Presenter : Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Webinar Available From/To: February 1 – 28, 2021
Registration/Purchase Fee: $25
10 Steps to RESTARTING a Travel Training Program amid COVID will provide suggestions and promising practices on restarting a travel training that has been put on hold because of the current pandemic. Easterseals Project Action Consulting staff will provide you, your agency and/or your community a step-by-step recommended process to restart your travel training program that will allow you to resume increasing the choices for independent travel of those with disabilities in your community while protecting the health and safety of your trainers and trainees.
Presenter : Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Webinar Available From/To: March 1 – 31, 2021
Registration/Purchase Fee: $25
10 Steps to Starting a Travel Training Program amid COVID will provide the steps essential to developing a successful travel training program amid the current pandemic. Easterseals Project Action Consulting staff will provide you, your agency and/or your community a step-by-step process to starting a travel training program that will increase the choices for independent travel of those with disabilities in your community even in the current climate. In addition to increasing transit options for people with disabilities, older adults, and others in your community, the creation of the travel training program will assist in allowing persons with disabilities to travel on the least restrictive (and most often, least expensive) transit option, thus offering the highest level of independent mobility for people with disabilities. A bonus result is that this solution can also save your agency/community funds and allow for additional services to be provided elsewhere.
Presenter : Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Webinar Available From/To: April 1 – 30, 2021
Registration/Purchase Fee: $25
Determining Conditional Eligibility for ADA Complementary Paratransit addresses the very complex assessment of a person’s ADA eligibility when the applicant is functionally able to take the fixed route for some of his trips. Topics to be covered include developing a better understanding of disabilities and functional abilities; determining eligibility for persons with vision impairment; guidance for conducting in-person interviews and obtaining follow-up information from professionals; guidance for conducting physical functional assessments; and best practices in making “difficult” eligibility decisions.
Instructor: Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Start Date: April 1, 2021
End Date: May 31, 2021
Registration Fee: $150
This online training course is designed for ADA complementary paratransit managers who are new to the field. Content highlights the history of the the disability movement, paratransit eligibility, human resources management, key considerations in paratransit operations, and the basics in financial management that all paratransit managers need to know.
Instructor : Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Registration Fee: $200
Course Start Date: April 1, 2021
Course End Date: June 18, 2021
Introduction to Travel Training is a comprehensive online course with hands-on, field activities. Participants will have the option of receiving a workbook and/or all materials electronically and will have access to a collection of useful electronic resources ready to use once they complete the course. The course consists of ten modules and covers strategies for training on rail systems and in rural communities in addition to the traditional fixed-route bus material.
Presenter : Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Webinar Available From/To: April 1 – 30, 2021
Registration/Purchase Fee: $25
Travel Training Assessments: Determining Student Competency addresses skills trainees should have prior to beginning a travel training program or working with a travel trainer. Learners will learn how to use the assessment process and other respectful methods to collect information in order to develop an understanding of a trainee’s baseline skills. Travel trainers must first determine baseline competency information and then develop a travel instruction plan to help the trainee work toward their independent travel goals. This webinar will address the methods by which a trainer can accomplish these tasks.
Presenter : Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Webinar Available From/To: May 1 – 31, 2021
Registration/Purchase Fee: $25
Best Practices in Travel Training Assessments addresses the role of the assessment as the foundation in one-on-one travel instruction, as well as the methods that travel trainers can use to respectfully and thoroughly assess a prospective trainee’s skills and independent travel goals and needs. Learners will become versed in how to develop and enhance intake and assessment forms and will practice multiple trainee assessment strategies. This webinar also addresses the importance of developing assessments that thoughtfully consider topics such as community safety and fears related to travel training, path of travel barriers, disability information and trip planning.
Presenter : Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Webinar Available From/To: May 1 – 31, 2021
Registration/Purchase Fee: $25
Implementing Conditional Eligibility for ADA Complementary Paratransit will address how to schedule trips based on a person’s conditional eligibility for ADA Complementary Paratransit. Once the determination has been made that a person can ride fixed-route transit for some, but not all, of his/her trips and conditions are placed on his eligibility to take ADA Complementary Paratransit, then the complex process of implementing these eligibility conditions begins. Topics in this session will include tracking riders’ conditions analyzing individual trips, determining eligibility for conditions that regularly change (i.e. weather-related occurrences) and best practices in implementing conditional eligibility.
Instructor: Kristi McLaughlin (ESPAC Consultant) and Kelly Krispinski (COMS, Travel Trainer, and ESPAC Consultant)
Start Date: June 1, 2021
End Date: June 30, 2021
Registration Fee: $100
This online training course is designed for Orientation & Mobility Specialists who want to learn more or are interested in becoming travel trainers. The content is focused on the AER O&M Position Paper on O&M Specialist and the Provision of Travel Instruction for Individuals with Nonvisual Disabilities. This is Part 1 of 2 of the course and will focus on the following:
Module 1: The medical and functional aspects of persons with intellectual, physical, perceptual, and learning disabilities, as well as persons with psychological disorders, autism, traumatic brain injury, and attention deficit disorder.
Module 2: The use of mobility-related devices, such as wheelchairs, walkers, support canes, scooters, etc. and proper methods for device use on lifts/ramps and securements on public transit vehicles.
This course is not limited to O&M Specialists, but has been developed for this specific audience.
Presenter : Kristi McLaughlin, ESPAC Consultant
Webinar Available From/To: July 1 – 31, 2021
Registration/Purchase Fee: $25
ADA Complementary Paratransit Appeals Process Requirements addresses the requirements under the ADA with regards to paratransit appeals, including eligibility decisions, no shows, and suspensions. Topics to be covered include what decisions carry the right of the applicant/passenger to appeal, separation of function, who should determine appeals, length of time to make an appeal determination, if and when presumptive eligibility goes into effect, and requirements on how the applicant/passenger should be notified of the final decision of the appeal.