Special Needs Night at the Walnut Festival, September 17th from 6-8 p.m. RSVP by September 12th

See flyer HERE.

Feds Warn Charters On Special Education

Charter schools must provide special education services and ensure that students with disabilities are not discriminated against just like traditional public schools, federal education officials say.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter issued Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education said that charters have the same obligations as regular public schools to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in addition to other federal civil rights laws. Such responsibilities are the same whether or not charters receive federal funding, the Education Department guidance indicates.

Specifically, students with disabilities are entitled to a free, appropriate public education and should not be discriminated against in the admissions process or in regard to discipline. Charters must also provide related services to students with disabilities and guarantee that such children have “equal opportunity” to participate in extracurricular activities, the guidance said.

“Every student with a disability enrolled in a public school, including a public charter school, must be provided a free appropriate public education — that is, regular or special education and related aids and services that are designed to meet his or her individual educational needs as adequately as the needs of students without disabilities are met,” wrote Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, in the letter.

Read more of Shaun Heasley's Disability Scoop article HERE.

The Statewide Special Education Task Force Survey

The Statewide Special Education Task Force has created a survey to get input regarding special education students and the future of education for these students.  You can complete the survey HERE.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on MAPP - Written Comment Period ends 6 p.m. on March 17

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

AMENDMENT TO CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS, TITLE 5,

REGARDING THE CALIFORNIA ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND PROGRESS (Set forth in Education Code section 60640 as the

Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress or MAPP)

[Notice published January 31, 2014]

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the State Board of Education (SBE) proposes to adopt the regulations described below after considering all comments, objections, or recommendations regarding the proposed action.

PUBLIC HEARING

California Department of Education (CDE) staff, on behalf of the SBE, will hold a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. on March 17, 2014, at 1430 N Street, Room 1801, Sacramento, California. The room is wheelchair accessible. At the hearing, any person may present statements or arguments, orally or in writing, relevant to the proposed action described in the Informative Digest. The SBE requests, but does not require, that persons who make oral comments at the public hearing also submit a written summary of their statements. No oral statements will be accepted subsequent to this public hearing.

WRITTEN COMMENT PERIOD

Any interested person, or his or her authorized representative, may submit written comments relevant to the proposed regulatory action to:

Debra Thacker, Regulations Coordinator

Administrative Support and Regulations Adoption Unit

California Department of Education

1430 N Street, Room 5319

Sacramento, CA 95814

Comments may also be submitted by facsimile (FAX) at 916-319-0155 or by e-mail to regcomments@cde.ca.gov. 

Comments must be received by the Regulations Coordinator prior to 5:00 p.m. on March 17, 2014. All written comments received by CDE staff during the public comment period are subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act.

See more info at CDE HERE
See full doc HERE

SPED acronyms explained: Part 1

By Karen DeLaughter from examiner.com

Navigating through a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) documents can be a bit overwhelming. Even reading a website about a learning disability or news article on the topic of special education can contain a lot of vocabulary or acronyms that are not part of everyday conversation. Here are a couple of the most commonly used acronyms that you might find.

AT – Assistive Technology
When most first read or hear this term, computers with special personalized software might come to mind, but assistive technology (AT) is actually a term used to describe a lot of things. It’s any object that is used to assist a child to maintain or improve their ability. It is also a term used to describe objects that increase functional capabilities. This means that AT is more of an umbrella term that includes objects like pencil grips, grid paper, highlighting tape, audio books and the like and not just high tech items.

RTI – Response to Intervention
Response to Intervention (RTI) is a fairly recent term that is used in education and can probably best be described as a universal screening that schools use to monitor progress and identify as early as possible if any student may need extra help or services. In a general education setting, reached based methods of instruction and assessment are used to determine if any students in the classroom might have difficulties in a given area of learning. If a student is identified as having some difficulties, then a short term intervention is developed in which the student receives researched based intervention strategies of instruction and is monitored more frequently (often weekly) to ensure growth. If the student’s learning does not respond well to this first intervention, one more intense intervention occurs. During this more intense intervention, the student receives individualized instruction for longer periods of time and is still monitored frequently. An RTI often occurs before further referrals are made for more extensive services, including those most commonly associated with traditional special education services.

Article HERE.

Special Education in the News

Philadelphia Parents Flood State With Special Education Complaints

WEBINAR

The California Coordinated Care Initiative:Advanced Training I - Consumer Protections and Benefit Package Summary

Part 4 The teacher responds for the second time

Part 5 Epilogue: Advocating for the ADHD child

The flexible classroom: Helping students with mental health challenges to thrive

About 10% of the school population — 9 to 13 million children — struggle with mental health challenges, some of the most challenging students that educators face. In our inclusive classrooms, teachers are becoming skilled at working with children who exhibit learning, physical, and cognitive disabilities, as well as those on the autism spectrum while students with mental health challenges continue to mystify and frustrate.

Read more of Jessica Minahan's Special Education Advisor article HERE.

Learn to Implement Music to Address Areas of Deficit

By Nicole Schomas, LBS I from Special-Ism

I was the kid who knew every song on the radio. My astute father, my songwriting mentor, once firmly stated, “Now imagine if those lyrics meant something. Imagine if they could be useful.”

In my adult life I found myself staring at the beautiful face of a child with autism–my son–who had a lot of strengths, and a lot of struggles. While his disability has impacted him socially, his love of music and ability to reproduce songs is amazing.

Songs Can Help Deficit Areas
My son was my first social-skills student. As I began to write songs that would help speak to his deficit areas, the songs began to write themselves into the scripts of his life and have helped him begin to overcome inherent obstacles relative to his autism.

Read more HERE.

5 Tips For a Successful IEP When Inclusion is the Target

By Tiffany Wilson, MA from Special-Ism

As IEP season is upon us, it is always good to remember these helpful hints to ensure that your child’s IEP goes in your favor when requesting that he/she be included into a general education placement with typically developing peers.

1. Educate Yourself

• Become educated about special education law, specifically, the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA).
• Your child is entitled to be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). This can be an inclusion setting at a child’s home school with his/her siblings and neighborhood friends!

2. Be Prepared to Advocate for Your Child

• Have a friend or consultant accompany you to your child’s IEP for support.
• Sometimes a school is unable to effectively include a student with autism into the typical classroom without some support from outside agencies specializing in inclusion or behavioral intervention. This type of support may be needed in order for your child to have a successful inclusion experience.

Read more HERE.

Free E-Book: IEP Meeting Planner

From the National Center for Learning Disabilities

Whether you're getting ready to attend your child's first Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting, or you've already gone to a number of them, these meetings may be intimidating, complicated, and sometimes confusing.

One way to lessen your pre-meeting “jitters” and to boost your confidence during the meeting is to use our detailed planner. This planner describes specific actions you can take:

• Before the meeting
• During the meeting
• After the meeting

Register for the free planner HERE.

Tri-Valley Transition Fair

When: October 2, 2013
Time: 5:30 pm- 8:15 pm
Where: Pleasanton Senior Center
5353 Sunol Boulevard, Pleasanton

More information HERE.

Is It Too Late for My Child to Get an IEP?

By NCLD Editorial Team

It’s true that the earlier a child’s LD is identified and addressed, the greater his chances of success. However, there are many reasons why some children aren’t identified until middle school or high school. Depending on the type and severity of the specific LD and a child’s ability to compensate for it, some students don’t appear to struggle until their teen years. So don’t despair; make the most of special education services that are available while you can.

Special education services are available in public schools through Grade 12, so if your child is eligible it’s possible to get an IEP until he graduates from high school or turns 22* (whichever comes first). (Note: 22 is the maximum age for special education services in most states.) In fact, having an IEP in high school is a great idea because, in addition to receiving academic support and interventions, teenagers with IEPs are entitled to transition planning, a process that is crucial to a student’s success after high school. Transition services must be included in the first IEP that will be in effect when a student turns 16, but you can (and should) start preparing for it when the student is 14 or 15.

Article HERE.

Exploring the Parent-Child Dynamic within the IEP Team

By Guest Blogger Zachary Fennell for Think Inclusive

Think inclusive… about the IEP process and IEP team from the child’s perspective. Tim Villegas does an excellent job here gathering parental and professional insights on educating students with disabilities. Today I hope to add a new comprehensive layer by discussing the student viewpoint. Disclaimer, rather than providing you with answers my post aims to raise questions and stimulate dialogue.

First though, perhaps I should make a proper introduction. I’m Zachary Fenell, an author and freelance writer who enjoys exploring different disability related issues. My interest in disabilities remains personal considering I was born with a mild case of cerebral palsy (CP). In my teen memoir Off Balanced (available on the Kindle and Nook) I share how my CP affected me socially as an adolescent.

Additionally I write articles for The Mobility Resource, an organization with handicap van dealers across the United States. Plus I serve as the Guest Blog Coordinator for Handicap This Productions, a critically acclaimed group attentive on educating, entertaining, and empowering the world on disability orientated topics. Also worth noting I contributed articles to Special Education Guide, an informational website dedicated to covering all things special education.

Read more HERE.

Deafness and Hearing Loss

From the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

Caroline’s Story
Caroline is six years old, with bright brown eyes and, at the moment, no front teeth, like so many other first graders. She also wears a hearing aid in each ear—and has done so since she was three, when she was diagnosed with a moderate hearing loss.

For Caroline’s parents, there were many clues along the way. Caroline often didn’t respond to her name if her back was turned. She didn’t startle at noises that made other people jump. She liked the TV on loud. But it was the preschool she started attending when she was three that first put the clues together and suggested to Caroline’s parents that they have her hearing checked. The most significant clue to the preschool was Caroline’s unclear speech, especially the lack of consonants like “d” and “t” at the end of words.

So Caroline’s parents took her to an audiologist, who collected a full medical history, examined the little girl’s ears inside and out, ran a battery of hearing tests and other assessments, and eventually diagnosed that Caroline’s inner ear (the cochlea) was damaged. The audiologist said she had sensorineural hearing loss.

Caroline was immediately fitted with hearing aids. She also began receiving special education and related services through the public school system. Now in the first grade, she regularly gets speech therapy and other services, and her speech has improved dramatically. So has her vocabulary and her attentiveness. She sits in the front row in class, an accommodation that helps her hear the teacher clearly. She’s back on track, soaking up new information like a sponge, and eager for more.

About Hearing Loss in Children
Hearing is one of our five senses. Hearing gives us access to sounds in the world around us—people’s voices, their words, a car horn blown in warning or as hello!

When a child has a hearing loss, it is cause for immediate attention. That’s because language and communication skills develop most rapidly in childhood, especially before the age of 3. When hearing loss goes undetected, children are delayed in developing these skills (March of Dimes, 2007).

Recognizing the importance of early detection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) recommends that every newborn be screened for hearing loss as early as possible, usually before they leave the hospital. Catching a hearing loss early means that treatment can start early as well and “help the child develop communication and language skills that will last a lifetime” (CDC, 2010).

Read more HERE.

Visual Impairment, Including Blindness

From the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)

Julian’s Story
When Julian was almost two years old, he developed this adorable habit of closing one eye when he looked at you. It almost seemed as if he were winking. The possibility that Julian had a visual impairment didn’t initially occur to his parents, but when Julian’s right eye started crossing inward toward his nose…

Off they went to the eye doctor, who confirmed that, yes, Julian had a visual impairment—amblyopia, often called “lazy eye.” As the most common cause of vision problems in children, amblyopia is the medical term used when vision in one eye is reduced because that eye and the brain are not working together properly. (1) Julian was also very farsighted, especially in the eye he’d taken to closing.

Soon Julian had a brand-new pair of durable glasses suited to his active two-year-old self. The eye doctor also put an eyepatch over Julian’s better eye, so that he would have to usethe weaker eye and strengthen its communication with the brain. Otherwise, the eye doctor said, the brain would begin to ignore the images sent by the weaker eye, resulting in permanent vision problems in that eye.

Julian took good care of his glasses, but he didn’t take well to the patch, unfortunately. He ripped it off every time his parents put it on…and back on… and back on again. So today his eye still turns inward if he doesn’t wear his glasses.

Visual Impairments in Children
Vision is one of our five senses. Being able to see gives us tremendous access to learning about the world around us—people’s faces and the subtleties of expression, what different things look like and how big they are, and the physical environments where we live and move, including approaching hazards.

When a child has a visual impairment, it is cause for immediate attention. That’s because so much learning typically occurs visually. When vision loss goes undetected, children are delayed in developing a wide range of skills. While they can do virtually all the activities and tasks that sighted children take for granted, children who are visually impaired often need to learn to do them in a different way or using different tools or materials. (2) Central to their learning will be touching, listening, smelling, tasting, moving, and using whatever vision they have. (3) The assistance of parents, family members, friends, caregivers, and educators can be indispensable in that process. More will be said about this in a moment.

Read more HERE.

The Importance Of Including Your Child in Their Own IEP Meeting

We as parents spend a lot of time advocating for our children when they are young.  However, there comes a time when our children become older and they have to learn how to advocate for themselves; knowing when the time is right will depend on your child.  If your child is still attending elementary school, they are most likely NOT mature enough to participate.  For those of you who have children in middle school, now is the time to think about the prospect of someday having your child attend their own IEP meeting.

When you and your child have come to the conclusion that they are ready to participate in their IEP meeting….then by all means, bring them in!!  When they first attend, it’s not necessary to bring them in for the entire meeting.  It’s important to make them feel comfortable and let them know that the team is there to help them in school.  The purpose of the IEP is not to discipline your child but to encourage them to become an integral part of some of the decisions pertaining to their IEP.  When you have finished discussing whatever you needed with the school, then bring your child in to participate.  It’s important to make it a positive experience so they are not afraid to participate….it can be frightening for a pre-teen/teenager to walk into a room by themselves with ten adults staring at them.

Read more of Dennise Goldberg's Special Education Advisor article HERE.

Special Education Essential to Preschool Plans, Says Advocacy Group

Boosting funding for young children with disabilities covered under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act should be a part of the Obama administration's plans to expand early-learning opportunities, says a letter from the Council for Exceptional Children's division for early childhood.

Most of the federal government's funding goes to what is known as Part B of the special education law, which serves students from 3 to 22 years old. However, another part of the law, Part C, helps pay for early-intervention services for babies and toddlers. While school-age children covered under the law receive "individualized education programs," the babies and toddlers get "individualized family service plans," which support that child's family. About 450,000 children were covered by the law in 2011, the latest year for which statistics are available. (In comparison, about 6.5 million students were served that year under IDEA Part B.)

The CEC's early-childhood division says that states applying for early-learning grants should explicitly involve the Part B and Part C programs in their ongoing implementation plans. "Partnerships at the state and local levels will ensure that: young children with disabilities and their families have meaningful access to early-learning programs; service providers that work with these IDEA programs have access to professional development opportunities; and state systems' efforts focus on all young children including those with disabilities," the letter states.

Read more of Christina Samuel's On Special Education article HERE.

Reverse the Effects of Sequestration on Special Ed: Congress says No Way

By Doug Goldberg from Special Education Advisor Blog

In case you have not watched the nightly news in the last few months you might not have realized that sequestration began on March 1, 2013. You may not even know what sequestration is but if your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) you will most definitely see the effect. According to USA.gov, “Sequestration, sometimes called the sequester, is a process that automatically cuts the federal budget across most departments and agencies.”

One of the biggest areas effected by the sequester is Education and more specifically Special Education. According to an article in the Atlantic, The Worst Victims of the Education Sequester: Special-Needs Students and Poor Kids, “Title 1 and Head Start will lose $740 million and $406 million, respectively. Special education will lose $644 million.” This means that special education will lose more than 5% of their funding. The chart below was put together prior to the final amounts but illustrates the effect the sequester will have on each of our States.

Read more HERE.

Resources For Special Education And The Common Core

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), one of the two consortia tasked with creating tests for the Common Core State Standards, has released a list of resources for special educators who want to learn more about how the education standards may affect children with disabilities.

The list is not comprehensive, but it offers a good general overview, with links to basic information on the common core as well as lesson ideas and other tools. The education standards have been adopted by all but four states.

Read more of Christina Samuel's On Special Education article HERE.

State Supreme Court: Special Ed Litigation Costs Are Public

The California Supreme Court has cleared the way for public disclosure of governmental legal costs in ongoing lawsuits where school districts, cities or other public agencies refuse to reveal the bills before litigation is complete.

In Orange County and other jurisdictions, governmental agencies have frequently declined to disclose the costs of ongoing litigation, contending such legal bills are exempt under the California Public Records Act.

But in its Feb. 20 ruling on a Los Angeles lawsuit, the court affirmed a published appellate decision in which judges decided that legal fees can be disclosed when a public records request is made during active litigation.

Terry Franke, an attorney for Californians Aware, an open-access organization in Sacramento, said, “This case properly ends an abuse too often employed to conceal from the public just how much of its money is being spent by lawyers.”

The court decision removes a ploy used by the Orange County Department of Education and a number of the county's 28 school districts to deny disclsure of litigation costs when fighting cases against families seeking special education for youths with disabilities under federal and state laws.

Last year, Voice of OC ran a series of articles showing how school districts were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight families over services that sometimes cost only a few thousand dollars. Such legal battles also created enormous hardships for families and limited options for children with autism and other serious developmental disabilities.

Read more of Rex Dalton's  Voice of OC article HERE.