Learn Your Special Education Laws, Special Education Rights, and Share IEP Goal Ideas

The Individual’s with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) states, “(1) the parents of a child with a disability must be afforded an opportunity to participate in (IEP) meetings with respect to (i) the identification, evaluation, and educational placement of the child; and (ii) the provision of FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) to the child.”

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) defines Parent Involvement as, “the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities including: Read the rest of this entry →

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 6. At the time, my parents received too many complaints about my behavior. “She is incredibly smart and her grades are top of her class,” my teachers would say. They would follow with problems with my conduct. I couldn’t sit still or stop talking. I tried helping others because I was restless all the time. Even doing sports every afternoon did nothing to lower my hyperactivity.

My mother was soon referred to a behavioral therapist because she said I was never to be medicated. Another issue was money. We didn’t have much so we couldn’t afford weekly sessions or frequent follow ups. The behavioral therapist decided she would instruct my mother how she would help me through a simple exercise. It’s completely free and it can be done at home. Read the rest of this entry →

The Orton-Gillingham approach is a unique language training system that was designed by Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham.  Dr. Orton, a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist, was a pioneer in focusing attention on reading failure and related language processing difficulties.  He revolutionized modern thought concerning learning disabilities, determining that language-based disorders were biological and not environmental in origin.  He brought together neuroscientific information and principles of remediation, having extensively studied children with the kind of language processing difficulties now commonly associated with dyslexia and formulating a set of teaching principles and practices for such children.  He strongly believed that such disorders would respond to specific training if properly diagnosed and if the proper training methods to meet the needs of each particular case were instituted. Read the rest of this entry →

From subtle to very obvious, the signs that indicate a child has autism vary per child. As it is often difficult to diagnose autism before the age of 3, many parents are left wondering whether their child’s behavior is a sign of a developmental disorder. Before a diagnosis can be accurately determined, one step that parents can take is to incorporate Baby Sign Language into their lives, either at home or under the guidance of a professional. Read the rest of this entry →

Now that the new school year has begun, it may be a good time for parents to schedule an observation of their child’s educational setting. In order to be proactive in your child’s educational progress, it’s important to know what’s occurring during the time they’re at school.

Here are some tips for conducting observations:

• Look at your child’s schedule and decide which time would be most productive. If your child does well during math, but struggles during reading or writing, you might want to schedule a time during the literacy block. This will give you an opportunity to offer input that may assist the teacher during potentially difficult times for your child.

• Be prepared to give your child’s teacher at least 48 hours notice as to when you’d like to visit the classroom.

• When you arrive, try to sit in a location that’s nonintrusive to the children. If the children are grouped at one side of the room, try to sit on the opposite side. Make every attempt to sit facing your child’s back. If your child sees you watching him/her, their behaviors may be altered.

• Be prepared to take notes. During the observation is not the time to point out concerns that may come up.

• Do not engage with the teacher unless she initiates the conversation. You are there to observe his/her interaction with the students and the instruction that your child is receiving.

• Some things to look for:

o Is your child seated in an appropriate location to benefit from instruction?

o Is your child receiving the necessary amount of adult support to be included within the setting and activity?

o Are all assistive devices being utilized (postural supports, graphic organizers, communication devices, pencil grips, technology, etc)?

o Is the room organized and can your child tell what the schedule and expectations are?

o Is your child given opportunities to engage in the lesson?

• Give yourself a few days to think about what you observed, then schedule a time to review your notes with the teacher.

• Thank the teacher for her time and being accommodating to your presence. When meeting with her, find at least two things that were positive about what you observed. You want to keep your relationship with the teacher as positive as possible, while still advocating effectively for your child.

www.disabilitytrainingandsupport.com

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Who says organization has to be boring? With the latest smartphone applications, your child can keep track of school assignments and have fun along the way. With stunning graphics and state of the art design, the newest apps will keep even the most reluctant students on track. The truth is that the more organized a student is, the better grades they tend to receive. Check out my top picks for apps that can be quickly downloaded to any iPhone or iPad. Read the rest of this entry →

Dear Ron,

I have recently read your article, “What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents” and found it to be ill-conceived, short sided and quite frankly wrong on many accounts. I am aware of your accolades and achievements as written in the editor’s note prior to the article but I will also point you to Rule #51 in your Essential 55 Rules, “Live so that you will never have regrets”. If you don’t already, I feel you will learn to regret writing this article. This article has the ability to create an even bigger chasm between Parents and Teachers. Parent Involvement in a Child’s Education, as proven by 20 years of research, is one of the most effective methods in a child’s academic success. Educating our children needs to be a partnership between Parents and Teachers. Especially, since school age children spend 70% of their time outside of school. Your article makes it painfully aware that your idea of a Parent – Teacher partnership is one where Parents do everything you ask without input or questions.  Read the rest of this entry →

For many of you around the country the new school year has already begun, today was our turn. The 2nd largest school district in the country finally resumed classes and it is the first day of 5th grade for the Goldberg family. When you think about, back to school really means back to work for the students and parents. Let’s face it, the responsibility not only falls on the student but parents as well. Read the rest of this entry →

An appalling lack of standards exists as to what a child’s behavioral treatment plan should look like. As a result, parents are frequently at a loss to determine if the Plan proposed for their child is either adequate or appropriate. As an alternative to wishful thinking, misplaced trust in an unknown and untested service provider, and to raise the standards for treatment plans for children who are displaying challenging behavior, the internet resource ”Treatment Plans That Worked“ was created. Let’s define our terms, first of all.

A Treatment Plan should provide all of the information necessary for a conscientious person to deliver the correct treatment procedures, at the correct times, and with sufficient consistency to produce the changes in behavior that are described in the Plan — reducing or eliminating undesirable behavior and increasing or improving desired behavior, while providing a means to monitor progress on an ongoing basis that informs the process of treatment.

With that in mind, the “treatment plans that worked” on my website are offered as examples to guide professionals in the creation of age-appropriate behavioral treatment interventions for children, and as examples of successful treatment planning documents that parents may provide to professionals as a means of setting basic standards for treatment design and monitoring. These plans were all successful in that they all produced reduction or stabilization in the target (undesirable) behavior of children. Although these plans were successful in these cases, it is clear that all children are different, and that the exact same plan may or may not be effective for any other child, and that professional guidance should always be sought before and during the implementation of any treatment plan or program.

In this field, for every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert. Nevertheless, there are some basic standards on which everyone should agree. At a minimum for example, all behavioral treatment plans should provide the following information. The order of presentation isn’t as important as the level of understanding that it creates in the mind of the person who is to implement the plan, such as a mental health worker or a parent. A very simple plan, accompanied by a very high level of professional supervision, training and support, can achieve tremendous results. A highly complicated, lengthy, jargon-ridden treatment plan written by someone with impressive credentials obviously doesn’t guarantee success. The middle ground (where the treatment plan is complete in terms of its components, explicit in its directions to the person who will implement it, and which can be evaluated objectively as to its effectiveness) is ideal.

• Any behavioral treatment plan should specify the exact behavior that is “targeted” for improvement. The plan must say exactly what is to be reduced or eliminated. By the same token, the plan must say exactly what is to be taught in replacement of the “targeted” behavior. It is rarely helpful to tell a child what not to do; you always have to specify what he/she should do as well.

• A treatment plan should explain exactly what the treatment provider should be doing to accomplish the replacement of the “target” behavior. A treatment provider should be able to look at the treatment plan and know precisely which techniques are to be used, how often and in which circumstances. When terms like “contingency contracting” are used, a glossary of terms that is accessible to the treatment provider is essential. How else can the treatment provider know exactly what to do?

• A treatment plan should always contain a simple and easy means of measuring progress from the perspective of the treatment recipient, not the treatment provider. Outcome progress measurement should include a “baseline” measure, which is a starting point in the measurement of treatment outcomes that precedes the start of the treatment period. How else will you know how far you’ve come (or how far you’ve gone astray) if you don’t know where you started?

• Treatment plans must include a planned stop date, so that the treatment team can prepare to present information to funding authorities prior to that date in order for funding to be continued. Continued funding is necessary and therefore justifiable whenever the child is within the age served by the funding entity, the treatment plan is working, but the work has not yet been satisfactorily completed.

Bio:

Steven Kossor is a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist who founded the Institute for Behavior Change in 1996. He has been recognized by the US Congress, both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature and by the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health for his leadership in the creation of a successful in-home and in-school treatment model for children with serious behavioral difficulties. Independent researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examined more than 300 treatment records and found a statistically significant association between delivery of treatment using Mr. Kossor’s model and reductions in physical aggression, noncompliance with adult prompts, socialization deficits and communication deficits in children between the ages of 2 and 17 with Autism, ADHD and other disabling conditions. This research was replicated by independent researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA in 2010. Mr. Kossor teaches parents and professionals how to create excellent behavioral treatment plans, how Medicaid can be used to fund them (regardless of family income) and how to get and keep treatment funding, despite Managed Care and other obstacles.

Contact:

The Institute for Behavior Change: www.ibc-pa.org

As an advocate for children with special needs, I spend a lot of time discussing the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). As a parent of a child with special needs, I spend a lot of time thinking about inclusion. My hope is Schools are thinking about both inclusion and the Least Restrictive Environment. Why am I hoping this? Terms like inclusion, mainstreaming and full inclusion are philosophies while Least Restrictive Environment is a legal term created by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). All schools need to provide children with IEP’s special education and related services that meet their unique needs in the Least Restrictive Environment. Being placed in the LRE, in my opinion, is in no way the same as inclusion although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. I can understand why these terms are sometimes used interchangeably by looking below at what have become the common definitions: Read the rest of this entry →