Special-needs training materials

Product Review The following review was contributed by Kathleen Furneaux, director of operations at the Pupil Transportation Safety Institute in Syracuse, N.Y. If you’d like more information about PTSI, visit www.ptsi.org or call (800) 836-2210.

The products are published by Dr. Ray Turner and can be purchased through White Buffalo Press (www.whitebuffalopress.com). Turner is special-needs transportation coordinator at Northside Independent School District in San Antonio.

Special-Needs Transportation Instant Service — This six-volume set of CDs contains 12 newsletters and 12 PowerPoint presentations. It gives an overview of topics such as job descriptions for special-needs bus drivers transporting medically fragile students.

This program is useful as foundation materials supplemented by local best practices and procedures. Dr. Turner addresses topics related to children in the education environment that involve their being transported, from the most common to the more obscure issue, equipment or condition. These materials are a great resource to enhance the quality of your service to children with disabilities.

Transporting Medically Fragile or Technology-Assisted Students — This 300-plus-page document addresses medical issues in detail that span well beyond the scope of the average transporter of children with disabilities. The wealth of information is a unique resource, providing a place to start looking for specific disability conditions faced on our nations school buses. Excellent basic resource!

Special-Needs Transportation Handbook — This effective guide looks at every aspect of managing an efficient system to serve children with disabilities. The scope of the materials ranges from working with parents to driver teams, policy and procedure. Well organized and detailed resource.