INDIANAPOLIS — Wintry wind
chill temperatures didn’t affect the velocity
or enthusiasm in Indianapolis,
where special-needs roadeo contestants
and conference attendees kept
to a fast pace of information exchange
during the 18th National Conference &
Exhibition on Transporting Students
With Disabilities & Preschoolers.
The six-day meeting, held Feb. 27
to March 4 and sponsored by Edupro
Group, stuck to its goals of delivering
practical solutions, workable
answers, proven best practices and
hands-on training.
Increasingly popular vendor-sponsored
sessions on wheelchair and passenger
securements kicked off the
event, with conferees and roadeo contestants
joining in the demonstrations
by representatives from Sure-Lok,
Q’Straint and Tie Tech.
Sessions offered free to roadeo contestants
concluded on Sunday with a
lively interactive session, “3Rs for Drivers
& Aides,” sponsored by Thomas
Built Buses. Attendees worked together
to find answers to scenarios that depicted
some of the more challenging
aspects of transporting children with
disabilities and preschoolers. Panelists
commented on the solutions offered.
Later in the conference, representatives
from Blue Bird, Thomas Built,
Collins Bus Corp. and Girardin addressed
options for equipping the special-
needs bus.
Tuesday offered a robust trade show,
with a “T-Shirt Stimulus Plan” adding
to the interaction between suppliers
and attendees (converse, get vendor
signatures, claim a T-shirt).
Communications figured prominently
in this year’s program, with a first-ever
session on communicating with
terminal managers, dispatchers and
call-center staff; training drivers about
communication issues with preschoolers;
efficient and effective communication
techniques with students, parents,
teachers and colleagues; preparing staff
to work with difficult parents; and a session
on developing an effective plan for
communicating with your contractor.
Other popular presentations were
those on empowering IEP teams to
make appropriate decisions; a live, interactive
case study to build an individualized
transportation plan; and an
afternoon devoted to roundtables on
leadership, influence, communication,
motivation and management.
As part of the conference, attendees
visited the headquarters of IMMI,
whose divisions include child safety
restraint supplier SafeGuard, in nearby
Westfield. The agenda included dinner,
a plant tour and a live sled test.
As it has for many years, the conference
offered the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration’s national
training on child passenger safety
restraint systems as a separate registration
workshop. Two other separate
registration workshops were offered.
Next year’s conference will be in Orlando,
Fla., March 5-10. Details will be
posted at www.eduprogroup.com.