Elizabeth (Beth) Diedrick will serve as a statewide
"ambassador" to spearhead use of the DEC Recommended Practices for
the care and education of young children with disabilities. Mrs. Diedrick, a
Doctoral Candidate at the University of Toledo and a full-time preschool
itinerant intervention specialist, is among 22 newly selected aPRy Ambassadors
chosen to bring awareness and support to the dissemination and use of the DEC
Recommended Practices (RPs) and the associated resources and tools.
Ambassadors now reside in 24 states.
Beth says, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work to expand the use of the DEC RPs throughout the state of Ohio with the support of the ECTA Center, DEC, and PTAC. The Recommended Practices are central to improving outcomes for young children who have or are at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. The aRPy products help make the RPs more accessible for families and practitioners and I look forward to collaborating with this amazing group to develop even more tools.”
The aRPy Ambassador Initiative represents a unique
partnership between the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) at
the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, the Division for Early
Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children and the Region B Parent
Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at Parent to Parent of Georgia. The partners
contributed to the processes of selecting, preparing and supporting
professionals from across the country who act as aRPy Ambassadors.
Through a cooperative agreement with the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education, the ECTA Center developed a suite of free resources and videos – starring the animated spokesperson 'aRPy' for whom the project is named – to help practitioners and families apply these recommended practices to developmental interventions in everyday routines and settings involving children and families.
The ambassadors form an international cohort with knowledge
of evidence-based practices, professional development and training, and their
state's early childhood services and practitioner networks. Not only will
ambassadors collaborate with one another to develop and share strategies and
resources, but each will develop and implement goals aimed at improving
outcomes for young children and their families.
2016's inaugural group of ambassadors were instrumental in
helping to design, document, and make recommendations for supporting this new
group of ambassadors to disseminate materials nationally.
The group will meet in person with ECTA in April 2020 to
receive training and support, including a toolkit to use in their activities.
Beth and her fellow "aRPy Ambassadors" are
professionals from a variety of organizations, including OSEP funded Parent
Training Information Centers, state agencies and universities, who are working
on behalf of children with disabilities birth through age 5 under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.