Throughout the school year, POPARD consultants visit school districts in British Columbia. While in your district consultants see individual students, consult with District Autism Teams regarding students, and/or provide workshops and in-service.

In order for students to be seen by the District Autism Team in conjunction with the POPARD consultant, a referral process must be followed by the school-based team and the District Partner for your school district.

Team Consultations

(applicable to those districts who have Low Incidence/Autism Support teams in place)

Applications for Team Consultations will include:

Generic application form signed by a parent, Principal, District Administrator and/or District Partner; Distribution of Reports form signed by a parent in order for information to be released; permission for receipt and release of information; needs analysis completed by the school team and a medical report or psycho-educational report providing the specific diagnosis that would place that student in the low incidence categories. The District Partner arranges for a location suitable to meet the needs of the team members and the POPARD consultant. Staff representing each student discussed are required to bring information on the student they are concerned about. All team members are required to complete a needs analysis prior to discussion. If this form has not been completed prior to the team consultation visit, the first half hour of the meeting is designated for that purpose.

The information presented to facilitate discussion on specific students generally includes some or all of the following:

• Student's age, classroom location, staff support
• Student's current communication system
• Sensory disturbances noted
• Student's strengths and weaknesses
• Student's likes and dislikes
• Medical issues that may have an impact on the student's behaviour (allergies, seizure disorder, medication, etc.)
• Behaviours of concern and current intervention methods
• Issues of concern to the team regarding the student's educational program
• The District Partner or alternate takes minutes and completes the team consultation/Site Summary Report on each student discussed during the team consultation visit. Depending upon the teams involved and the complexity of the issues, approximately two to six students can be reviewed each day.