OCALI Highlights

Learning Hub

Are you looking for accessible, on-demand learning and PD with CEUs? The Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness is excited to share the updated online Learning Hub! Create a free account, search for topics of interest, and access flexible FREE learning, while earning CEUs. Start your journey today!

Family Survey

Still Time to Share Your Voice. Every family’s autism journey is unique, and your voice can shape the future of support. Share what matters most to your family and help build better supports, resources, and trainings that make a difference.

Navigation Essentials

Unlock the power of Navigation Essentials! This comprehensive online resource promotes collaboration and consistent strategies for supporting youth with IDD and behavioral health needs. Explore this one-stop resource today.

Early Development and Learning Specialist (Southeast Ohio)

Are you a professional in SE Ohio with experience working in early child care settings AND providing coaching to other educators in the field? We’re hiring an Early Development and Learning Specialist to collaborate with cross-agency professionals, while conducting trainings and community outreach.

Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS)

Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) are designed for students with disabilities, as early as age 14, who could benefit from an early start exploring career interests, building advocacy skills, and understanding postsecondary opportunities. The curriculum is tailored to meet the diverse needs of all students with disabilities and includes activities, worksheets, interactive opportunities, and more. Explore now!

Outreach Center Community of Practice

Educators and service providers supporting students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or visually impaired are invited to connect, share strategies, and tackle challenges together. Register and submit a Problem of Practice.

Now Hiring - Family Support Specialist (Mahoning Valley)

Are you a parent of a child with a disability? We are hiring a part-time Family Support Specialist (FSS) in Mahoning Valley to serve as a peer mentor, helping families with young children connect with early identification services.

Navigating Autism Assessment

Choose your door. Begin your journey. Explore information designed to gently guide you toward greater understanding of autism assessment.

Supporting Parents with Intellectual Disabilities

This FREE new resource for Early Childhood professionals covers the unique challenges these parents face, and the federal and state law regarding the rights of parents with intellectual disabilities.

AT Resource Guide

The AT Resource Guide provides an overview of AT, goes through the consideration and assessment processes, discusses various funding options, and outlines how to document AT in an IEP. It helps Ohio educational teams understand their obligations to provide AT to students with disabilities.

NEW! PBIS Modules

Announcing a new comprehensive set of PBIS modules - the Tier 1 Schoolwide Module Series! Click to explore!

AT Consideration

Are you unsure IF your student or child needs assistive technology or accessible formats? The AT Decision-Making Tool (ATDMT) is for you! Watch the new overview video or complete the fillable PDF.

AT Professional Development

Although the BEST Grant has ended, the journey continues! We are forging ahead with new training opportunities this June with more to come, supported by DEW and driven by our shared commitment to Assistive Technology and Accessible Educational Materials.

10-Minute Takes

Ever wish you could learn something new in the time it takes to sip your coffee? These bite-sized microlearning modules offer practical tips for anyone supporting individuals with autism or other disabilities.

NCADEMI and OCALI

OCALI's Assistive Technology and Accessible Educational Materials Center will be working with the National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials and Instruction to improve the accessibility of digital educational materials and instruction for learners with disabilities from toddlers to high school students.

Unlocking the Foundations of Reading

This module series is designed to provide educators with the tools they need to implement reading instruction for all deaf or hard of hearing learners. CEUs are available.

OCALI Family Support Specialists

The Center for The Young Child has launched the Family Support Specialists program for parents of young children starting out on their early intervention journey.

How to Video Gallery

These quick videos showcase simple tips, adapted materials and strategies that demonstrate how easy it is to get started supporting diverse students in any subject area, any grade-level, and any classroom.

TODs and TVIs

Interested in becoming a teacher of the deaf (TOD) or Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI)? Watch the video about becoming a teacher and explore accredited college/university preparation programs.

Access + Belonging = Community

Providing a welcoming, safe, accessible environment for all members of your community, including those with disabilities and neurodivergence, is not just the right thing to do.

ATIM Speech Recognition as AT for Writing

Is your student interested in using their voice to type? Learn about a simple four-step process, "Think It, Say It, Check It, Fix It" to implement speech recognition as assistive technology for writing.

Early Childhood PBIS Training

The PBIS and Young Learners module series is now available! Administrators, classroom personnel, family members and other community members can learn more about developing PBIS Leadership Teams.

New SIFTS Vision Domain

Use the SIFTS Vision Domain to support feature-matching in AT assessments for low vision and blindness, covering needs in a variety of areas.

Universal Access Module Series

Do you want to learn how to provide meaningful inclusion in your child care or preschool setting? Check out the Universal Access Module Series, a self-paced Early Childhood series.

HAT Devices

Calling all educational audiologists and teachers of the deaf! Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT) devices are now available to borrow for FREE! These devices can provide greater access to learners who need additional hearing support.

Establishing Families as Partners

Are you looking to boost your team's knowledge and capacity for family engagement? Sign up for your cross-agency training this fall!

Connecting the Dots Podcast

Join us for the debut episode of Connecting the Dots, a new podcast series from the Autism Center at OCALI, aimed at raising awareness about autism and empowering communities. Check out the latest episode!

Traveling Through Transition

Whether you're new to transition planning or looking for additional resources to navigate to a specific adult life vision, Traveling Through Transition will help a student, family, educator and education team.

The Reading Brain: Before and After Brain Injury

Reading is an essential component in today's society. Many people who sustain a brain injury experience deficits in reading that make it difficult and frustrating to adapt to their new normal.

Obtaining AEM

It's not too soon to start thinking about next school year. What materials will your students need and how can the AT&AEM Center help you obtain accessible formats?

Ensuring Access to the General Curriculum for All Learners

Teachers and professionals are thrilled about this FREE video-based series! Create your free account and explore research-based strategies that are designed to ensure ALL learners have access to the general curriculum.

Grab and Go Resources: Behavior Cue Cards

Do you need resources for your staff? Print and share these cards so they know how to respond to a student at different levels of emotion and regulation to avoid escalating behaviors.

OCALI Resource Gallery Crosswalk

Looking for professional learning, tech assistance, evidence-based practices, or implementation supports to enhance experiences and outcomes for all learners? Check out OCALI’s NEW Resource Crosswalk.

New Podcast Episode

Take an audio journey with OCALI through our forum of stories and connections from our ongoing work of inspiring change and promoting access for people with disabilities.

Support Access to Learning with Curriculum Kits

Curriculum kits are available for free to anyone in Ohio with a Lending Library account. Whether you're looking for specific subjects or topics, grades or age spans, there is a curriculum kit for you!

Age-Appropriate Transition Assessment Planning Guide

This guide introduces users to the planning process for transition assessment. It is important to intentionally plan for transition assessment to ensure we reduce duplication, build on a student's progress, and identify individualized assessment to build the youth's profile in relationship to those skills needed for their adult life goals.

Grab-n-Go Resource Gallery Kit

This kit, available through our Lending Library, offers a variety of interventions with how-to explanations to support all learners, including those with autism.

InspirED Episodes Now on YouTube!

Did you miss a session? Do you want to re-watch your favorite episodes? Check out the InspirED Playlists on our OCALI YouTube channel.

Children's Books on Autism

Discover books to use with children ages preschool through high school to learn more about autism.

It Starts With Families

This new guide supports local professionals serving individuals and their families to become familiar with the research around family engagement and understanding their unique needs.

First Concerns About Child Development and Learning (Ages 3-21): What Parents Need To Know

New Resources for families of young children.

Family Guide to Engagement

New Resources for families of young children.

Visual Supports

People with autism tend to have strengths in visual recognition and perception (Mayes & Calhoun, 2008; Meilleur, et al, 2014). Due to these strengths, visual supports, an evidence-based practice, help to make the world, including the environment, instructions, academics, social situations, emotional and behavioral interventions, more clear to an individual with autism. This AIM will explain what visual supports (VS) are, how to create them, and when and how to use them.