Regional Autism Consultants

What is the Regional Autism Consultant Technical Assistance System?

The challenges faced by today's educators often exceed the capacity of the current system of supports available in most districts. To better meet the needs of educators to provide quality instruction to a broad range of student needs, KISN seeks to help districts build a coherent, seamless System of support.

Regional Autism Consultant Technical Assistance is:

• Available at any time during the year, including the summer (ESY)
• Provided by experienced teachers and other professionals
• Available statewide from a geographically diverse network of Regional Autism Consultants
• Offered on-site at your school/job site for your student in consultation with your colleagues
• Free to any public school in Kansas

Requesting Technical Assistance

Any public school can request assistance for an individual qualifying student, a group of students, or for a specific program feature, once they've exhausted their local resources (e.g., local Autism Interdisciplinary Team members). Simply complete the brief Request for Technical Assistance form by clicking on the tab, under "Secondary Links" labeled "Consultation" and we will contact you to schedule the consultation once the form is submitted.

After receiving the request, the KISN Coordinator will contact you with more information about the consultation process. Often technical assistance takes the form of a school visit, or series of visits, and includes practical coaching and hands-on demonstrations. Our goal is to match you to a consultant within two weeks of receiving a request.

KISN is a Title VI-B discretionary grant funded by the Kansas State Department of Education's Special Education Services and is administered by Keystone Learning Services.

The mission of the KISN is to support Kansas school districts in building local capacity to serve students with diverse learning needs through results based professional development training and technical assistance.

Meet the Regional Autism Consultants

Dixie Teeter

Dixie Teeter , M.S., CCC-SLP, completed her undergraduate and graduate work at Fort Hays State University with a degree in Speech-Language Pathology and a minor in Psychology. She has 13 years of experience working with a wide variety of students with communication difficulties. Currently, Dixie is a full time speech-language pathologist in Goodland, KS. She is employed with the Northwest Kansas Educational Service Center and also serves on their Interdisplinary Autism Team. Through her experiences as an instructor at Fort Hays State University , trainings through KISN, as well as course work in the Autism Program at the University of Kansas she has developed a strong interest in working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Dixie enjoys working with other professionals and familys in helping students with austism succeed at school and home. She has provided several trainings to other teachers, para-professionals and families on a wide variety of topics. Dixie has assisted in the development of a parent support group in Hays and has co-authored an article with Richard L. Simpson, Michael McKee, and Alyson Beytien that appeared in the Exceptionality Journal titled: "Evidence-Based Methods for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Stakeholder Issue and Perspectives".

Helen Miller

Helen Miller, M.A., CCC-SLP is the Autism Coordinator for USD #383 Manhattan-Ogden School District. She received her degree in Speech Language Pathology from Kansas State University and has over 20 years of experience working with children with a wide variety of speech and language needs. Helen has specialized in the developmental and learning challenges faced by students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. She currently provides training and guidance to school staff in their assessment and provision of research based interventions to students on the spectrum. She is particularly interested in the socio-communicative challenges of autism and in finding effective interventions that can be used both at school and at home.

Helen has presented on numerous topics, and is widely recognized as a terrific Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) coach. She received an M.S. in Teaching and Leadership from the University of Kansas as well as training in autism from KU and K-CART. Helen co-authored, along with Josefa Ben-Arieh, The Educator's Guide to Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders, (2009) Corwin Press. In 2009 she received the Kansas Council for Exceptional Children Special Educator of the Year Award.

Teresa McVey

Teresa McVey has an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education, a Masters degree in Special Education, Certification in Early Childhood Handicapped, and Early Childhood Education all from Emporia State University. Teresa was a Kansas Outreach participant from University of Kansas. It was a graduate program with emphasis in autism. Teresa has worked for the Institute of Logopedics (Heartspring), ANW Special Education Coop and Tri-County Special Education Coop #607 for a total of 23 years as an Early Childhood Special Education teacher and an autism consultant for the past 10 years.

She has worked with young children and adults on the autism spectrum, specializing in structured teaching, inclusion, challenging behaviors, and transition. Teresa has attended several levels of TEACCH training in North Carolina, and K-CART Autism Training Program at the University of Kansas. Teresa is an independent Autism Specialist for the autism waiver for the state of Kansas.

Kim Meyer

Kim Meyer earned her M.S. in Clinical Psychology in 1993, with an emphasis in M.R./D.D. and her Ed.S. in School Psychology in 1995 from Pittsburg State University. After graduating with her clinical psychology degree, Kim worked as a psychologist at Parsons State Hospital and Training Center in Parsons, Kansas and as a behavior consultant for the Joplin Regional Center (an agency of the Missouri Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities). Early in her career, Kim participated in an intensive training program in positive behavior support provided by Glen Dunlap and Lisa Fox. Kim has also attended multiple workshops taught by Thomas J. Willis of the Institute for Applied Behavior Analysis (IABA).

Kim has worked for 15 years as a school psychologist. She has served schools in Southeast Kansas, including several special day schools. She has also served as a coordinator of a special day school. Kim currently works as a school psychologist and autism consultant for SEK Interlocal in Pittsburg, Kansas. She is a certified CPI trainer and previously taught Mandt for 10 years. Kim's professional interest has been to establish or expand services in schools to enable students with severe, challenging behavior to be educated in their neighborhood school. Kim was awarded the School Psychologist of the Year in 2010 by the Kansas Association of School Psychologists.