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

See flyer HERE.

What alternate diplomas mean for special ed students’ career options

By Jackie Mader and Sarah Butrymowicz - specialEDpost

Four weeks into a medical assistant program at Antonelli College, Nikki Mclendon eagerly took her parents to the college’s student appreciation day. The 20-year-old looked forward to discussing her progress and pre-registering for the next term, but instead received devastating news.

School officials told the Mclendons their daughter was ineligible to continue. Without warning, the career technical college that accepted Mclendon a year after she finished high school said the “occupational diploma” she’d received from Forrest County Agricultural High School disqualified her.

“I thought, ‘What? I just went through my first semester of college…. I’m having a blast at it, and you all are ruining my career,’” Mclendon recalled.

Mclendon had no way of knowing the alternate diploma many Mississippi special education students choose if they cannot meet the academic requirements of a regular diploma would be a roadblock to higher education and a career — one the state can ill afford. In Mississippi, some 20 percent of youth ages 16-24 are not in school or the workplace, the highest rate in the U.S., according to U.S. census data.

Read more HERE.

Special Needs in the News at Examiner.com

Banning of shirt honoring student who lost life to Leukemia sparks outrage

Senator asks feds to provide tracking devices for children with autism

Confidentiality of information for students under IDEA

How does a parent remove consent for special education services under IDEA?

Facial Expression and Peer Judgment in Autism

Special education investigative report in San Francisco bay area

Part 3: A parent advocates for her ADHD child

Just to make your day!

Schools See Gains From Positive Behavior Approach

A first-of-its-kind study looking at a widely-used program designed to improve behavior finds that the strategy is proving effective for students with and without disabilities.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins compared the experiences of students at 21 schools using the program known as School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or SWPBIS, to kids at 16 schools that did not use the program over four years.

They found that there were significant improvements in behavior, concentration, social-emotional functioning and pro-social behaviors at schools using the method. What’s more, implementing SWPBIS led to a dramatic reduction in the number of disciplinary referrals to the school office, according to the study published online this week in the journal Pediatrics.

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

Sample Accommodations for Anxious Kids

While each child is different, the following compilation includes commonly implemented interventions for anxious children. These items may serve as a starting point for families who are looking for specific suggestions for problem areas, or for parents who are just learning of the types of issues that their anxious child may be contending with.

Classroom environmentAnxious children perform best in a calm, supportive, but organized classroom. Because change and uncertainty can be unsettling, a structured classroom, calmly disciplined will let children feel safe and know what to expect. An ideal situation is a teacher who maintains authority positively, using reason and respect rather than fear for punishment.

• Seating within classroomAnxious children often struggle with the unlikely fear that they will get in trouble, seating away from more rambunctious classmates will be less distracting, and may help them focus on their work rather than feeling responsible for the class.

Read more of this Worry Wise Kid's article HERE.