To promote cross-department and cross-agency collaboration, HELIX, the annual conference celebrating high expectations for students with low-incidence disabilities, provided special opportunities and incentives for teams of attendees in 2023.

Shannon McMahon and Lorendana Martinez describe their experiences at HELIX and their ongoing efforts facilitating collaboration among Special Education and English Language Development educators and practitioners to support English language learners with disabilities.

HELIX conference: https://www.pattan.net/Training/Conferences/HELIX-Conference

Shannon McMahon is currently a Supervisor of Special Education for Bensalem Township School District. Mrs. McMahon has worked in the field of Special Eduction for over 25 years. This year Mrs. McMahon is working closely with the team at Bensalem High School in focusing on support for English Language Learners who have complex support needs.

Loredana Martinez, MS, CCC-SLP is a bilingual speech-language pathologist for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit .She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Pennsylvania state licensure in Speech-Language Pathology, and Teacher of Speech and Language Impaired certification in Pennsylvania. Loredana has 32 years experience working in brain injury rehabilitation, acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, long-term care, and school-based settings. She has been a member of the BCIU’s Multilingual Learner team since 2007.

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