to sea, people are sheltered at home, while we navigate this "thing called COVID-19.

And just as tens of thousands of other events have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely, the annual celebration of neurodiversity as it presents as Autism has been bumped out of newspapers, social media and news feeds.

Download this Freebie Through a Link on our Blog
New Issue! Teaching & Therapy Resources for Homebound Families
Welcome to our second installment of Teaching & Therapy Resources for Homebound Families from PediaStaff.

We are living in a strange time now, aren't we?  Yet, with all the negative news and confusion, it's amazing to witness everyone pitching in to navigate this unprecedented era in modern history.  As parents, teachers and therapists, we have own own very special job: To make sure our children now develop the skills at home, that we have relied in days past, for them to learn at school.


Autism Corner: COVID-19 Information and Resources
[Source:  Autism Speaks]

The situation around the current spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is changing rapidly, so make sure you stay informed by visiting the  CDC's information page regularly.
As Autism Speaks continues to monitor the evolving situation, our sincere hope is that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy.

We understand that many people with autism and their families are being directly impacted, seeing disruptions in services and coping with the uncertainty of what comes next. We want to share some resources and information that may help you at this time. This page will be updated regularly as new content is developed.


OT/PT Corner: Therapy Ideas for Telehealth
[Source:  The Inspired Treehouse]

It's crazy how quickly things can change.  One week, it's business as usual:

-last minute notifications about the IEP meeting (tomorrow)
-that one kid who had to go to the bathroom 3 X during our 30 minute treatment session
-oodles of paperwork that will seemingly never get done


SpEd Corner: Tips for Parents Turned Homeschool SpEd Teachers
[Source:  The Autism Helper]

Imagine starting a brand new job. One that is technically complicated and requires a depth of knowledge and understanding that you do not yet possess. Also- you will not have a supervisor, or training before you start. Did I mention you possess no credentials or certifications in this area either?

This is the reality for most of us parents turned Special Education Teacher overnight. (Thanks Coronavirus, you really shouldn't have). I joke that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides students with disabilities a, "Highly Qualified Teacher." Ummm,

School Psych Corner: Teaching SEL When Students Aren't in School
[Source:  Education Week]

Tens of millions of students are dealing with massive upheaval to their educations and daily lives with their schools shuttered indefinitely to thwart the spread of the coronavirus.
Add to that fears over a pandemic that could sicken them or loved ones, students now more than ever need strong coping skills to adjust to this new reality that will likely, for many, extend through the end of the school year and beyond.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog
SLP Corner:   10 Ways Children With Language Disorders Can Maintain Both Physical Distance and Social Connection
[Source: The ASHA Leader Blog]

Social distancing-or more accurately, physical distancing-is now our way of life. As difficult as it is, it's our new normal,   at least for the short term  Even with physical distance, we find ways to connect socially. We call or use video chats to stay in touch with friends and family, email jokes or stories, and post on social media. Other community activities continue virtually: worship services, fitness classes, concerts, and more. We discover ways to maintain social distance without losing social connections.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog

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