Center of Attention
Newsletter of CHADD of Northern California
Also at: http://www.chaddnorcal.org/newsletter
23 December 2001

CHADD Works to Improve the Lives of People with
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder through Education, Advocacy,
and Support

===== In This Issue =====

About the Newsletter
Calendar of Events
Feature Article: If I Could Do It All Again...
"This Week" Is On Vacation!
Please Tell Us

===== About the Newsletter =====

The Center of Attention is CHADD of Northern California's bi-weekly
newsletter. The newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with
CHADD of Northern California's activities and updates in the field.
It's a step toward bringing the members closer together.

======== Calendar of Events ==========

12/26/2001, Wed. 7:15 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. - Santa Clara
Kitty Petty ADD/LD Institute Meeting, Discussion of and sharing
successful ADHD/LD strategies and coping skills with other like
ADDults. Plus holiday refreshments.
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Kitty Petty ADD/LD
Institute: 650-329-9443
============================
1/8/2002, Tues. 7-9pm - Marin
Couples and ADHD - Lisa Csaklos, MFT, Learn some practical ways to
improve your relationship. Lisa is a psychotherapist who has been
working with ADHD for more than 11 years. She has a private practice
in Kentfield and San Francisco. 415-460-9500.
Town Center Corte Madera Community Room, Corte Madera - Contact:
Beverlee: 415-789-9464
============================
1/9/2002, Wed. 7 - 9 pm - Alameda
Tri-Valley Parent Support Meeting,
Thomas J. Hart Middle School, Pleasanton - Contact: JoAnn Matone: 925-484-2173
============================
1/14/2002, Mon. 7 pm to 9 pm - Humboldt - Mendocino
Meeting,
Redway School Family Resource Center, Redway - Contact: Lori Vella:
707-247-3702
============================
1/15/2002, Tues. 7-9pm - Marin
Drop in Support Group, for Adults and Teens with ADHD and Significant Others
Marin Community Mental Health, Greenbrae - Contact: Beverlee: 415-789-9464
============================
1/16/2002, Wed. Reg: 7pm, Meet 7:30pm - Santa Clara
Mark Steinberg, PhD, How Biofeedback can lessen ADD
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Silicon Valley Warmline:
650-949-5472
============================
1/23/2002, Wed. 6-8:00 PM PST - Online
Clare Jones, PhD - The Ins and Outs of Educating the ADHD Student,
CHADD Online Chat, Internet - Contact: Message Line: 510-291-2950
============================
1/23/2002, Wed. 7:15 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. - Santa Clara
Kitty Petty ADD/LD Institute Meeting, The Differences between ADHD,
Depression and Anxiety - Emily Harris, PhD
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Kitty Petty ADD/LD
Institute: 650-329-9443

===== Feature Article ======

This article is being published in our newsletter with permission
from Barbara Day, Special Education Guide on about.com. You can visit
Barbara Day on her website at http://www.specialed.about.com/

If I Could Do It All Again...

Parents of students in Special Education talk about their experiences
and how they would change them

It's easy to lose your perspective when you're raising a child who
has special needs. Sometimes it seems as thought you live from crisis
to crisis, always reacting to news from the school, reports from the
doctor or screams from the neighbor down the street who wonders why
your ADD child just put their family cat in the dishwasher. (Answer:
"Because he could.")

About Special Education asked parents who have raised their children
and lived to talk about it one question: "What would you change if
you could do it all again?" Here is what they had to say. As always,
the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Bob: "We weren't ready for this."

"Our son is developmentally disabled and has other problems on top of
that. He graduated in May, and is now working with a job training
agency here in town."

"If I could change anything, I would make sure that transition
services started long before his last year of high school. The school
didn't mention this, and we, like good parents, didn't really push
the issue. Now he's 19, and we're having to deal with the needs of an
adult child, including guardianship, health care, housing, and
everything else. We weren't ready for this."

Information about the Transitional IEP and other transition resources
are available on the Transition Pages of SpecialEd.about.com.

Phyllis: "Know your rights."

"We thought that our son's school was pretty good about keeping us
informed. They told us about meetings and kept us informed about
Mike's progress. We thought that was all we should expect."

But we didn't know what they weren't telling us. For example, we
spent thousands of dollars sending Mike to summer school each year.
It wasn't until after the summer of his Freshman year that we learned
that the school district is supposed to pay tuition for Extended
School Year (ESY) programs if ESY is included on the IEP.

"There were other things that we didn't find out until it was too
late. Mike was suspended from school for an incident directly related
to his developmental disability. Later on, I found out that there was
supposed to be a behavior plan in place." (there was no behavior plan)

Information about discipline and special needs students can be found
on the Discipline Pages of this site. Phyllis' comments about ESY
brings up one of the better kept secrets of public education. Ask
your school counselor about it, or see the Extended School Year Pages.

Ellen: "Be a leader."

"I don't know how many times I was told that the parent is the head
of the IEP team. That may be, but what good is it if the head of the
team doesn't know what's going on? Teachers deal with these things
every day. I had no idea what an IEP was or what I wanted to have
included. What should be included? How can I do the best job for my
daughter?"

"So I began to study - again. When my daughter was first diagnosed
with autism, I read everything I could about it. When we began to
work with the special education teachers, I decided that I needed to
learn everything I could about that too."

"My daughter isn't in school anymore, but I'm still attending IEP
meetings, helping other families who have children who have special
needs. Nobody should have to face those meetings alone, especially
when they are supposed to be the leader."

Barb

======== This Week ==========

This Week is taking off for a winter holidays vacation. It will be
back on January 6, 2002. Happy New Year!

===== Please Tell Us! =====

We thank members for their responses to the Newsletter. Any comments,
suggestions, or criticisms will be greatly appreciated. Please
continue to help us make this newsletter more beneficial to you all.

This week in particular, you may have noticed that we have moved the
calendar up to the top. Let us know if you like this better.

We also invite readers to share their experiences with us and other
members. Please feel free to write to us about anything that you
would like to see published.

You can e-mail your comments to us at CHADD_Dimples@....
Simply replying to this e-mail will also send your message to the
right place.