Office of Teaching Initiatives

Coursework or Training in the Needs of Children with Autism

Coursework or Training in the Needs of Children with Autism

For applications submitted after September 1, 2009, individuals who pursue one of the following special education certificates are required to complete coursework or training in the needs of children with Autism from an approved provider: Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Blind and Visually Impaired, Students With Disabilities (SWD), and Speech and Language Disabilities.

The Office of College and University Evaluation maintains a listing of approved providers of the Coursework or Training in the Needs of Students with Autism. 

Submitting the workshop

• The information you submit to the workshop provider must be an exact match of the identifying information in your TEACH account (SSN, date of birth, full name). You are responsible for verifying the information in your TEACH account and making sure that it matches the information you submit to the workshop provider. If it does not match, this will delay the processing of your workshop. If you have questions about the information the workshop provider has on file, you must contact the provider to make sure that they can submit your workshop correctly.
  
  
• Some providers of the workshop transmit the Certification of Completion to the Office of Teaching Initiatives electronically. Check with the provider to find out whether it will be transmitted electronically.

• If you received a college recommendation from a New York State college or university with a degree date of September 1, 2008 or later, no Certification of Completion will be awarded because the training was a required component of your program. If you notice that the Autism workshop requirement was not credited properly on your application, please let our staff know by sending an email to: workshopsoti@nysed.gov. Please be sure to include your full name as it appears in TEACH and either your date of birth or the last four digits of your social security number. Our staff will then examine your account to determine whether the workshop can be credited.

• If you are not receiving a college recommendation, and your provider is not transmitting the workshop electronically, you will have to get the New York State Education Department Certification of Completion from the provider. This is the only form that is acceptable: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/pdf/sampleworkshopform.pdf 

• Once you have filled out Part A, scan the form to your computer in PDF format and email it to: workshopsoti@nysed.gov with “workshops” in the subject line.

 Verifying the workshop in TEACH

After the workshop has been submitted, check your TEACH account regularly to see when it gets entered. You can do this by accessing to the Account Information page in your TEACH account and going to the Workshops section. After the workshop has been verified, it will immediately appear as verified on your application. Please note that the Workshops section will not list this workshop if you received a college recommendation. In these cases, TEACH automatically credits the workshop as noted above.