Overview

As you know, SENIA was started by a group of international school teachers in China in 2002. The goal was to create a support network for teachers and other professionals working with children with special educational needs in Asia. Our round table discussions are a perfect way to continue that networking piece and to learn from each other.

Today I speak with Vanessa Weber and Kate Balsamo, both from International School Kuala Lumpur. All three of us work with students with moderate to severe needs and thought it would be helpful for us and hopefully others, to discuss what we’re doing in our virtual lessons and what we’ve learned about all of this along the way. And trust me, we’ve learned a lot!

Vanessa Weber | Learning Specialist |International School Kuala Lumpur

Vanessa Weber, M.Ed of Special Education, has spent the last 10 years internationally supporting students, ages 4-21, with a wide range of abilities. She is passionate about the power of student self-advocacy, life skills programming, and transitions. Vanessa is currently leading the Secondary Life-Centered Education program at the ISKL.

Kate Balsamo | Speech Language Pathologist |International School Kuala Lumpur

SENIA Board Chairperson

Kate Balsamo is a Speech-Language Pathologist with 9 years of experience working overseas at the International School of Kuala Lumpur. She holds a Master’s Degree in Communication Disorders and a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

She is on the executive board of the Special Education Network & Inclusion Association (SENIA) and is a founding member of the SENIA’s local chapter in Malaysia (SENIA Malaysia).

Helpful Links

Resources we use in our virtual teaching:

PreSchool

Wilson Reading

Social Thinking

Social Stories

Video lessons using Boardmaker

Free I spy activities – https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2018/01/free-dragon-i-spy-printable-for-kids.html

Ultimate SLP (2 week FREE Trial and then $12.95/month) – Language (compare/contrast, synonyms, following directions, sequencing, inference, categorization, prepositions, pronouns, wh- questions), Social (reading facial expressions and body language, idioms, social problems solving and social screen photos) Articulation games with therapy cards.