INSAIL 2026: Full Schedule

1:30pm EDT

Monday September 14, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT

Session Description:
Learning doesn’t have to feel like work! Games can be a powerful tool for engaging students while building meaningful skills in a fun and motivating way. This session will explore how educators can use games to target self-advocacy, language development, and vocabulary within individual and small-group sessions.

Participants will discover practical strategies for turning familiar games and simple activities into purposeful learning opportunities. We will explore ways to adapt games to meet individual student needs, encourage communication and interaction, reinforce new vocabulary, and practice self-advocacy skills—all while keeping students engaged and having fun.

Walk away with ready-to-use game ideas, adaptations, and strategies that can easily be incorporated into sessions. Whether you are working with students individually or in a group, this session will help you transform game time into meaningful learning experiences that students will look forward to!

Session Abstract:
Games are more than just a way to have fun—they can be powerful tools for creating meaningful learning opportunities. This interactive session will explore how educators can use common games to support self-advocacy, language development, and vocabulary, while increasing student engagement and motivation.

Participants will learn practical strategies for transforming familiar games into purposeful learning activities that can be adapted to individual student needs and instructional goals. The session will highlight ways to incorporate games into individual and small-group sessions to encourage communication, build vocabulary, practice self-advocacy skills, and promote meaningful interactions.

Participants will have hands-on opportunities to explore common games, collaborate with colleagues, and brainstorm creative new ways to use them for instruction. Together, participants will discover how a simple game can be transformed into multiple learning opportunities with a little creativity and intentional planning.

Whether you are looking for fresh ideas to engage students or new ways to target specific skills, this session will provide practical, adaptable strategies to help make learning more fun, meaningful, and memorable.

Session Goals:

Identify ways to use common games to target self-advocacy, language development, and vocabulary.
Collaborate and create new ways to adapt familiar games into meaningful, goal-oriented learning activities that can be used in individual or small-group sessions.
Apply game-based learning strategies to increase student engagement, communication, and participation while making instructional sessions more fun and meaningful.

Speakers

Kim Yenerich

DHH Connections LLC

Kim Yenerich is a Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing located in Lafayette, IN. She graduated from Illinois State University in 2004 with a BS in Deaf Education. She has worked as an Itinerant Teacher for over 15 years. She also dabbled in First Steps for a few years as a Parent Advisor... Read More →

Monday September 14, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
502 East Event Centre 502 E Carmel Dr, Carmel, IN 46032, USA

BLV and DHH

3:00pm EDT

Tips and Tricks to Stay Organized

Monday September 14, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT

502 East Event Centre

Speakers

Kim Yenerich

DHH Connections LLC

Monday September 14, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
502 East Event Centre 502 E Carmel Dr, Carmel, IN 46032, USA

BLV and DHH

9:45am EDT

From Function to Support: Behavior Strategies for Diverse Sensory Learners

Tuesday September 15, 2026 9:45am - 10:45am EDT

502 East Event Centre

Session Description:
Students with sensory and neurodevelopmental differences may communicate behavior in unique ways. This session explores practical, function-based strategies to assess, interpret, and support behavior across diverse learning needs using evidence-based, school-friendly approaches that promote access, regulation, and meaningful skill development.

Session Abstract:
Students with sensory and neurodevelopmental differences often communicate needs, stress, and skill deficits through behavior. Educators and service providers must be prepared to interpret behavior within the context of communication access, sensory processing, and environmental demands. This session explores how to apply function-based behavior assessment and intervention strategies to support diverse sensory learners in educational settings.

Participants will review how to identify the function of behavior while considering factors such as communication modality, access barriers, sensory regulation, trauma history, and skill acquisition needs. The presentation will highlight practical adaptations to traditional behavior frameworks, including modifying Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA), aligning supports with communication systems, and embedding proactive antecedent strategies that increase predictability and engagement.

Attendees will leave with concrete, school-friendly tools to design individualized supports that prioritize dignity, autonomy, and meaningful participation. Emphasis will be placed on replacing reactive discipline with preventative, skill-based approaches that build regulation, communication, and independence.

This session is ideal for educators, related service providers, behavior specialists, and administrators seeking to strengthen behavior support practices for students with complex sensory and developmental profiles.

Session Goals:

Participants will identify at least three variables that influence behavior in students with sensory and neurodevelopmental differences (e.g., communication access, sensory processing, environmental demands) when given case examples.
Participants will describe the four primary functions of behavior and apply function-based reasoning to at least one presented scenario during guided practice or discussion.
Participants will develop one function-based, preventative behavior support strategy aligned to a student case example that includes an antecedent support and a replacement skill.

Speakers

Kelli Spires

Special Education Administrator, Center Grove Community Schools

Kelli Spires is a dedicated education professional serving as the Program Support Teacher for Center Grove Community School Corporation. She holds a Master’s degree in Special Education and brings extensive experience supporting students with diverse learning and behavioral needs... Read More →

Erica Bushnell, MA, BCBA, LBA

Center Grove Community Schools

Erica Bushnell is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with 14 years of experience in the field of applied behavior analysis. She specializes in school-based services, supporting students with autism and other developmental differences through practical, data-driven, and collaborative... Read More →

Tuesday September 15, 2026 9:45am - 10:45am EDT
502 East Event Centre 502 E Carmel Dr, Carmel, IN 46032, USA

BLV and DHH

1:00pm EDT

Thinking About Thinking: Why Theory of Mind Matters

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT

502 East Event Centre

Session Description:
Understanding how students think about thoughts matters for language and learning. This session explores why Theory of Mind is foundational to language development, literacy, and classroom learning for all students. Teachers will gain practical ideas for embedding Theory of Mind support into daily academic instruction.

Session Abstract:
Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to understand that others have thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and perspectives that may differ from one's own. This capacity is foundational to language development, narrative comprehension, reading, classroom discourse, and academic learning. Differences in language access, sensory experiences, and incidental learning can influence how ToM develops and how social-cognitive skills are expressed in educational settings.

This session provides teachers with essential, practical foundations in ToM and its role in supporting language and academic outcomes. Participants will explore key ToM concepts, typical developmental progressions, and the instructional conditions that support social understanding across early childhood and school-age classrooms. Emphasis is placed on how ToM connects to vocabulary growth, comprehension of classroom language, literacy tasks such as inference and perspective-taking, and student engagement in collaborative learning.

By increasing teachers' understanding of ToM as a core component of learning, this session aims to strengthen instructional decision-making and support language-rich educational environments for students.

Session Goals:

Participants will be able to define Theory of Mind and identify at least three ways it supports language development for academic learning for students.
Participants will be able to describe two instructional factors that influence Theory of Mind development in students.
Participants will be able to select and apply at least two classroom strategies for embedding Theory of Mind support into everyday instruction, routines, or academic activities.

Speakers

Jacqueline Hall-Katter

Speech-Language Pathologist, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions

Jacqueline D. Hall-Katter received her master’s degree from Purdue University in 1992. She has worked exclusively with deaf and hard of hearing children since 1997, first at the Indiana School for the Deaf before transitioning full time to the Center in 2016. As the Center full... Read More →

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
502 East Event Centre 502 E Carmel Dr, Carmel, IN 46032, USA

BLV and DHH

INSAIL 2026

1:30pm EDT

Kim Yenerich

3:00pm EDT

Kim Yenerich

9:45am EDT

Kelli Spires

Erica Bushnell, MA, BCBA, LBA

1:00pm EDT

Jacqueline Hall-Katter

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