Social and Personal Competencies (SPC)

Vanderbilt’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders’ (TRIAD) Social and Personal Competencies (SPC) services support the social engagement of all students through learning opportunities designed to refine and expand the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and practices of educators, families, and students. SPC provides learning opportunities that are grounded in research, easily accessible, and customizable. Learning opportunities span from brief videos and tips sheets to individually-curated online courses with continuous, collaborative coaching support.

Training Topics:

TRIAD’s SPC topics for educators, caregivers, community providers, and students include:

Social learning classroom and school-wide practices

Multi-tiered instruction and intervention related to social skills, emotional processes, and executive functioning skills
SPC practices to support positive school climate

Trauma-informed classroom practices
Mental Health Literacy
Autism and Mental Health
- Understanding ASD and common co-occurring mental health concerns
- Emotional hygiene - daily habits to support mental health and wellbeing
- Relationships and sexuality
- Self-advocacy in the school, workplace, and community settings
Mindfulness-based practices for educators, caregivers, and students

SPC Service Options including Descriptions, Participant Requirements, Training Topics, and Format:

Online Resources

Free access videos, tip sheets, and brief online modules designed to refine and expand awareness, skills, attitudes, and practices related to social emotional learning and mental health of all students, including autistic and neurodivergent students.

Learn more here

SPC Cooperative ▼

SPC Cooperative will be open to school teams across the State of TN who want to design, implement, and monitor a Tier 2 SPC intervention targeting students’ cognitive regulation/executive functioning skills, emotional processes, or social/interpersonal skills.

Workshop Format	SPC Cooperative will provide online learning tools, remote coaching, and virtual professional learning community meetings to school teams throughout the school year. Core content will be covered through the viewing of an online course that includes 6 Brief Online Trainings (BOTs) at a schedule determined by the school team, together with their TRIAD consultant. In addition to the BOTs, teams will receive up to 1 hour of monthly coaching support from a TRIAD consultant that will start the month of enrollment in the Cooperative and will end in May of that school year. School teams will participate in a monthly virtual professional learning community for each month they are enrolled in the Cooperative.
Participant Requirements	Building-level principal Intervention coordinator (school counselor, school social worker); Intervention Facilitator(s) (SLP, teacher, school psych) A structured screening process/interview, signed consent forms, and signed participant agreement will be required by each team member prior to participation in the Cooperative Participants should have access and be able to use Zoom technology Each team member will receive a certificate of participation documenting the number of hours engaged in the coaching process
Training Topics	Content covered in the 6 brief online training modules will include: Introduction/Overview of MTSS and SPCs Program Logistics Identifying Students Determining your Curriculum Implementing Intervention Progress Monitoring
Proof of Attendance	Participants will receive certificates documenting their participation in SPC Cooperative and the number of hours of professional development completed.

SPC Partnerships ▼

SPC Partnerships will provide individualized remote professional development and coaching support to educators and school teams. These partnerships will be designed to refine and expand knowledge and implementation of SPC strategies for students. Each participant will receive a certificate of completion documenting his/her participation in the SPC partnership.

SPC Webinar ▼

Are you looking for FREE, CONVENIENT Professional Development focused on supporting students’ SOCIAL and PERSONAL COMPETENCIES?

This 60-minute free interactive webinar is presented by Vanderbilt Kennedy Center TRIAD. Attendees will receive 1 hour of CE credit and a certificate of completion. The webinar will focus on the following:

Understanding social and personal competencies as they relate to the developmental differences in children with autism
Learning practical ways to support your students’ social and personal competencies
Accessing free tools and resources

Register for one of the following dates (CST):

For questions related to webinar content, please contact Verity Rodrigues (verity.rodrigues@vumc.org).

For technical issues related to accessing this webinar, please contact Sarah Blumberg (sarah.blumberg@vumc.org)

Slides

Supplemental Materials

To learn more, click here

This workshop is sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Education and is available to LEAs in Tennessee at no-cost to participants.

Please note: Due to the ever changing reality of COVID-19, TRIAD services are subject to change in terms of service delivery. We are committed to continuing to provide the highest level of coaching and support possible during these uncertain times for the entirety 2021-2022 school year as educators navigate serving students in a variety of settings.

TRIAD Educational Services (Pre-K to 12)

Interactive training and consultation for administrators, teachers, paraeducators, school psychologists, and other professionals serving Tennessee students in Pre-K to 12 school settings. Browse training opportunities for educators 2021-2022.