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

I am 40 years old, married and have one 11 year old child and yet I am still waiting for my Dad to have “the talk” with me. Based on the conversations I have had with my friends, I am not alone. Many Parents are so uncomfortable having “the talk” with their children that they simple ignore it. I don’t recommend this strategy for any parent; however, for parents raising a child with special needs it’s even more important to discuss the subject of puberty and sex in an open and frank manner. Read the rest of this entry →

A couple of months ago I was touring an inclusive charter school that my wife and I want my son to attend for middle school. As we toured the different classrooms I noticed a sign hanging over the blackboard in every class. The sign read, “Fairness is not getting the same thing as everyone else, but getting what you need.” This motto seemed appropriate since the charter’s school inclusion “model allows for the individual needs of each child to be addressed in a manner that enhances each child’s strengths while also addressing learning needs” all within the general education setting.

Being the curious type I snapped a picture of one of the signs and went home to research the individual who came up with this philosophy. After doing some Google searches I found the following YouTube video from Rick Lavoie. Read the rest of this entry →

Studying language development since I first became a Speech-Language Pathologist has become a never ending passion with sometimes surprising twists. New studies emerge almost daily with mind boggling results from MRI research, new computer generated programs and language investigations involving younger and younger children. One such new study, by developmental psychologist David Lewkowicz of Florida Atlantic University, describes recent research wherein scientists found that babies’ language development during the babbling stage, at about 6 months, makes a dramatic change. Their eye gaze begins to shift to the mouth. In other words, babies begin to actually study what the mouth is doing when it its making those funny speech sounds. Another study reported in Live Science in 2009 by Charles Q Choi, noted that French researchers had found that newborns cry with the same melodic pattern as their native language and suggests that infants begin picking up elements of language in the womb! Read the rest of this entry →

Find the Letters by EdNinja is a fun app that also helps your child learn the alphabet and strengthen their visual perception skills. The best way to describe this app is, paint by letters!!!! According to the EdNinja press release, “Find the Letters is an educational resource & a highly enjoyable game that helps children with dyslexia overcome reading problems by improving attention & visual perceptive abilities. They go on to say, “Your child will improve visual perceptive abilities like:

• Position in space
• Spatial depth orientation
• Figure-ground perception
• Form discrimination
• Concentration & attention”

The App includes four levels of difficulty with 10 pictures for each difficulty level for a total of 40 different illustrations. As I started playing the easiest level my initial thoughts was this is a fun app for preschool aged kids just learning the alphabet. But as I increased difficulty levels I could see how Find the Letters is much more than that. For kids with dyslexia or visual perception challenges this is a great remediation exercise.

Letters are presented to you in a grid which you color using the corresponding crayon color. Once you finish painting all of the letters a picture is displayed. Like I mentioned, paint by letters.

To keep it interesting for the kids, that app also tracks your time so you can compete against yourself or others for the best time. Find the Letters currently sells for $4.99 in the iTunes app store. I would recommend this title for young children learning the alphabet or older kids with dyslexia and other visual perception challenges.

Below is a list of Special Education Twitter Feeds worth following.  The list includes Parents, Educators, Advocates, Attorneys, Therapists and National Organizations.  This list should keep you up to date on everything happening in and around the world of Special Education. Read the rest of this entry →

With an alarming increase in Autism and other disabilities in the United States, as well as evolving curricula that increasingly focuses on individualized learning, parents are looking at private specialized schools as viable options to help students with learning challenges and behavioral issues.

In an environment in which students benefit from catered instruction in much smaller classes, it is the hope of public school officials that these children can be put on a path to high school graduation and college so they can learn a valuable profession. Read the rest of this entry →

The following is a list of Facebook pages that do a wonderful job of tracking, educating and informing on all aspects of Special Education and advocacy.  Anyone that has a child with an individualized education program (IEP) or individual family service plan (IFSP) should like these pages.

Special Education Advisor – Special Education Advisor is a community of parents, educators, and special education service providers dedicated to helping families with special education needs children understand their special education rights and receive appropriate special education services.

Wrightslaw - Parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys come to Wrightslaw for accurate, reliable information about special education law and advocacy for children with disabilities.

Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. – The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) is an independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization of attorneys, advocates and parents. Our primary mission is to secure high quality educational services for children with disabilities.

IDEA Money Watch – IDEA Money Watch is keeping track of the use of $11.3 billion in federal funds being provided to local school districts as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Special Education Law and Advocacy – Special Education Law and Advocacy, a law firm whose practice is focused upon the representation of children with disabilities.

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) – NICHCY serves the nation as a central source of information on:–disabilities in infants, toddlers, children, and youth – ESEA & IDEA (education & special education laws)–research-based information on effective educational practices.

Special Needs Network – SNN is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, community-based organization founded to respond to the needs of low-income and poor families struggling with raising a child or adult with developmental disabilities, particularly as it relates to autism.

Social Thinking – Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP, received a Congressional award for her development of Social Thinking for the treatment and teaching of students with Aspergers, high-functioning autism, ADHD and similar challenges.

Council for Exceptional Children – The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is a professional association that works to improve the educational success of children and youth with disabilities and gifts and talents.  This is the official page of CEC Headquarters in Arlington, Va.

The Advocacy Institute – The Advocacy Institute is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to the development of products, projects and services that work to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund – The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, founded in 1979, is a leading national civil rights law and policy center directed by individuals with disabilities and parents who have children with disabilities.

National Center for Learning Disabilities – The National Center for Learning Disabilities works to ensure that the nation’s 15 million children, adolescents and adults with learning disabilities have every opportunity to succeed in school, work and life.

The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism – The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (website & book) helps people with autism & their families make sense of the bewildering array of available autism treatments & options, & determine which are worth their time, money, & energy.

Disability Rights Legal Center – Championing the rights of people with disabilities through education, advocacy and litigation.

LD OnLine – LD OnLine.org is the world’s leading website on learning disabilities and ADHD, serving more than 200,000 parents, teachers, and other professionals each month.

The Inclusive Class – A site dedicated to providing resources to create the best possible learning environment for your special needs child.

Center on Disabilities at CSUN – The Center on Disabilities produces the International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference (CSUN Conference) and Assistive Technology Application Certificate Program (ATACP) training.

The Coffee Klatch – Offering parents world renowned experts,, physicians, psychiatrists, celebrity activists, special education and special education law advisors along with experienced parent advocates to educate support and inspire the special needs parents on their journey.

The Help Group – Founded in 1975, The Help Group is the largest, most innovative and comprehensive nonprofit of its kind in the United States serving children with special needs related to autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, ADHD, intellectual disabilities, abuse and emotional problems.

About.com Children With Special Needs – Stay up-to-date on all things related to parenting children with special needs. Guided by Terri Mauro.

Educate.Advocate - We are a group of parents and caregivers that have decided to educate ourselves so that we are better able to advocate for our children with special needs.

National Association of Special Education Teachers -  NASET is the only national membership organization dedicated solely to meeting the needs of special education teachers and those preparing for the field of special education teaching.

Kids Enabled - Kids Enabled was founded in 2005 to help other parents navigate the special needs community more easily. Learning differences is defined as a diagnosis that falls within the neurological disorder spectrum such as speech, auditory processing, language processing, visual processing, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, autism and Asperger Syndrome. In 2008, Kids Enabled received their 501 (c)(3) nonprofit status.

Leigh Law Group - Whether you are a small business, an employee, a student or parent of a child with disabilities our office can effectively represent you. When you meet with us for your initial consultation, you can expect that our attorneys will help to provide you options that work for your situation.

Bay Area Mocha Autism Network - TOGETHER WE ARE STRONG!! This is a fact that we know and a movement we want to forward throught the Bay Area community.

Feel free to comment or add to the list below.

The other day I got an email from a parent who said her child had been diagnosed with dyscalculia. I had to look up what she meant. According to Wikipedia, “Dyscalculia (or math disability) is a specific learning disability involving innate difficulty in learning or comprehending simple mathematics. It is akin to dyslexia and includes difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, learning math facts, and a number of other related symptoms (although there is no exact form of the disability).” Read the rest of this entry →

I have noticed that many of the parents who call me because their child was referred for psychological testing are surprised and uncertain about the reason for the referral. In addition, it is unclear to them how an evaluation can be helpful. This is the first in a series of blog posts aiming to demystify the process of psychological assessment and discuss the benefits of having a child evaluated. 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 →