IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION AND THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, COUNSELING & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.  

Michael’s Journey was founded in 2012 to support pre-service educators start an informed journey as they shaped their future in early childhood education. In partnership with the School of Education, Counseling & Human Development, the conference has been able to share practical, important and implementable strategies and techniques for pre-professional educators to support kids with autism and their families. The Michael’s Journey Autism Awareness Conference is hosted at South Dakota State University every March, and is currently open to early childhood education majors at the School of Education, Counseling & Human Development.

The schedule for the conference includes an introductory speaker on autism, followed by the keynote, and ends with four breakout sessions including one with a parent panel.

“The conference has given us time to dive deeper into the topic with our students. The conference really helps equip them with diverse, real-world skills to work and connect with kids with autism in their future classrooms,” says Dr. Mary Bowne, Professor, School of Education, Counseling & Human Development at South Dakota State University.

Every year the conference is attended by 80-100 early childhood education majors who go on to be K-8 educators or daycare providers in the region. South Dakota State University is the only educational institution in the area that offers a degree in Early Childhood Education.

“Not only are they getting expert knowledge, but they're getting to hear about experiences from parents and they're getting to hear about teachers who have experienced children in the classroom, and things that the teachers have done within their classrooms as well,” says Dr. Bowne. “It's really given them a bigger toolbox of ideas, of knowledge; a better understanding of what the autism spectrum is—it’s completely different for each single child—and made them aware you can do different things to help each child and that there's a lot of resources out there.”

“Michael’s Journey autism awareness conferences are such a valuable experience for all of the educators involved. For me as a Mentor Teacher, it provides a way for me to refresh my understanding of children and families living with autism so I can better support them in the classroom. In reality, the strategies and conversations really help all children, not just children with autism. However, I feel most energized and optimistic when I see the teacher candidates come back from the conference. They tend to look at their classroom with new eyes and work to implement some of the strategies and techniques with the children they are working with in our program. They also share how much they enjoyed talking with families to get their perspectives. Working with families is something that they are nervous about at this point in their career and I feel they have a better understanding that they need to get to know each individual child and family personally in order to create a plan in the classroom. This is something that truly means a lot to me because I feel this is one of the most important aspects for educators to be successful. Thank you for providing this opportunity!”

“Participating in the autism awareness conference when I was a student at SDSU was one of the most impactful experiences. The things I learned will stay with me as I begin my career as an educator. The thing I remember most were the stories we heard from parents. Hearing what the parents need from the teachers really resonated with me.”