Dear Friends,

Out of the Box Early Reading Program

Learn the skills you need in order to teach your child to read

January 19, 2008 - 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

or

January 20, 2008 – 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

This informational session will be held both days (if enough interest), but participants attend only one session.  There is only room for 40 participants for each day.  Childcare will be available.

No charge.

Location:

Muriel Humphrey Center

13505 Hillendale Drive

Woodbridge, VA 22193

RSVP to Jan Russell with the date of the session you would like to attend  (703) 730-3124

What can you expect to learn at this workshop?

1.  The importance of teaching a child to read early, rather than waiting and hoping they learn to read at school.

2.  Why the phonetic approach to teaching a child with Down syndrome is not typically successful.

3.  How to set up your reading program.

4.  How to create flashcards and books for your child.

5.  How to teach your child to read single words, couplets, phrases, sentences and books using our program.

6.  Meet other parents and network with them, and possibly develop your own local 'support group'.

See http://www.outoftheboxreading.com/  for more information on this program.

Dear Friends,

Has anyone ever had the Fontan Procedure done for their child with DS?  Please contact me privately (heathert@...) if you can lend a listening ear to a parent on this issue.  Thanks.

Heather A. Trammell

Parent to Parent Coordinator

Down Syndrome Association of Northern VA

Dear Friends,

Here is an interesting article on reducing the numbers of students with learning disabilities in special education.  It’s about Loudoun county but with info on other area programs:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/30/AR2007123002447.html?hpid=sec-education

I’m forwarding this with Debra’s permission.  Travel to Richmond is required but there is a stipend available for participants.  For more details, please contact Debra Holloway (info below)

Alarming-

http://www.njatty.com/articles/medmal/zaslowfall2006.htm

DSANV Presents………….

“Optimizing Your Child’s Access to the Educational System”

When:    Saturday, January 12, 2008

Time:      9:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M.

Place:      Fairfax County Government Center

                12000 Government Center Parkway; Room 7

                Fairfax, VA  22035

This seminar will feature three separate “mini” seminars all in one day!!  Please join us for one, two or ALL!!

9:00-10:30               “Inclusion and Access to the Curriculum” 

Guest Speaker Ricki Sabia, Associate Director of NDSS National Policy Center, will cover the basics of inclusion and getting access to the curriculum for our kids.

                11:00-12:30             “How to Talk So Your School Will Listen”

Guest Speaker Cherie Takemoto from PEATC will cover successful strategies while discussing difficult issues with your school.

12:30-1:30               Pizza Lunch

1:30-3:00 “Being Your Child’s Advocate”

The importance of being your child’s advocate will be the topic in this seminar.  Advocate Reta Lewis of Northern Virginia is our guest speaker for this segment

Please RSVP and list which mini-seminars you will be attending to sheilae@... or (703)621-7129.

I heard about this new publication recently and thought some of you might like to check it out. 

______________________________________________________________________________

"Recipes for Research" TM

not only includes recipes but also information on all aspects of MDS!

This is the FIRST and ONLY book with information on mosaic Down syndrome!*

Whether you are a friend or family member of someone with MDS, have MDS yourself, or are a professional or advocate in the Down syndrome field, this book is a MUST!!

See other "Faces of MDS" where nearly 20 families have contributed personal pages of their loved one with MDS, complete with pictures, inspirational quotes and home tips for motor and speech skills. Take a glimpse into these families lives to find out how similar they are compared to those families of children without Special Needs and to those families of children with Down syndrome

Page after Page of Tips on helping your child with motor skills and speech/communication!

Get all of your main questions about MDS answered in one place. This book is packed full of information on all aspects of mosaic Down syndrome and the comparisons of MDS to DS. And the Frequently Asked Questions will not leave you wondering about what MDS means for your family, friend, client or patient!

See what other families make and eat during their holidays! Find a new dish to try! Families from all over the world have contributed their favourite holiday dishes, main meals, desserts and more to include 200 recipes in this beautifully published paper-back bound book that will become your families favourite heirloom and will enrich lives for generations to come!

All proceeds go to IMDSA's research and Outreach programs Research - IMDSA knows that the only way to gain more information is through research. With the funds raised through this project, IMDSA will be able to provide scholarships for research progects and gain more insight on what MDS means for our families.

Outreach - It is IMDSA's goal that no family feel alone in raising their child with MDS. IMDSA's outreach program enables more families throughout the world to receive information and support so they will know they are not alone in raising their child.

IMDSA has ordered a very limited supply of these books.

This will make a great gift for anyone on your holiday list!

Order now while supplies last!

The cost of Recipes for Research TM is $16 US & Canada and $17 all other countries (price includes postage) All monies must be in US dollars

ORDER HERE <https://imdsa.dabbledb.com/page/recipesforresearch/25cca551-3c48-4158-bc8d-b10cc7c38ff5>

*a booklet was made by VCU researchers in 1996 containing research information on MDS **IMDSA holds the Trade Mark Rights to the Title "Recipes for Research"TM and all the contents of the book.

No part of "Recipes for Research TM" can be copied, printed or reused in any way.

We go to Nancy Goeden (not sure that’s spelled exactly right) who is over by MWH and have found her very competent and ds friendly. Some of her staff are still learning, but nice.

Check it out…

Good evening,

The Arc of Northern Virginia will be hosting a Special Education Roundtable this Wednesday, December 5^th from 7 pm to 9 pm to discuss the Virginia Draft Special Education Regulations and to also discuss how to make public comment.

The meeting will be held at the office of the Arc of Northern Virginia.  Their address is: 

98 Washington St.

Falls Church, VA  22046

If you are interested in attending, please contact Tia Marsili, Director of Projects and Community Navigation, at info@.... 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Arc of Northern Virginia at 703-532-3214  Ext. 115.

Tia Marsili

Director of Projects and Community Navigation

The Arc of Northern Virginia

Creating "A Life Like Yours"

Main:   703-532-3214 x115

Fax:     703-532-3398

98 N. Washington Street

Falls Church, VA  22046

www.TheArcofNoVa.org

To receive the latest in
news & events from
The Arc of Northern Virginia
go to our website www.thearcofnova.org
and add your email address to the
 " Sign up for ReSources - Our Weekly Email Newsletter " box.

Please get involved!

Dear Friends,

If you have had a child hospitalized in the Richmond area, please take the time to check out this survey.  There’s a neat non-proft starting up down there and this survey will help them assess needs.  You’ll read more about the non-profit in the intro to the survey.

Parent Survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=phFP0diBfIakRJ2_2fVF8k7A_3d_3d

Provider Survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=SEKAMSLkOJJfUpmFmHqRig_3d_3d

Dear Friends,

I am seeking information to pass along to a parent regarding his adult daughter with Down syndrome who lives at home (Fairfax Co I think).  He is looking for a good service that can work well with individuals with DS, to be at home and receive her when she comes off the bus after work.  To help her with her self-care, get her ready for bed, etc.  If the individual/service could pick her up from work, that would be an extra help!  But he could use Metro Access or something to transport her.  Anyone have a recommendation?  This young woman is probably on the MR waiver wait list but I don’t know whether the EDCD waiver would be of help here?  Thanks for your thoughts folks.

Heather A. Trammell

Parent to Parent Coordinator

Down Syndrome Association of Northern VA

Dear Friends,

Jan Russell, from the Arc of Greater Prince William, asked that I forward this information on to you all. 

Out of the Box Early Reading Program

Learn the skills you need in order to teach your child to read

January 19, 2008 - 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

or

January 20, 2008 – 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This informational session will be held both days (if enough interest), but participants attend only one session.  There is only room for 40 participants for each day.  Childcare will be available.

No charge.

Location:

Muriel Humphrey Center

13505 Hillendale Drive

Woodbridge, VA 22193

RSVP to Jan Russell with the date of the session you would like to attend  (703) 730-3124

What can you expect to learn at this workshop?

1.  The importance of teaching a child to read early, rather than waiting and hoping they learn to read at school.

2.  Why the phonetic approach to teaching a child with Down syndrome is not typically successful.

3.  How to set up your reading program.

4.  How to create flashcards and books for your child.

5.  How to teach your child to read single words, couplets, phrases, sentences and books using our program.

6.  Meet other parents and network with them, and possibly develop your own local 'support group'.

See http://www.outoftheboxreading.com/  for more information on this program.

~Spotsy INFO~

November 28, 2007 edition

Listen to the Mustn'ts, child, listen to the Don'ts.

Listen to the Shouldn'ts, the Impossibles, the Won'ts.

Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.

Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.

- Shel Silverstein

Jump to Announcements, Events, News, Resources, or Voices

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~Announcements~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

·        As a follow-up to the school safety roundtables conducted by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales earlier this fall, Secretary Spellings announced today the availability of new brochures that provide guidance on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to enable schools to better balance students’ privacy rights with school safety concerns.  The brochures -- one for K-12 educators, one for higher education officials, and one for parents -- are a timely refresher to help appropriately balance student privacy and school safety.  Understanding the law will empower school officials and parents to act quickly and decisively when problems arise.  We encourage you to distribute these brochures to your colleagues and constituencies. The FERPA guides are available online at: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/safeschools/.   

• The public comment period for the DMHMRSAS Comprehensive State Plan for 2008-2014 will extend through November 30, 2007.  Please send any comments you might have on the draft Plan to Charline Davidson, Director, Office of Planning and Development, DMHMRSAS, P. O. Box 1797, Richmond, VA 23218-1797 by November 30, 2007.  Comments also will be accepted by facsimile at (804) 371-0092. 

• Patient Privacy Coalition Urges Consumers to Protect Prescription Data. The Patient Privacy Coalition recommends you take your prescription health data out of circulation. They state that more than 51,000 pharmacies in the U.S. download, transmit and sell information about the drugs they disperse and that this data includes names, addresses, date of birth and drugs prescribed. They assert that the main purchasers of this data are insurance companies and underwriters, pharmaceutical companies and other data miners and the information is bought and sold by anyone who wants to purchase it. This coalition has a petition campaign directed against pharmacy chains on their website. For further information or to participate in the campaign, visit the website. http://www.patientprivacyrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Petition_for_Prescription_Privacy

• Reader Poll: Poll: What do you think about the U.S. Supreme Court vote that forces New York City schools to pay for a child's private education when that child has never attended public schools? Vote (scroll down to bottom) at : http://alquemie.smartbrief.com/alquemie/servlet/encodeServlet?issueid=A5F311DB-EB32-433F-8DA1-D32C8E3715CE&lmid=archives

• The proposed revisions to the Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia have been published with the announcement of the upcoming Virginia Board of Education meeting. The proposed revisions to the Regulations can be viewed at http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/VA_Board/Meetings/2007/sep-itemA.pdf    Information about the public comment period such as timeframe and locations of the public hearings will be published in the near future.

• Internet Review and Discussion of Proposed Revisions. The Virginia Coalition for Students with Disabilities will begin a section by section review and discussion of the proposed revisions on River-VA starting Saturday, September 29.  To join River-Va, an internet group/listserve, send a message to

River-Va-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

You do not need to have a yahoo email address to join the group. River-VA is a discussion group/listserve for advocates of students with disabilities in Virginia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jump to Announcements, Events, News, Resources, or Voices

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~Events~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~NOVEMBER  2007~~~~~

• NEW!-NCLB and Tech. Literacy: <http://enews.edweek.org/GoNow/a15864a174067a448161197a3
  When: Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2 p.m. Eastern Time
  Submit questions here
  <http://enews.edweek.org/GoNow/a15864a174067a448161197a2 in advance.
  Please join us for a live Web chat about Title IID of the No Child Left
  Behind Act, which mandates that school districts ensure that all students
  are proficient in technology use by 8th grade.
  Though the federal rule on technology literacy lacks the regulatory teeth
  that the No Child Left Behind law provides for some other goals, such as
  improving reading and math skills, it underscores assertions by many school
  and corporate leaders that schools are not preparing students for a
  technology-rich society. The new literacy is intended to go far beyond the
  basics of simply operating technology, to include such skills as evaluating
  the quality of Web pages and using online content appropriately for school
  research and assignments. How are schools and states doing in their efforts to help students meet the requirement? Should the law do more to hold schools accountable if they do not meet the expectations? And as technology continues to change does that mean the standards should be continually updated to reflect those changes? For background information, read "Federal Act Boosts Student Standards Aimed at Technology." <http://enews.edweek.org/GoNow/a15864a174067a448161197a1

• The Spotsylvania Co. Schools Parent Resource Center is having it’s annual “OPEN HOUSE” on Thursday, November 29th from 1-7pm. Please come out and visit the center and browse through all the wonderful resources and materials available for parents, teachers, and the community. And best of all...it’s FREE! Visit the center between 1-7 p.m. for family activities and refreshments. Hot dogs, veggies and ice cream available from 5-7. Register for door prizes all day! Meet the staff and review the many resources available.

·        NEW!-PEATC will be hosting informational workshops to explain the proposed draft Virginia Special Education regulations.  Staff from the Special Education Dispute Resolution & Administrative Services have been invited by PEATC to present information and respond to questions at five different locations throughout the regions of Virginia.  REGION 8 - DATE: Thursday, November 29, 2007 - TIME: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm - LOCATION: Fairlawn Presbyterian Church; Fellowship Hall; 6900 Pulaski Avenue; Fairlawn, VA  24141.  There will only be 100 spaces available at each location.  It will be very important to register as soon as possible in order to guarantee yourself a spot.  To register or request additional information, contact PEATC at:  Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center Main Office; 100 N. Washington Street – Suite 234; Falls Church, VA 22046; Voice:  703-923-0010;   Toll-Free Voice:  1-800-869-6782; Toll-Free-Fax :  1-800-693-3514; E-mail:  partners@...  A copy of the proposed Special Education Regulations, a timeline for the revision process, and on-going up-dates can be found on VDOE’s website at  www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/dueproc/regulationsCWD.html . 

·        NEW!-Fort Myer's and Fort Belvoir's Exceptional Family Member Programs sponsor "Tricare and Other Benefits for Military Parents of Children with AUTISM & Other Cognitive Disabilities". Guest Speaker is LTC Scott Campbell, parent of a child with autism & Executive Director of Parents of Autistic Children of Northern Virginia (POAC-NoVA). It is on Thursday, Nov. 29th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m (not 8:00 as in the previous announcement). Childcare will start at 6:15 p.m, but it is already full up. It is at the AFTB (Army Family Team Building), 9651 Gunston Road, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED for childcare, no-cost dinner foods, and presentation! Call Marcia O'Connor at 703 696-8467/3510 to RSVP and for childcare reservations or directions

~~~~~DECEMBER  2007~~~~~

• "Future Quest 2007" is a free career and college forum for students with disabilities, parents and professionals. Keynote Speaker is Jonathan Mooney, author of "Learning outside the Lines," and "The Short Bus." It is on Saturday, December 1, 2007. The forum is at George Mason University, Johnson Center from 8:30 AM to 2:40 PM. For more information and to register online, visit www.VaCollegeQuest.org. To request a sign language interpreter, contact Karen Sherman, Chair, Arlington Public Schools at 703-228-2545 or email ksherman@....

·        NEW!-PEATC will be hosting informational workshops to explain the proposed draft Virginia Special Education regulations.  Staff from the Special Education Dispute Resolution & Administrative Services have been invited by PEATC to present information and respond to questions at five different locations throughout the regions of Virginia.  REGION 1 - DATE: Monday, December 3, 2007 - TIME: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm - LOCATION:  Church of the Epiphany; 11000 Smoketree Drive; Richmond, VA  23236.  There will only be 100 spaces available at each location.  It will be very important to register as soon as possible in order to guarantee yourself a spot.  To register or request additional information, contact PEATC at:  Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center Main Office; 100 N. Washington Street – Suite 234; Falls Church, VA 22046; Voice:  703-923-0010;   Toll-Free Voice:  1-800-869-6782; Toll-Free-Fax :  1-800-693-3514; E-mail:  partners@...  A copy of the proposed Special Education Regulations, a timeline for the revision process, and on-going up-dates can be found on VDOE’s website at  www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/dueproc/regulationsCWD.html . 

• The 7th Annual Inclusive Schools Week will be held December 3-7, 2007, to highlight the accomplishments of families, schools, and communities that have dedicated time, labor, and resources to promoting inclusive education for all of the world’s children. This year’s theme, “Lessons from the World: Including All Children,” provides an opportunity to focus on both international accomplishments and ongoing challenges associated with changing global attitudes, practices, and policies toward better educational outcomes for students around the globe. Participants will read stories, learn facts, discover resources, and make connections with families and professionals around the world who are on a similar journey toward building more inclusive schools and communities for all children and youth.  http://www.inclusiveschools.org/press.asp

·        NEW!-PEATC will be hosting informational workshops to explain the proposed draft Virginia Special Education regulations.  Staff from the Special Education Dispute Resolution & Administrative Services have been invited by PEATC to present information and respond to questions at five different locations throughout the regions of Virginia.  REGION 2 - DATE: Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - TIME: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm - LOCATION: Laskin Road Annex; Training Room; 1413 Laskin Road; Virginia Beach, VA  23451.  There will only be 100 spaces available at each location.  It will be very important to register as soon as possible in order to guarantee yourself a spot.  To register or request additional information, contact PEATC at:  Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center Main Office; 100 N. Washington Street – Suite 234; Falls Church, VA 22046; Voice:  703-923-0010;   Toll-Free Voice:  1-800-869-6782; Toll-Free-Fax :  1-800-693-3514; E-mail:  partners@...  A copy of the proposed Special Education Regulations, a timeline for the revision process, and on-going up-dates can be found on VDOE’s website at  www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/dueproc/regulationsCWD.html . 

·        NEW!-For students who use books on tape and the staff who prepare/purchase them: Free Webinar: Tools to Turn Text Documents into MP3 Audio - Thursday, Dec. 6 2007, (2PM EASTERN) - Presenter: Dick Banks. There are several relatively inexpensive applications that will quickly and easily take a text document and turn it into synthetic audio.  Everyone now has MP3 players and frequently listen to both music and spoken  presentations while they are walking, driving or exercising.  For people with various disabilities, this provides another way to access text content. Many people with disabilities prefer access to the electronic text documents.  Others prefer the audio.  Still others like both formats at different times and for different reasons This ability to convert text into various formats has many uses.  Sometimes schools and universities find students who prefer the audio format.  These may include students with visual impairments and with learning disabilities.  It may only be someone's personal choice.  It can also be a way to take the boredom out of exercising! We will look at software programs like TextAloud and the TextAloud IE  Toolbar, Mp3MyMp3 and ReadPlease2003. We will also cover converting PDF documents to mp3 files.
You need to register to reserve a spot in the virtual Webinar room and also
to receive the recording of the presentation: http://easi.cc/clinic.htm

·        NEW!-PEATC will be hosting informational workshops to explain the proposed draft Virginia Special Education regulations.  Staff from the Special Education Dispute Resolution & Administrative Services have been invited by PEATC to present information and respond to questions at five different locations throughout the regions of Virginia.  REGION 5 - DATE: Thursday, December 6, 2007 - TIME: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm - LOCATION: E.C. Glass High School; Marie Waller Lecture Hall; 2111 Memorial Avenue; Lynchburg, VA  24501. There will only be 100 spaces available at each location.  It will be very important to register as soon as possible in order to guarantee yourself a spot.  To register or request additional information, contact PEATC at:  Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center Main Office; 100 N. Washington Street – Suite 234; Falls Church, VA 22046; Voice:  703-923-0010;   Toll-Free Voice:  1-800-869-6782; Toll-Free-Fax :  1-800-693-3514; E-mail:  partners@...  A copy of the proposed Special Education Regulations, a timeline for the revision process, and on-going up-dates can be found on VDOE’s website at  www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/dueproc/regulationsCWD.html . 

·        THE COALITION FOR NORTHERN VIRGINIANS WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO ATTEND THE 27th Annual Legislative Breakfast Friday, December 7, 2007 from 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM at the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks. Keynote Speakers: Senator Janet D. Howell, 32nd Senatorial District & Delegate Vincent F. Callahan, Jr., 34th District House of Delegates. Master of Ceremonies: Peggy Fox, Reporter and Anchor for WUSA 9. Presentations of The Distinguished Leadership Award and The Nancy McDonald Beyer Exemplary Community Service Award. Presentation of The Northern Virginia Coalition's Budget and Legislative Priorities for 2008.

• NEW!-EPSDT WORKSHOP. What is EPSDT? EPSDT (Early & Periodic Screening, Diagnosis & Treatment) is a comprehensive and preventive child health program for children under the age of 21 who are Medicaid eligible.  Location:  The disAbility Resource Center - 409 Progress Street - Fredericksburg, VA 22407- Date:  Friday,  December 7, 2007 - Time:  10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. - Presenter:  Jonathan Martinis, VOPA Attorney. This workshop is recommended for parents, agency staff, educators, and community organizations. This training is free but registration is required.  For special accommodations please contact us by November 23, 2007. For information or registration, please contact Brenda Wickard at The disAbility Resource Center at 540-373-2559 (Voice) or 540-373-8126 (Fax) 540-373-5890 (TTY) or 1-800-648-6324  (Voice or Relay)

• NEW!-On December 7-8, 2007 Caring Communities will be hosting the World of Possibilities Expo at the Richmond Raceway Complex. This is a chance for you to enhance your knowledge and explore the latest resources available for special populations. It is geared towards children and adults with disabilities and their families/caregivers, the senior community, baby-boomers, healthcare providers, educators and service providers...there really is something for everyone. More info is at http://www.caringcommunities.org/images/expoflyer.pdf. If you are interested in attending and would like a free pass please visit http://expo.caringcommunities.org/index.php and choose free pass from the left hand column.

• ASL EXPO 2007 - FREE ADMISSION for everyone!!! Sign up for a FREE admission ticket today at www.aslexpo.com. We are expecting a HUGE crowd - thousands of visitors are coming to each ASL EXPO 2007 show! DON'T FORGET to get a FREE ASL Expo T-shirt! All shirts are picked up at door on a first-come, first-served basis. Be there on time because there were more than 1,000 deaf and hearing people lined up and waiting to pick up their free T-shirts. Two thousand shirts vanished in less than 2 hours. The ASL EXPO 2007 will be held December 8, 2007 - Washington, DC.  There can be no excuse not to join in with the fun and atmosphere of the Expo's huge crowd– along with an unbelievable array of door prizes! We'll see you there!  For more information on ASL EXPO 2007, please visit www.aslexpo.com. To reserve your booth, or if you have questions about exhibiting, go to http://www.aslexpo.com/html/exhibitors.html.  
  See you at the Expo, folks!

• NEW!-Please Join Us for Our 2nd Annual Open House At the disAbility Resource Center - 409 Progress Street - Fredericksburg, VA 22401. Monday, December 10th, 2007 from 2:00p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Relax, enjoy good food, mingle with friends RSVP by December 6th, 2007:  (540) 373-2559 - (540) 373-5890 TTY

~~~~~JANUARY  2008~~~~~

·        Spotsylvania County Schools Parent Resource Center INFORMATION SESSION. January 14th- Mission Organization!: It’s the beginning of a new year and time to set those New Year’s resolutions into action! Let us assist you in bringing order to chaos with this fun, interactive session! Join us with Sue Marie Bowling of Prescription for Order, 7- 8:30 p.m. at Thornburg Middle School.

·        -Spotsylvania County Schools Parent Resource Center INFORMATION SESSION. January 16th- Lunch ‘n Learn at the PRC: “Loving Discipline for Children Ages 1-5”: Join us for a bowl of hot soup and a video that will assist you in understanding the ages and stages of development and how to enhance your child’s learning at each stage as well as discipline techniques that work! Each pre-registered participant will receive a free parent handbook so register by calling the Parent Resource Center at 540-582-3616. The session will be held at the Parent Resource Center, 11– 12:30.

·         The Kennedy Krieger Institute Adolescent Transition Lecture
Series for Fall 2007. January 16, 2008---Tax Laws and Tax Tips for People with Disabilities, with David N. Pessin, Esquire at the Kennedy Krieger Institute's Greenspring Campus, 3825 Greenspring Avenue, Bowles Building board room. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please RSVP to the Resource Network at 443-923-2790 or 800-390-3372 or resourcenetwork@.... The Adolescent Transition Lecture Series has been developed by the Center for Spina Bifida and Related Conditions, the Department of Social Work, and the Resource Network of Kennedy Krieger Institute.

~~~~~February  2007~~~~~

• Spotsylvania County Schools Parent Resource Center INFORMATION SESSION. February 14th- Mug ‘n Muffin Morning “Building Relationships: Steps to a Great Family Life: A great way to spend time on Valentine’s Day! Love, trust and good feelings between parent and child are like a bank account you can draw on when you must discipline or correct a child’s behavior. Enjoy homemade muffins and view this video with us at the Parent Resource Center from 9:30-11 a.m. A discussion follows the video and an opportunity to review resources available at the PRC.

• Spotsylvania County Schools Parent Resource Center INFORMATION SESSION. February 20th- Mug ‘n Muffin Morning “Bringing Out the Best in Every Child”: This IEP information session will assist parents as they prepare for meeting with school staff regarding programming for their child with special needs. Enhance your techniques for sharing information about your child during the IEP and other school meetings with medical professionals and anyone else who has contact with your child. Join us at the Parent Resource Center, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Enjoy homemade muffins and leave with tools you can use!

• Spotsylvania County Schools Parent Resource Center INFORMATION SESSION. February 21st- Lunch & Learn at the PRC: “Summer Fun for Children with Disabilities”: Summer activities for children with disabilities will be the topic of this fun gathering as we “lunch” on soup and salad provided by the Special Education Advisory Committee; 11:00-12:30 at the PRC.

~~~~~March  2007~~~~~

• Spotsylvania County Schools Parent Resource Center INFORMATION SESSION. March 10th- “Walking on Eggshells”: Raising a child with bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, oppositional defiant disorder or other behavioral challenges sometimes makes you feel as though you are “walking on eggshells” around your child. Join us as Mark Howard and Mary Guthrie, SCS Social Workers, share strategies to assist families in meeting the day to day challenges. Location: Battlefield Middle School Time: 7-8:30 p.m.

• NEW!-World Down syndrome Day is celebrated on 3/21.

~~~~~APRIL  2007~~~~~

• Spotsylvania County Schools Parent Resource Center INFORMATION SESSION. April 3rd- “IEP: Roadmap to Success”: Join the PRC staff as they introduce parents to the IEP process required by IDEA 2004 and parent participation in the process. Parents are important members of the IEP team. Explore your role and leave with tools you can use. Location: TBA Time: 6-7:30 p.m. Don’t worry about dinner. Pizza will be provided!

• Spotsylvania County Schools Parent Resource Center INFORMATION SESSION. April 10th- Full Life Ahead!: This session will help parents as you begin planning with your child for the transition from high school to the adult world. Every person desires to be a contributing part of their community. Will he attend a technical school or college? Is she preparing for employment? Will he require support from agencies in the community? Each pre-registered participant will receive a book to use with their child to assist the student in actively participating in his/her future planning. Location: TBA Time: 6-8:30 p.m.

• Building Social Relationships: A Systematic Approach to Teaching Social Interaction Skills to Children and Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum. Scott Bellini, Ph.D. Workshop - April 18, 2008 - Fredericksburg Hospitality House 2801 Plank Road, Fredericksburg, VA.  Description: The workshop will provide an overview of a social skill instructional model developed by Dr. Bellini. The workshop integrates research on social-emotional functioning with effective strategies for teaching social skills to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The five-step model provides a systematic and comprehensive framework to guide parents and practitioners in the development and implementation of social skills programming. Learning Objectives for  Increase knowledge of social and emotional functioning Increase·Participants:  awareness of the relationship between social skill deficits and social anxiety Develop skills necessary to assess social functioning Increase awareness of skill acquisition versus performance deficits Increase awareness of available social skills strategies Develop skills necessary to implement social skills strategies About The Presenter: Scott Bellini, Ph.D. Dr. Scott Bellini is the Assistant Director of the Indiana Resource Center for Autism (IRCA) at Indiana University, Bloomington (IUB), and an Assistant Professor with the IUB School Psychology program. In addition to his work at the university, Scott operates a therapeutic clinic specializing in social skills programming for children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. Scott is currently conducting research on the development of anxiety disorders, social skills pro-gramming, and video self-modeling for children and adolescents with ASD. He has published numerous articles and spoken nationally on the topic of social-emotional functioning and programming for children with ASD. He is also the author of the book, Building Social Relationships, which was named the 2007 Literary Work of the Year by the Autism Society of America. Call Commonwealth Autism Service at 1-800-649-8481 for more information or to register. Workshop Sponsored with The Virginia Department of Education Training and Technical Assistance Centers (T/TAC’s) at George Mason University (Region 4) and
  Virginia Commonwealth University (Regions 1 and 8)  Click here: http://www.autismva.org/documents/BelliniBrochure_000.pdf

• April 21st- Guardianship: A Court Appointed Role: Join the Spotsylvania Co. Special Education Advisory Committee for this informative session at Courtland Elem., 7-8:30 p.m.. If you have a child approaching the age of 18 and you are concerned about their ability to act in their own behalf, you should attend! Refreshments begin at 6:30 p.m.

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1.      Find age-appropriate curricula for teenagers. I am a retired special-education teacher who recently moved here to be closer to my family. My teenage niece, who has a developmental disability, takes special-education classes in one of the area high schools. I was so disappointed to see a "Five Little Pumpkins" booklet, which she'd colored during school time, in her backpack this week. Before that, she had a "Big Grey Squirrel" worksheet. What are these teachers doing? This would have been a suitable activity for a pre schooler, but for a teenager? Come on, use some of that creativity, teamwork, and graduate-school classes on functional curricula and brainstorm more appropriate activities for high school students with disabilities. Get rid of this baby stuff. Parents and students deserve better. FreeLance Star, 11/28/07. http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/112007/11282007/334925

2.      November 12, 2007 Spotsylvania County School Board Meeting

Instructional Highlights: Matt Malobicky and Amy Watkins from Battlefield Elementary School, along with 12 fifth grade students, presented “SCORE-ing with Internet-Based Literacy Centers.”

• Pre-Budget Public Hearing: One parent spoke on behalf of the SCOPE program at Harrison Road Elementary and the need for a full-time teacher.

• Special Report: • During the School Board work session on November 2, Dr. Worner presented information about the enrollment projections for 2008-09 and future years. Based on the enrollment projections for future years and the revised capacity figures for the elementary, middle, and high schools, the construction schedule for future schools has not changed. Dr. Worner updated the capital project tracking sheets to interface better with the county tracking of funding and projected expenditures of school projects for each year in the Capital Improvement Plan. Dr. Worner shared these items tonight, in addition to updated information on buses, capital maintenance projects, and technology projects anticipated during the period 2008 through 2012.

The School Board took action on the following items at the November 12 meeting:

• Recommended that the unspent FY 2007/2006 carryover dollars in the amount of $2,192,137 be utilized for various instructional needs, deferred maintenance projects, transportation, and administrative purchases. (6-0) Based on final FY 2007 audited financial statements, the school division’s total available carryover dollars from FY 2007 ($1,936,037) and FY 2006 ($256,100) totals $2,192,137.  Sources of the Carryover: The School Board’s FY 2007 operating budget was $242,877,817. As of June 30, 2007, all of these funds had been expended with the exception of $1,936,037 which represents .8% of the FY 2007 operating budget. This .8%, which is less than 1%, was not expended due to various reasons. However, at a high level, these funds were not spent due to interest payments not materializing (delay in a bond issue), lower utility costs due to a mild winter, less compensation expenses incurred in the transportation department due to routes being scheduled more efficiently, other lapsed compensation dollars, etc. In addition, the School Board’s original FY 2006 carryover funding was $1,662,583. As of June 30, 2007, all of these funds had been expended with the exception of $256,100 which makes up 15% of the original FY 2006 carryover funding. This 15% was not spent primarily due to the triennial census taking place in the spring of 2008 instead of the spring of 2007. The remaining $50,000 of the $256,100 was not spent due to finance staff only having one vendor respond to a request to supply reconciliation software.

• Approved the reclassification of one Analyst III position to an Analyst IV. (6-0) The installation of fiber optics and associated networking from the bond proceeds requires the supervision of independent installation contractors and of program initiatives to implement wireless networking in the schools. The current job description for Analyst IV includes supervisory responsibilities whereas these duties are not a part of job description for Analyst III. Thus, it is necessary to change one of the five Analyst III positions to an Analyst IV to serve as project supervisor in the school division’s networking initiatives and provide supervision of independent installation contractors. The additional salary costs for FY08 associated with this reclassification is approximately $3,000. These funds are currently in the technology salary account lines due to the late hiring of a July 1 vacant position that is being filled in mid-November.

• Approved the hiring of two Title I paraeducators for FY08 only. (6-0) The Title I 2007-08 allocation for Spotsylvania has funds available to hire for one year only two paraeducators. Salem and Spotswood Elementary Schools, which have high numbers of students on free/reduced lunch, qualify to receive the additional services of Title I personnel. All salaries and benefits will be paid with Title I funds. --School Board News, November 12, 2007.

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1.      TOUCH OF BRAILLE GOALBALL, A SPORT IN SOUND. Local Lions Clubs helps blind boy broaden his world . DeVon Fox is a slim 12-year-old with a winning smile who has been blind since birth and who, with the help of local Lions Clubs, has for the first time left his single-parent mother and five sisters to attend boarding school in the Shenandoah Valley. There he will learn how to eventually live on his own. DeVon, who began sixth grade at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton comes home every weekend. The special bus drops him and other Staunton students with sight and hearing disabilities at the Spotsylvania Mall on State Route 3 on Friday evenings. From there, relatives, friends or volunteers take them to their homes in the area. On Sunday afternoons, the travel is reversed and DeVon and his classmates return to the Staunton campus. The Lions Club of Fredericksburg, joined this year by the Lions Club of Falls Run in southern Stafford County, have both helped prepare and equip DeVon for this major step. Karen Walker, who teaches the visually impaired and who has worked with DeVon since the third grade, gives them full credit. "If it weren't for the Lions Clubs," she said, "DeVon would not be in Staunton." The Fredericksburg Lions gave DeVon (pronounced day-VON) a major communications link a few years ago when they bought him a braille version of a laptop computer. It has a nine-key "keyboard" that types and transmits braille messages while a one-line braille display serves as the "monitor." The Falls Run Lions this summer provided him with a special cell phone, called a "boost phone," which allows DeVon and his mother to communicate with each other whenever they wish. The Lions pay the $1 fee for each day of use, and keep it current through prepaid cards. The special phone also has a "walkie-talkie" aspect that works regardless of how little is on the card. The Stafford club also has organized the weekly transportation that meets DeVon's bus when he comes home for weekends, holidays or vacations and also takes him back to it. They have 23 volunteers so far. Gretchen Condon, a Falls Run Lion, said, "We are mostly retired people here. We have the time, and the desire, to help." They also keep in touch with the family. …FreeLance Star, 11/13/07. http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/112007/11132007/332060

2.      Kids' health managing autism: Early diagnosis and behavior therapy are critical for children with autism. YOU'RE a new parent, and you find yourself in the pediatrician's office where your child is getting screened for autism spectrum disorder. You get the devastating news: Your child is on the spectrum. This is the scenario that thousands more parents will find themselves in as the result of the recently released recommendation by the American Pediatric Association urging that all children be screened for autism spectrum disorder before the age of 2. This recommendation is long overdue and has received plenty of media attention. However, here is what has not been addressed: Once the diagnosis has been made, what answers will parents be given by their doctors and local school systems when they ask, "How can I help my child?" By the time my child received his diagnosis three years ago, he had already been examined by four different pediatricians, a very prominent pediatric neurosurgeon, a neurologist, two physical therapists, an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, and at least two early childhood special educators. We knew something was wrong. Our child was not speaking a single word at 16 months, he did not point, he made little eye contact, and his favorite thing to do was flap his hands while watching spinning objects. The diagnosis finally came from a Defeat Autism Now (DAN) doctor who was recommended to us by a parent of another child on the spectrum. I applaud the APA's urging of early screening, as an early diagnosis gives parents a chance to help their children in a meaningful way. …Under federal and state law, all children with disabilities are entitled to an "appropriate individual educational program." I realized that my son was not receiving an appropriate individual education program, evidenced by his lack of progress towards the goals set at the beginning of the school year. Thus, the fight began with the school when I went to them with a stack of evidence showing that my son required at least 30 hours per week of ABA in order to make meaningful progress in his educational setting. Once again, my persistence and determination yielded a result: My son is currently in an appropriate educational setting and is making progress. Old attitudes of low expectations still prevail, ranging from "Autistics cannot be healed of their symptoms" to "They cannot learn, or lead productive, independent lives." Doctors may frown at the treatments and recommendations given by DAN doctors, but they have no alternative treatments or recommendations to give. Similarly, many educators are not familiar with ABA. They're often critical of this highly successful method, but they have no other plan other than to put children into a one-size-fits-all educational program. …FreeLance Star, 11/18/07. http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/112007/11182007/331511

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1. Life With Anthony. He's a cute, sweet, happy toddler -- with Down syndrome. A generation ago, he'd probably be growing up in an institution -- but today his world is open….When a doctor finally came in, his look told Mike he wasn't mistaken. Lisa was stunned. Even now, she tears up and her voice trembles as she remembers: "I got blindsided. I couldn't help feeling I'd done something to harm him. You take your prenatal vitamins, buy the bassinet and clothes, then you pack your hospital bag — you've prepared for the test. With Down syndrome, for the first time in my life I hadn't prepared for the test."… The Spellmans face many questions in the years to come: Should they send Anthony to a school for special-needs kids or let him be mainstreamed with his brothers? Will other kids tease him because he's different? With new prenatal tests potentially causing a drop in the Down syndrome birthrate, will he have trouble finding friends as an adult? What about getting a job and living on his own someday? Will he marry? How should they arrange for Anthony's care after they're gone? For now, though, he and his family are doing just fine. "I've seen Lisa go from being anxious at every visit to happily coming in for just a well check," says Dr. Patton. "They've all made a very long journey, and I see a sparkle, a love that's been blossoming since the moment they laid hands on that little guy." Lisa remembers that after Anthony was born, the mom of a child with Down syndrome told her, "I know the deep, dark place you're in right now, and you're not going to be there forever." That prediction has come true. "Anthony completes our family, and I wouldn't have him any other way," says Lisa. "He'll be teaching us all our lives — he's already taught me so much about patience. I see how hard he works to sit up, or to reach out for a toy, or to get up on all fours. "You take for granted how easily things come to you, and to your other kids, but every day with Anthony, there's a new discovery, a new joy."…Parenting, Dec/Jan 2008. http://www.parenting.com/parenting/article/0,19840,1679816,00.html

2. Look over Jordan, what do you see? Rochester teen defies stereotypes as school makes run for football glory. Friday night, at a high school football playoff game, it was damp and cold, and the players bounced on their toes to keep warm. Near the Rochester Adams bench, amidst all these bigger teenagers, stood Jordan Kidder, barely five feet tall, with glasses and braces, a school cap, a jersey, a varsity jacket and a job to do. "Watch this for me, Jordan, OK?" a player said, running over. "OK," he said. "Some water, Jordan," another said. "Here," he said, handing over a bottle. "How's it going, Jordan?" another said, slapping his hand. "Going good," he said, slapping back. As the game went on, he didn't throw a pass or make a tackle, he never pulled on a helmet, but when the Highlanders scored, he clapped his gloves hard, and when the kicker needed a tee, he made sure it was there, and when the team went to halftime, he went with them, getting the guys whatever they needed, encouraging them to keep fighting. As student manager, Jordan Kidder, 18, has a unique job. As a young man with Down syndrome, he has a unique life. He doesn't quite look like the guys on the team, isn't quite as big, doesn't speak the same way, maybe moves a little differently. And in high school, where being "different" can be a curse, you might think the other players have been teaching him something. Truth is, he has been teaching them. "I didn't really know what to make of Jordan when we met," admits Josh Renel, Adams' star running back, who now picks up his buddy every Tuesday en route to team dinners at Buffalo Wild Wings, "but Jordan has shown me you can't really judge a person by what he looks like. He's just like any one of us." The story behind his name. Just like any one of us. That sentence would have been laughable 18 years ago, when Cynthia Kidder was pregnant. Tests showed the likelihood of serious problems, and it was politely suggested she terminate the pregnancy. In fact, today, when a prenatal diagnosis is given of Down syndrome, studies suggest up to 90% of women choose to do just that. Cynthia refused. "If I have a child with problems," she said, "it's still my child." At the time, she was confident. She had a big job in New York, she had two other sons. She could handle it. But when the child arrived, she recalls, "People didn't say,  'Congratulations.' They said, 'So ... I hear you had the baby.' " A dire life was predicted for her son: heart defects, smaller limbs, almond-shaped eyes, low muscle tone, learning disabilities. All the typical stuff with Down syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality that usually affects cognitive ability, physical growth and facial appearance -- in other words, how you think, how you grow and how you look. He'll never read, Cynthia was told. He'll never do math. He'll never do anything that's not repetitive behavior. A doctor told her the "good" news: There were two Down syndrome kids he knew "who worked at a McDonald's, wiping tables." Cynthia was drowning. She called a religious aunt and asked for support. Somehow the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" came up in the conversation, and the line, "I looked over Jordan and what did I see ... a band of angels coming after me ..." The next day, she woke up feeling better. She named her baby Jordan. And from that day forward, the kid has been defying predictions. He learned to read -- slowly, but he did. He learned to do math and science. He went to classes with other "normal" kids -- at Cynthia's insistence, and with help from the Rochester school system -- and he made his own friends with an amazingly open and happy heart. One time, when Jordan was playing tag with some fellow grade-schoolers, Cynthia noticed they kept telling her son he was "it." Worried, she quickly intervened, lecturing the boys on the rules. But later Jordan told her, "The first part of recess was more fun. I got to be 'it' the whole time." Cynthia and Jordan's father held Jordan to the same standards as their other children. They found teachers who would do the same. As a result, Jordan has grown into a pretty typical teenager: He listens to Zebrahead on his iPod, watches pro wrestling (his favorite is A.J. Styles), scarfs down hamburgers and pasta, sings in the choir, and is even on the swim team. OK, so he almost always finishes dead last. What's important to him is that he's part of things. Besides, at one swim meet, he finished next-to-last. You never saw anyone as happy with that result as Jordan was. And when you ask Cynthia Kidder, who now runs a national Down syndrome organization called Band Of Angels, dedicated to celebrating and supporting those with the disability, what she thinks about her son graduating next spring -- and planning to go to college -- she recalls how teachers once told her that by the fourth grade, Jordan might be able to make macaroni and cheese. "I told them, 'He lives in my house, I can cook for him. But I'm not a teacher. Can you teach him?' "They have. And he has taught them. About stereotypes. About patience. About dealing with real problems and still maintaining an explosive laugh and a sly sense of humor. When Jordan was told a Free Press photographer was going to take his picture, he asked, "Can they take one of me and the cheerleaders?" …FREE PRESS, 11/11/07. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/COL01/711110588

3. CNN's Kiran Chetry talks to Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers whose son has Down syndrome. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2007/11/12/intv.down.syndrome.cnn?iref=videosearch

4.      Printing Errors Invalidate U.S. Scores on PISA. A top education official called the mishap an “embarrassment” for the federal government. Education Week, 11/18/07. www.edweek.org.

5.      NDSC and NDSS Advocacy Works: I.D.E.A. Fairness Restoration Act. Thanks to the efforts of parent advocates and our work in the House of Representatives, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (H.R. 4188) was introduced on Tuesday, November 13, 2007. Congressman Pete Sessions (R.TX) and Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D.MD) are the co-sponsors of this bill which would allow prevailing (winning party) parents to recoup expert fees and related costs in litigation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Background - In 1986, when Congress amended IDEA, it explained in the Conference Report (an explanation that accompanies a new law that is not explicitly included in the legislation) that when parents win their case against a school district, a judge could award attorney's fees, including, ‘‘reasonable expenses and fees of expert witnesses and the reasonable costs of any test or evaluation which is found to be necessary for the preparation of the parent or guardian's case.'' For years, based on this explanation, parents were awarded expert fees and costs when they were the prevailing party in a lawsuit. However, in 2006 an award of expert fees and costs to parents was challenged in a case that went to the Supreme Court called Arlington Central School District v. Murphy (2006). At that time, the Supreme Court ruled that parents cannot recover expert witness fees and related costs since it was not explicitly stated in the law. As a result, parents, who are prevailing parties, can no longer recover their expert witness and related costs. A Bi-Partisan Effort by Congressman Van Hollen and Congressman Sessions - Congressman Van Hollen stated, upon introduction of the bill: ... Occasionally, the school system cannot or does not provide an appropriate education. In those rare cases, the Congress recognized that parents should have the ability to challenge the school's decision and advocate for a new Individual Education Plan. As both school systems and parents build their cases, they bring expert witnesses to assess the student and testify about the quality of the education plan... For years, prevailing parents were awarded expert witness fees, as Congress intended. ...  In 2006, the provision was challenged and the Supreme Court ruled that because Congress did not make its intention explicit in statute (that parents could be awarded expert fees and costs) courts could not longer award these fees. As a result of this decision, parents can be faced with many thousands of dollars of expert witness fees in order to ensure their child gets an appropriate public education. A single expert witness can charge anywhere from $100 to $300 per hour. Madam Speaker, every student with a disability is entitled to a free and appropriate education under the law. This bill will level the playing field and help parents be effective advocates for their children's best interests. On behalf of individuals with Down syndrome and other disabilities receiving services under I.D.E.A., we thank Congressman Van Hollen and Congressman Sessions for their continued commitment. A great deal of work by advocates still needs to be accomplished for this bill to become a law. We will be issuing Calls for Action at the appropriate time.

A copy of the bill follows:

110TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION

H. R. _____
To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to permit a pre-
vailing party in an action or proceeding brought to enforce the Act
to be awarded expert witness fees and certain other expenses.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. SESSIONS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
________________

A BILL

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
   to permit a prevailing party in an action or proceeding
   brought to enforce the Act to be awarded expert witness
   fees and certain other expenses.

1       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2  tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3  SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4       This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IDEA Fairness Res-
5  toration Act''.

2

1  SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF EXPERT WITNESS FEES AND OTHER
2  EXPENSES AS ATTORNEYS' FEES.
3    (a) IN GENERAL.-Section 615(i)(3) of the Individ-
4  uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
5  1415(i)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following
6  new subparagraph:
7       ‘‘(H) INCLUSION OF EXPERT WITNESS
8       FEES AND OTHER EXPENSES AS ATTORNEYS'
9       FEES.-For the purposes of this paragraph, the
10     term ‘attorneys' fees' shall include the fees of
11     expert witnesses, including the reasonable costs
12     of any test or evaluation necessary for the prep-
13     aration of the parent or guardian's case in the
14     action or proceeding.''.
15   (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.-The amendment made by
16 subsection (a) shall apply to any action or proceeding
17 brought under section 615 of the Individuals with Disabil-
18 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415) that has not been
19 finally adjudicated as of the date of the enactment of this
20 Act.

-          NDSS action alert, 11/20/07.

6. Disabled workers find their niche: Programs help employers redefine job duties, identify employees with appropriate skill levels. KANSAS CITY, MO.: Joe Steffy's double diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism made him unemployable in some minds. His father, Ray Steffy, disagreed. The Steffy family created Poppin Joe's, a kettle corn popping company based at their Louisburg, Kan., home.  Joe Steffy is the proprietor, head popper and chief merchandiser.  ''My intent was to create something for Joe so that he could be a part of the community,'' Ray Steffy said of his nonverbal 21-year-old son. ''It worked. He's part of the community. People call him Poppin Joe when they see his tent at a Wal-Mart or Hy-Vee or a festival.'' Ryan Farley, 25, also has developmental disabilities. He works at an AMC Theatre in Leawood, Kan., where he has been on the payroll for five years. ''I like taking the tickets and wiping the shelves and cleaning the floors,'' Farley said of the only job experience he has known.  Farley, who walks to the theater from a nearby apartment, started working at AMC through a job experience program. When he aged out of the school program, he kept working, thanks to AMC's long-standing commitment to hiring workers with disabilities. ''We identify roles in the operation that they're comfortable with,'' said Dan Glennon, Leawood theater general manager. ''We look for the fine line between challenging them and alienating them. We want it to be successful for everyone.''  Steffy and Farley are two of about 14.3 million U.S. adults who have some level of mental, or cognitive, disability that limits their ability to work, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They also are part of a larger group — about 51.2 million people — who have some level of disability: physical, mental or emotional. Steffy and Farley also are among the fortunate 28.7 million — about 56 percent of the 51.2 million — who held a paying job at some point last year, according to the government statistics. Many other would-be workers with disabilities, particularly those with mental disabilities, are on waiting lists for job-finding assistance or are stuck in frustrating searches for work they can do. The unemployment rate of people with work-limiting disabilities similar to Steffy's and Farley's is 70 to 80 percent of that population. Employment barriers for people with disabilities are many. They can be physical, mental or emotional. Barriers exist because of their inability to perform tasks or because a workplace environment isn't suited to them or because transportation isn't available. Other barriers are financial, the result of government and business budgets that make it hard to access support services that would allow the work to be done. Many barriers are attitudinal, born of discomfort or faulty assumptions about what people with disabilities can or can't do. …Akron Beacon Journal, 11/19/07. http://www.ohio.com/business/11567046.html?page=all&c=y

7. Drivers of children with special needs under review after crash. CHARLOTTE - Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials are inspecting the companies that transport disabled and homeless students after discovering that one driver who caused a serious wreck lacked proper training. Two of the seven companies working for the school system face sanctions, and system leaders are reviewing the contracts with all seven companies to make sure drivers and vehicles are permitted properly. The driver, Felicia Moore of VC Limo & Transportation, was going too fast on Sharon Road on Oct. 26 as she took two brothers home from Smithfield Elementary School. She crossed the center line, according to a police report. The van skidded, hit another car and overturned. A CMS official called it the most severe accident involving one of the school system's private transportation companies in at least a decade. Both boys were thrown from the vehicle and taken to the hospital, where one was kept for five days. … The Charlotte Observer, 11/20/07. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/781176.html

8. School officials tighten focus on Yates High issues: Emphasis is on special education rates, increasing feeder resources. Houston school officials announced this week that they're stepping up efforts to make sure students at Yates High School and the schools that feed into it aren't unnecessarily placed in special education. Nearly 1 in 4 Yates students — mostly black males — were labeled as special needs last year. Nearly 60 percent of the 309 students receiving extra help were classified as learning disabled and 13 percent more were considered mentally retarded. Yates' 23 percent diagnosis rate is more than twice the state's 11 percent average. "This is our biggest challenge in the Yates feeder pattern," said Carlotta Outley Brown, principal of Peck Elementary School. "These numbers are not only worrisome, they're troublesome." But the special education rates are just one of the problems plaguing campuses. Several residents who turned out for a meeting Thursday about the 14 schools in the Yates feeder pattern expressed dismay with the poor building conditions and the lack of resources provided to students in the predominantly black schools. …Houston Chronicle, 11/16/07. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5309266.html
9. A better equation: A Braintree middle school, spurred by federal mandate, redesigns its math curriculum, and the gains are adding up. …Administrators and teachers at the Braintree school made sure lessons matched state standards, adopted the latest teaching techniques, and bought new textbooks. Students as a whole consistently scored above the state average on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests. But then came 2004 and some disappointing scores for special-education students in the first round of testing under the sweeping No Child Left Behind law. Initially, school officials, like those at dozens of other departments across the region, thought they needed only to tweak instruction for those students. But eventually, East Middle School realized it needed fundamental changes in the teaching of math to all students. Now, there is evidence the holistic approach may be working. Last month, the school learned that MCAS scores last spring for special-education students shot up 14 percent over the previous year, while scores for others remained strong. "Student achievement is owned by everyone," said Kristen St. George, the school's principal. "It's not just a math issue or a special education issue. …" Boston Globe, 11/18/07. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/18/a_better_equation/

10. A Gap in Knowledge About Kids, Medication. A decade after the government began trying to ensure that prescription drugs used to treat children work and are safe, doctors still have scant information to guide them when they administer many medications to kids. Although federal regulators have enticed or forced pharmaceutical companies to conduct hundreds of studies that have produced vital results about more than 200 drugs, perhaps two-thirds of the thousands of medications given to children remain untested on them. "Are there children dying because of this? I don't know. Are there children being less effectively treated because of this? Probably yes. But I can't tell you because I don't know," said Richard L. Gorman of the American Academy of Pediatrics . "That's the problem: We don't know what we don't know." What researchers have discovered has been disturbing. A highly effective adult migraine drug, for example, turned out to be worthless in children, while sometimes causing serious side effects, including strokes. An asthma inhaler could inhibit growth. A narcotic patch routinely used to relieve pain, such as after tonsil surgery, could cause fatal overdoses. Doctors were giving far too little of a medicine used to prevent seizures. The alarming gap in medical knowledge is the legacy of many factors. The testing of drugs in children was shunned for decades as unnecessary and unethical; Congress and the pharmaceutical industry did not provide adequate funding; and conducting medical experiments on children is difficult. "We're chipping away at the problem, but we still have a long way to go," Gorman said. "It's like trying to turn an oil tanker: It takes a long time to get it moving in the right direction. And even when it's moving in the right direction, there's a big ocean it has to get across. There's still a big ocean of unstudied drugs that we have to sail across before we complete them all." The quandary stems from the same dynamics that left over-the-counter pediatric cold remedies on drugstore shelves despite little evidence that they helped and mounting evidence that they could be dangerous. Pharmaceutical companies, regulators and researchers long thought that doctors could safely extrapolate the results of studies in adults and simply scale down the doses. "Up to the late 1990s, children were mostly left out of new drug development," said Ralph E. Kauffman, an emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Kansas City. "It just wasn't thought necessary."  At the same time, pharmaceutical developers had little incentive to focus on children. "Pediatric patients were always the orphans. People didn't pay enough attention to them. They're just not a big enough market share," said Lisa Mathis, associate director for the pediatric and maternal health staff at the Food and Drug Administration's office for new drugs.  But researchers started to realize that children react to many drugs in surprising ways. "Children are different; they are not just small adults," said Gregory L. Kearns, a professor of pharmacology and pediatrics at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. "They are not just fractions of adults." … Washington Post, 11/23/07. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201525.html?hpid=topnews

11. Including Samuel: A Parental View of Mainstreaming. … Q: Where does successful inclusion exist right now in America? A: In the family.…All Things Considered, NPR, 11/19/07. http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=16435558&m=16435770

12. "Focus on Teacher Effectiveness to Improve Student Achievement and Enhance Teacher Support," for additional background on the research basis for recommendations contained in the letter sent to Congressional leaders by the NCLB Commission and other national organizations.  http://www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7Bdeb6f227-659b-4ec8-8f84-8df23ca704f5%7D/TEACHEREFFECTIVENESSBRIEFFINAL6.28.07.PDF

13. What works in education: the lessons according to McKinsey.  THE British government, says Sir Michael Barber, once an adviser to the  former prime minister, Tony Blair, has changed pretty much every aspect of  education policy in England and Wales, often more than once. “The funding of  schools, the governance of schools, curriculum standards, assessment and  testing, the role of local government, the role of national government, the  range and nature of national agencies, schools admissions”—you name it, it's  been changed and sometimes changed back. The only thing that hasn't changed has  been the outcome. According to the National Foundation for Education Research,  there had been (until recently) no measurable improvement in the standards of  literacy and numeracy in primary schools for 50 years.  England and Wales are not alone. Australia has almost tripled education  spending per student since 1970. No improvement. American spending has almost  doubled since 1980 and class sizes are the lowest ever. Again, nothing. No  matter what you do, it seems, standards refuse to budge (see chart). To misquote  Woody Allen, those who can't do, teach; those who can't teach, run the schools.  Why bother, you might wonder. Nothing seems to matter. Yet something must.  There are big variations in educational standards between countries. These have been measured and re-measured by the OECD's Programme for International Student  Assessment (PISA) which has established, first, that the best performing  countries do much better than the worst and, second, that the same countries  head such league tables again and again: Canada, Finland, Japan, Singapore,  South Korea.  Those findings raise what ought to be a fruitful question: what do the successful lot have in common? Yet the answer to that has proved surprisingly elusive. Not more money. Singapore spends less per student than most. Nor more study time. Finnish students begin school later, and study fewer hours, than in  other rich countries. Now, an organisation from outside the teaching fold—McKinsey, a consultancy  that advises companies and governments—has boldly gone where educationalists  have mostly never gone: into policy recommendations based on the PISA findings. Schools, it says*, need to do three things: get the best teachers; get the best  out of teachers; and step in when pupils start to lag behind. That may not sound  exactly “first-of-its-kind” (which is how Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's head of  education research, describes McKinsey's approach): schools surely do all this  already? Actually, they don't. If these ideas were really taken seriously, they would change education radically. … Economist, 10/18/07. http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9989914

14. Andrea Messina testified before the House Education and Labor Committee on their draft reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act on September 10, 2007. Messina credited the Committee for addressing key issues such as allowing the use of growth measures in meeting AYP requirements for students and limiting subgroup size.  Messina also communicated concerns about key issues including the use of multiple indicators in a way that would weaken NCLB accountability. http://www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7Bdeb6f227-659b-4ec8-8f84-8df23ca704f5%7D/MESSINAHOUSECOMMITTEEDRAFTCOMMENTS.PDF

15. School's Padded Room Upsets Parents Of Special Needs Students: Parents Confront School Board. CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- Some parents who are alarmed because they just learned about a special room with padded walls and floor confronted members of the Cherry Hill School Board on Tuesday night. The parents said they are concerned about the treatment of their special needs children, NBC 10's Deanna Durante reported. "Instead of educating them, they're going to throw them (in) to bash their heads against a padded wall somewhere," said one parent at Tuesday's meeting. "Disgusting." "It is absolutely wrong that each and every one of you can go to bed at night thinking that this is OK to do to children," said another parent. Lisa Grams said she wants people to see the images of the room with its walls padded inside A. Russell Knight Elementary. She fears the room has been used for students who act out.  "The room smells. There's no ventilation. There's fluorescent lighting," Grams said. According to the district, the room was used last year for small group instruction, or as a place kids could go for quiet time.  The padding was added this year, according to district officials, who said in a statement: "The gym mats were placed in the room following an IEP (individualized education plan) meeting, as part of a crisis plan. The room was used once in a crisis situation with prior parental consent."  "Putting a child in a padded room because they don't know how to deal with their disability is not an option in my book," said Grams, whose son is autistic and is a student at the school.  Gram believes the room, no matter how many times used, is unacceptable.  "I think it's frightening. It makes me sick to my stomach," said another parent, Lisa Scuoppo. Parents said they just learned of the room's existence.  "I have enough confidence in the district to believe that, if there is a padded room, there's a legitimate reason," said parent Christine Pawliczek. Some parents agree that specially-designed rooms are sometimes needed to provide a safe place for students whose actions put them at risk for self-injury. Their complaint is that this specific room was poorly designed, and they're questioning its use. The district said the room has been dismantled. It's now a book storage room. And they pointed to a newer, bigger room -- also photographed by Grams -- as its new place for small group instruction. The district said the room was only used once, but to Grams that's not the point.  "I would rather have education and training for the staff than to just shuffle the kids into a room and let them handle it all on their own," she said. NBC 10, 11/27/07. http://www.nbc10.com/education/14709002/detail.html?rss=phi&psp=news

16. Doctor at center of stunting debate kills himself: Daniel Gunther helped parents of disabled girl keep her small. SEATTLE - The doctor at the center of a controversial procedure which stunted the growth of a severely disabled girl has committed suicide. Dr. Daniel F. Gunther died from toxic asphyxia from inhaling car exhaust, said Greg Hewett of the King County Medical Examiner's Office. His time of death was listed as 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 30. The 49-year-old was a pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. In 2004, Gunther and his colleague Dr. Douglas S. Diekema performed a hysterectomy, removed the breast tissue and started hormone treatment to permanently halt the growth of a 6-year-old disabled girl so her parents could continue to care for her at home. The doctors wrote about the procedure, which was performed at Children's Hospital, in the October 2006 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. News of the procedure last fall sparked debate about the ethics of the treatment both online and in the medical community. One poster on   MSNBC.com's message boards called the procedure "offensive if not perverse." Others supported the decision: " I feel like everything [the parents] are doing is intended to be in the best interest of their child."  The girl, identified only as Ashley, had feeding problems shortly after birth and showed major developmental delays. Her doctors diagnosed her with severe brain damage and don't know what caused it. Her condition has left her in an infant state, unable to sit up, hold a toy or talk. Her mother called Ashley her "pillow angel" and said the procedure kept her a more manageable and portable size that would allow her family to continue to care for her at home. In May, Children's Hospital admitted it broke state law by not having a court review the proposed treatment and allowing the surgery to proceed. The hospital blamed the lapse on "internal miscommunication." State law requires a court order before sterilizing a child. The hospital has since promised to develop policies to require court orders for such procedures and appoint a disability-rights advocate to its ethics board. Children's had no comment on Gunther's death, said hospital spokesperson Jennifer Seymour. The University of Washington Medical Center also would not comment. …MSNBC, 10/11/07. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21225569/

17. Parents Accuse Special Ed Teacher Of Child Abuse. MANSFIELD, TX ― A Mansfield couple claims two of their children have either witnessed or been a victim of child abuse in a Mansfield Independent School District classroom. Andrew and Deanna Turner have three children, all of whom are developmentally disabled.  Two of their children are in the same special education class at Willie Brown Elementary School. The Turners say their 4-year-old son saw a teacher binding an autistic student to a chair. The couple also claims their 4-year-old daughter says the same teacher touched her genitalia.  In talking about her daughter, Deanna Turner said, "As soon as she's asked how she was touched she immediately changes the subject and shuts down." MISD officials tell CBS 11 News the teacher is the subject of administrative and criminal investigations.  Officials say she has been on administrative leave since October 31, pending the outcome of the investigation. District officials say one of the allegations against the teacher is misuse of a Thera-Band, which is a tool used in physical therapy.  It's similar to a giant rubber band. … CBS 11 News, 11/27/07. http://cbs11tv.com/local/child.abuse.allegations.2.597079.html

18. In recognition of its investment in transforming the lives of children with disabilities, the Ravenswood  City School District was named inaugural recipient of the TASH Breakthrough in Education Award for the nation's Most Promising Inclusive School District. Ravenswood City School District will be honored at the TASH 2007 annual meeting Dec. 5-8 in Seattle. TASH is an international organization that advocates for inclusion of  people with disabilities. The award recognizes the contributions of local school systems and individuals who are leading the way in guiding students with disabilities grades K-12 toward academic and social success using inclusive education practices. "The Ravenswood community is honored to be recognized as the Most Promising Inclusive School District," said Maria De la Vega, District  Superintendent. "We have made a commitment to a student-focused service model, basing instructional decisions on social and academic performance data. Administrators and teachers meet regularly to discuss student progress and necessary supports, and the data we have collected shows that our students benefit from an environment that encourages all of them to learn and work together. The award recognizes the progress Ravenswood has made since 1996, when the District and the California Department of Education were named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight students with disabilities. The lawsuit alleged that the District and state failed to adequately identify, assess, educate and place students with disabilities as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Since then, Ravenswood has implemented a fully integrated model of service delivery; there are no longer separate special education classes and all students are enrolled in their neighborhood school or school of choice. Ravenswood has the distinction of being the only district in California to serve all students in an age-appropriate general education classroom."The Ravenswood City School District is a role model for all school districts committed to inclusive education for students with disabilities," said June Downing, Ph.D., educational consultant and chair of the TASH awards committee. "By focusing on the needs of each student, administrators and teachers are now able to monitor each child's progress and make adjustments to ensure that all students have access to the services and supports they need to succeed in their classrooms."…Press Release, 11/27/07.

19. NCLB Commission Joins Education Reform Organizations in Coalition efforts Releasing Letters Urging Teacher Effectiveness Focus and High School Graduation Rate Accountability in NCLB. The Commission sent a letter to the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller and Ranking Member Buck McKeon and to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy and Ranking Member Mike Enzi, urging the use of teacher effectiveness measures in the reauthorized No Child Left Behind Act.  The Commission was joined by The Education Trust, Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights, National Council of La Raza, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Center for American Progress Action Fund in calling on Congress to assure that every state that implements a growth model to measure student achievement also is required to calculate growth by classroom, report that information and use it - in combination with principal and peer observation - to prioritize professional development and to ensure that poor and disadvantaged students have the same access to effective teachers as their more advantaged peers. NCLB Commission News Alert, 11/21/07. http://www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7Bdeb6f227-659b-4ec8-8f84-8df23ca704f5%7D/NCLBTEACHEFFECTIVENESSLETTER.PDF

20. The NCLB Commission also joined with several organizations in signing a letter to Congressional leaders calling for graduation rate accountability for high schools in the reauthorization of NCLB. Specifically, the letter, signed by The Commission, The Alliance for Excellent Education, Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights, The Education Trust, First Focus, Jobs for the Future, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Urban League and Talent Developing High Schools calls for: Consistent and accurate calculations of graduation rates to ensure comparability and transparency; Aggressive, attainable, and uniform annual growth requirements as part of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) to ensure a minimum, consistent increase in graduation rates; Requirements for reaching targets for reading and math assessments and graduation rates -- giving equal weight to both in AYP determinations to ensure that schools have balanced incentives to both graduate their students and raise their test scores instead of doing one at the expense of the other; and Disaggregation for accountability and reporting to ensure that school improvement activities focus on all students and close graduation rate gaps. In addition to the provisions outlined in this letter, the Commission has also called for: adding a 12^th grade assessment to allow schools to measure student achievement through the end of high school and use growth data to gauge student progress and teacher classroom effectiveness, comprehensive district-wide improvement plans for districts with large concentrations of struggling high schools and the development of model national standards for state adoption or comparison to assure that students graduate high school prepared for success. NCLB Commission News Alert, 11/21/07. http://www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7Bdeb6f227-659b-4ec8-8f84-8df23ca704f5%7D/GRADRATESLETTER.PDF

21. Indianapolis Public Schools administrators have been threatening and intimidating teachers routinely, creating a districtwide culture of mean-spiritedness and abuse, union officials told the School Board on Monday. About 2,700 of the district's 3,000 teachers signed a petition that says the "administration continues to ignore or minimize issues that are vital to improving both the learning conditions of all children and the working conditions of all educators." Indianapolis Education Association President Al Wolting said teacher morale has been lower in the past year and a half than it's been in at least a decade. The district's plan to close eight schools and displace hundreds of staff members has teachers on edge, Wolting said, and they also have been struggling to adapt to a barrage of new programs and requirements since 2006. Those tensions, coupled with an abusive culture among many administrators, have created an unbearable situation for many teachers, he said. "There are some principals who are poorly trained and are mean-spirited," he said. "They yell at their staff, abuse them in front of children and colleagues and generally treat teachers in an unprofessional way." He and other union leaders stressed that many other principals are respectful but said that teachers who have come forward to make complaints about unfair treatment in some places have been penalized in their job reviews and in other ways. Superintendent Eugene White said he will take the teachers' concerns into account but believes the nonbinding petition was worded in such a way that teachers might not have known what they were signing. Wolting's comments about meanness were subjective, White said. If principals have trouble dealing with employees, the central office deals with that in their evaluations. His administration has done much to ease frustrations of teachers, White said, including placing the rowdiest students in alternative schools and providing an excellent deal on health benefits this year. "We're going to do the best we can to help our teachers," White said. "They're the backbone of what we do." Indianapolis Star, 11/28/07. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071127/LOCAL18/711270420

22. Adults seek to restore bond between kids and nature. CHARLOTTE, N.C. - On any given Saturday, if you want to find Alex and Matthew Weber, you'd better put on hiking boots. Alex, 9, and Matthew, 7, aren't going to be at soccer practice, watching TV or playing computer games. They're probably going to be exploring the woods or tromping around a nearby creek. And it's not just on weekends. After school, the kids play in the stick teepee in their woodsy south Charlotte backyard. When darkness falls, they walk with their parents to hear night sounds.  Many Americans recall a kind of feral existence as a kid, scrambling down ravines, building forts and climbing trees, returning home only when the street lights blinked on. But ask these adults what their own kids' lives are like and you hear something else. Homework, sports, music lessons, video games and TV cram most corners of their lives, and if they're outside it's often on a playground or sports field.  Fear of kids' missing out an activities with their peers, fear of strangers and the loss of wild spaces all keep children in. Now, a growing number of educators, parents and even lawmakers are calling for a change in the way we raise our kids. Author Richard Louv drew national attention to the broken bond between children and nature in his 2005 book "Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" (Algonquin Books, $13.95 paperback). Unfettered time outside, Louv said in an interview, "is fundamental to human development. It's wonderful for (kids') ability to learn, and it's wonderful for their stress level."  And knowing, on a first-hand basis, the trees and grasses and bugs and birds helps kids understand much better what they learn in a classroom. As Louv puts it, "it's tough for kids to learn about biology if they've never touched a frog." One in six kids ages 2 to 19 is overweight, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and children spend an average of 21 hours a week watching TV, not including time spent in front of computers or video games. But beyond the practical benefits of providing exercise and sharpening attention, Louv said, nature, more than anything else, ignites a person's wonder. His book quotes ecologist Rachel Carson, author of "Silent Spring": "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement and the mystery of the world we live in." The ideas are gaining momentum. Sept. 24-30 was designated the first-ever national "take a child outside week," regionally sponsored by the N.C. Museum of Natural History. "No child left inside" bills promoting environmental literacy in schools have been introduced in Congress. Some Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, such as Providence Spring Elementary, are sending kids outside for lessons. The Webers have made some trade-offs in order to give their children a life outdoors. For instance, they've cut out weekend TV, even when chilling out in front of the set sounds inviting. And they've kept their kids out of organized sports while they're young so Saturdays wouldn't be swallowed by practices. As soon as the kids could walk, the family started hiking, collecting leaves and other "treasures" in decorated Ziploc bags. They garden. They camp in their backyard. They've gotten into geocaching - using a GPS unit to hunt for a hidden cache in the woods. "Half the time when we walk through the neighborhood, they'll be the only kids out," Patti said. "The first question most people ask is, 'What sports are your kids in?' And my answer is, 'They do everything.' " The Charlotte Observer, 11/24/07. http://www.newsobserver.com/1565/story/789658.html

23. Artist Lenz to paint Shriver. The National Portrait Gallery has commissioned local artist David Lenz to create a portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics. Lenz was given the honor of painting Shriver, 86, for the permanent collection of the gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., as part of a prize. In 2006, Lenz won the National Portrait Gallery's first national portrait triennial, which drew more than 4,000 artists. His winning portrait, "Sam and the Perfect World," is of his son, who was born with Down syndrome. The painting is temporarily on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Lenz sought to present the contradictions between how Sam views the world and how it views Sam in his winning work. In it, Sam stands at what seems the entrance to a mysterious landscape, but a fence bars him. Sam participates in the Special Olympics. The Shriver portrait is scheduled to be completed and presented in late 2008. Journal Sentinel, 11/27/07. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=690777

24. Last horse ride for kids: The sudden ending of a Menomonee Falls therapeutic program for children with disabilities saddens clients, volunteers. A well-known human services organization has abruptly ended a popular therapeutic horseback riding program for children with disabilities in Menomonee Falls, leaving volunteers and clients heartbroken and frustrated by what they said was a lack of communication and compassion by the new parent company. Curative Care Network, a nonprofit organization that provides rehabilitation, residential and day-service opportunities for people with disabilities in four counties, maintained that the riding program at Ranch Community Services was not making enough money. It also said the therapeutic riding lessons and animal farm, which have served adults and children with a range of disorders for more than 40 years, are no longer part of Curative's "core mission." Curative took over Ranch Community Services in a merger last November. "While we acknowledge that there is therapeutic value to the animal programs that had been operated by the Ranch, we regret that it is necessary to take this step so that we can continue to maintain our financial viability," Curative President Bob Coons said in a statement. …With Griffin leading Jock, Sullivan and volunteer Jessica Meeks held their own private therapy session while 16 children took their final lessons across the street at the Ranch. Curative banned reporters and outsiders from the last day of lessons on its property. Watching his son stretch from Jock's back to place rings around a cone held by Meeks, Ed Sullivan said that when Justin Sullivan started riding about seven years ago, his posture and coordination improved almost immediately. "It strengthens the trunk muscles, and besides that, he just likes it," he said as his son trotted past, grinning ecstatically. "You're always looking for different things (with a special-needs child), and this provided exercise and socialization with other riders. He's 17, but he can't get in a car and drive to a friend's house." Journal Sentinel, 11/12/07. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=685342

25. Obama unveils $18 billion education plan. The Illinois Democrat criticized Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards for not fully funding No Child Left Behind. While outlining his own education proposal to prepare students for college and to train teachers to lead in classrooms, Obama said the two rivals haven't done enough to protect students. "It's pretty popular to bash No Child Left Behind out on the campaign trail, but when it was being debated in Congress four years ago, my colleague Dick Durbin offered a chance to vote so that the law couldn't be enforced unless it was fully funded," Obama said. "A lot of senators, including Senator Edwards and Senator Clinton, passed on that chance. And I believe that was a serious mistake." Obama's plan would encourage universal pre-kindergarten programs — but not require them — expand teacher mentoring programs and reward teachers with increased pay not tied to standardized test scores. Failing teachers would be moved from classrooms and replaced with ones who are competent, Obama said. "In this election, at this defining moment, we can decide that this century will be another American century by making a historic commitment to education. We can make a commitment that's more than just the rhetoric of a campaign, one that's more than another empty promise made by a politician looking for your vote," the Illinois senator said. Obama's plan would cost $18 billion. His campaign said he would pay for it by delaying NASA's Constellation Program, which is developing the vehicle and rockets to go to the moon and later to Mars, by reducing costs by buying in bulk, by auctioning surplus federal property and by cutting down erroneous payments identified by the Government Accountability Office. Education Week, 11/20/07. http://www.edweek.org  

26. Show parents choices if test says Down syndrome: Less than 'perfect' child can have a rich, fulfilling life. ALL across the land this fall, people have been gathering to promote awareness and acceptance of Down syndrome. Central to their message is the idea that people with the condition are valued family members who lead happy, fulfilling lives. At the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists have been meeting to develop research agendas to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome, the genetic condition that results when a person has three copies of the 21st chromosome instead of the usual pair. But in the places where medicine is practiced, a very different and less benevolent awareness of Down syndrome reigns. As a result of recent changes in technology and standards of care, women are undergoing prenatal diagnostics for Down syndrome in unprecedented numbers — often multiple times during their pregnancies. When the condition is detected, they are having abortions at rates that are thought to approach 90 percent. Those of us who actually have relationships with people with Down syndrome, and who see them achieving and thriving in their communities, view this paradox as baffling at best, tragic at worst. We cherish our friends and family members and think their unexpected extra chromosome is not the most important thing about them. And we worry that the relentlessness of genetic testing is amplifying stigma and bias against the 350,000 flesh-and-blood Americans who have the condition, as well as people who have other conditions that are now or soon will be prenatally discoverable. In recent conversations with obstetricians and gynecologists, I've found that we family members aren't the only ones with these fears. Physicians say they're disturbed by mounting demands from prospective parents for nothing less than the "perfect" child, and by lawyers who troll for lawsuits against doctors who have the misfortune to deliver nonstandard babies. Doctors are left to practice defensive medicine, ordering expensive tests and drowning patients in mind-numbing data, while parents labor under the misapprehension that they have a duty to terminate if the tests so dictate. It's bad enough that the prenatal screens themselves aren't exact. They can't tell for sure whether a fetus has an extra chromosome, only the Las Vegas odds that it might. And here's the worst part: The diagnostics carry the unspoken message that people with Down syndrome are "bad outcomes," people whose lives are not worth living. Yet there hasn't been a comprehensive effort to collect data on the outcomes of adults with the condition, nor have there been well-funded efforts to develop treatments for them. Nobody thinks the tests are going away. Still, there is much physicians could do to reform the testing process, reducing women's stress and lessening the risk of stigma against people with Down syndrome and other genetic differences:…Houston Chronicle, 11/24/07. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5325361.html

27. Disabled Scout leader, council battle in court: Charter revoked, troop disbanded after Titusville woman claims bias. For years, life in the Rasmussen household has revolved around Scouting. They built Cub Scout and Boy Scout units with boys who left other troops because they felt mistreated because of their mental and physical disabilities. Both parents were unit leaders, and Palma Rasmussen sat on a councilwide review board. But now the Titusville couple find themselves frozen out of Scouting. The Central Florida Council terminated Palma and Keith Rasmussen's memberships and revoked their unit charter, forcing some 30 scouts to join other area troops. The church where they conducted their meetings kicked them out. Palma Rasmussen, who uses a wheelchair most of the time because of various physical ailments, said she and the other families are being retaliated against because of a civil rights lawsuit she filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act against the Central Florida Council. She's asking for compensatory damages, but all she said she really wants is her troop membership and charter back. The Central Florida Council has denied violating her rights or failing to accommodate her disabilities. The organization also responded in a counter-claim that she was dismissed from her position and had her membership revoked because she misused Scout funds and didn't follow proper procedures. "We feel her lawsuit has no merits," said Jeff Jonason, president of the Central Florida Council. As a private volunteer organization, he said, the Boy Scouts of America is not subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Nonetheless, the organization tries to accommodate those with special needs, he said. "Our intention is to make activities open to all the kids," Jonason said. "It's the outdoors, though, so it can't be 100 percent accessible." It's now in the hands of the federal courts, and the odds are stacked against the Rasmussens. The courts historically have maintained the Boy Scouts of America's exemptions from federal civil rights laws as a private membership organization. …Palma Rasmussen had been nominated in November 2005 by other leaders in her troop to be inducted into the Order of the Arrow. According to the Boy Scouts Web site, the Order of the Arrow "recognizes Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives." She told her superiors that she had physical disabilities that required certain accommodations so she could participate. She arrived at Camp La-No-Che on Jan. 13 and the nightmare began for her. She had no access to her wheelchair for roughly 26 hours, and was placed in a room where the doorway was too narrow for her wheelchair. Without her wheelchair she couldn't use the cramped bathroom and shower and was dependent on others to get around in a golf cart. On the morning of Jan. 14, she was awakened at 6 a.m., helped into a golf cart and taken to a remote picnic area where she waited until 8:30 a.m. for others to arrive and have breakfast. She was then carted to the quartermaster hut, where she said she was left mostly alone for eight hours without any bathroom relief or food and water. At the campfire ceremony later in the evening, several people hauled her off the golf cart and placed her on a log around a campfire, a difficult and painful position for her since her knees are fused and don't bend. She said she sat there for three hours. Finally, at 9:45 p.m. she was allowed to use her wheelchair again. "Every request she made for an accommodation was met," Jonason said. … Florida Today, 11/28/07.  http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/NEWS01/711230348&template=news0301

28. Group files lawsuit for disabled students. Jacob, a former Issaquah student with severe disabilities, used to love it when other students visited his special-education classroom. His mother said it helped him learn how to talk to other kids. So when Jacob, who has been diagnosed with autism and mental retardation, went to live at the state-run Frances Haddon Morgan Center in Bremerton, his mother expected similar success. For years, school-aged Morgan Center residents had attended Bremerton public schools. But this year the district decided it no longer has the classroom space to accommodate them. Recently, the district reached an agreement with the state Department of Social and Health Services, which runs the Morgan Center, to open a classroom on the institution grounds. On Wednesday, Disability Rights Washington filed a lawsuit saying that taking these youths out of public school violates state and federal laws against discrimination. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of eight youths ranging in age from 14 to 20, names the school district, the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and DSHS as defendants, saying each played a role in the decision. Advocates for people with disabilities see the move as part of a larger trend in Washington, where children living at another institution have also been moved out of their local public school. "I think it's a giant step backward," said David Carlson, associate director of legal advocacy for Disability Rights Washington. "It erases decades' worth of work to get children with disabilities the education services they need to develop and flourish just like any other students in the public-school system." The lawsuit also said the students have been moved repeatedly from one classroom to another and have not received the services they're supposed to. The school district declined to answer questions, issuing a brief statement saying DSHS is responsible for the decision. The statement also said the district is closing the junior-high building that the disabled students now use. Sixth-graders who were also in that building have been moved to other Bremerton classrooms. DSHS said the district forced theirhand, and that keeping the students in public school is their preference. …Rolfe said the increase is caused by a lack of resources in the community. When parents raising children with severe disabilities have no other options, she acknowledged, they sometimes ask the state to admit their child to an institution. That goes against decades of advocacy. Until the 1970s, many public schools did not offer services for youths with severe disabilities. In 1972, Washington was the first state to require public schools to educate special-needs students just like any other students. The federal government followed in 1974. Meanwhile, there has been a nationwide push toward deinstitutionalization. In general, the law says people with disabilities should live and learn in the least-restrictive settings that meet their needs. The federal Office of Civil Rights has opened an investigation into the schooling of the Fircrest children. It's unclear when that will be completed. …  Seattle Times, 11/22/07. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004029039_disabledschool22m.html

29. ORANGE RIDGE ELEMENTARY. The Herald-Tribune spent the 2006-07 school year tracking a group of children with mental disabilities — students excluded from the high-stakes testing that has transformed public education. During more than 100 hours of unrestricted classroom visits, a reporter documented their year of learning.

(1) The children left behind by 'No Child Left Behind' The first-day chaos starts to fade long before the last bus pulls up to Orange Ridge Elementary. Teacher Lynne Eash stands outside, cooling herself with a makeshift fan, watching students disappear from the breezeways. Most of her fellow teachers follow the children inside, but Eash stays behind, waiting for her students. They are always the last to arrive. Her students all come to her because the school system deems they can not learn like other children. They are in third, fourth and fifth grade, but function like kindergartners because of mental retardation, brain damage or autism. Some have trouble speaking. Others can’t spell their names or recite the alphabet. One nine-year-old boy is still learning to use a toilet. Eash’s job for the school year: Find some way to teach them. Most children their age will spend the year learning how to divide numbers and how to read and understand complex writing.  Eash’s lessons will be far simpler. Her curriculum calls for classes on tying shoes and washing dishes. Eash’s students are part of the small group of children who fall outside the safety net of No Child Left Behind, the federal government’s push to ensure that all students are learning. The tough law makes few exceptions. Eash’s classroom is full of them. No one will come to her class to prepare her students for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. They do not have to take it. As a result, money, resources and attention have been siphoned away and redirected to students who struggle to read and do basic math — children whose test scores will be counted. …Herald Tribune, 11/25/07. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071125/NEWS/711250439

(2) In search of classroom balance. …This is how the students in Lynne Eash's class start every morning -- learning a basic skill that they will one day need to be independent. For many of them, a measure of independence is what they will take away from their school years. But Jarlene is different. As she moves from one student to the next with the calendar exercise, it is clear she has mastered skills most of her classmates have not, despite the brain damage and memory problem that brought her to this classroom. She comes to Natiya Davis, a 10-year-old whose mental retardation makes it hard for her to speak. Natiya looks down and says nothing. "Come on, Natiya," Jarlene says. "You can do it. Trust me." Jarlene's cheerleading becomes a regular soundtrack in Eash's class at Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary School in Bradenton. Jarlene finishes her work well before the other students, then helps them finish. When her fellow students get frustrated, she promises them they can do better. She even encourages Eash when the teacher gets frustrated. But Jarlene's enthusiasm masks a truth that could have lifelong consequences -- she is making slow progress. In part, that is because Eash is forced to spend most of her time with other students, teaching lessons that Jarlene already knows. Even Eash sometimes wonders how Jarlene ended up in her classroom. It is an issue that has marked special education classrooms since the public school system first established the program in the 1970s. Public schools play host to students with all manner of disabilities, and children can sometimes be pigeon-holed into classrooms with others whose needs and abilities are different. The tools that schools use to classify students, primarily IQ and behavior tests, can be vague, making it hard to group children. That leaves special education teachers like Eash scrambling to balance the needs of children like Jarlene with the needs of more severely handicapped students. … Herald Tribune, 11/26/07. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071126/NEWS/711260395

(3) Before teaching, a daily fight for control of the classroom. The cafeteria at Orange Ridge Elementary bustles with noise as children laugh and talk with their classmates. But one table set off from the rest is quiet. Lynne Eash's students sit in a straight row, eyes down, quietly eating their lunches. Their teacher looks angry as she stands with her arms crossed, watching them. This morning, Eash's students spent most of their class time talking instead of doing their reading and writing assignments. Now, as punishment, they must eat in silence. The students seem cowed during lunch, but the discipline lesson is long forgotten by the time they line up to return to their classroom. They start talking and poking each other. "I recall the hallway rules are to walk quietly and look forward," she reminds them. "When we go into the classroom, we're all going to go to our desks and put our heads down." Most of the children straighten up at her tone, but 9-year-old Jacob Boynton does not appear to be listening. He swings his arms and steps on another student's toe. They start pushing and hitting each other. Once again, Eash must play disciplinarian. All teachers deal with behavior problems, but the issue is more complex in special education classes such as Eash's, where some students have disabilities that make it hard for them to control their actions. . .Like other special education teachers, Eash is trained in how to prevent meltdowns by talking to children and making them feel comfortable and in control during stressful situations. She is also trained to restrain children who become physical so they do not hurt themselves or others. . . . Jacob's attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is just the start of his medical problems. His mother says he was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, which cut off oxygen and caused brain damage. The boy is prone to seizures that strike in the middle of the night or in the early morning and leave him unable to go to school. During the course of the year, he misses dozens of days of class. The special education system is full of children like Jacob. While some students need extra help for physical disabilities or mental handicaps, others find their way into special education classes because of disabilities that affect their behavior. Some of these children end up in classrooms like Eash's, where students have a range of disabilities. Others with more severe behavior issues are assigned to teachers trained to handle their needs. Jacob's behavior problems prompted the Manatee County School District to put him in a special class in second grade -- a class that catered primarily to children with severe autism. Eash is concerned that the class set him back academically and made his behavior worse. …Herald Tribune, 11/27/07. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071127/NEWS/711270475

(4) Despite tightening resources, a special education class makes strides. The hallways of Orange Ridge Elementary are silent this late February morning. Teachers whispering into walkie-talkies patrol the hallways, chasing stray students into their classrooms. Stress is high. Tempers are hot. The air is thick with tension. "It's here," one teacher whispers in the hallway. This is the first day of the FCAT, the state's standardized test. At 9 a.m. sharp, most of the students at Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary School pick up their No. 2 pencils to start the test that measures how well they have mastered math, science and reading. Every school is graded on its students' success. But in the back wing of Orange Ridge, Lynne Eash's students are not filling in ovals on test sheets. Today, they are going to Wal-Mart. Eash's students are among the small group of children exempt from taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the state's measure of student success for the No Child Left Behind law. The federal education policy aims to make sure all children are learning. But it allows school districts to exempt up to 1 percent of their students from being tested -- students whose developmental problems preclude them from learning like other children. The exemption carries a cost. Because the No Child law penalizes schools with low test scores, administrators have put more attention on remedial reading and math programs for students who are tested. And school districts are allowed to use federal special education money for basic academic programs, directing dollars and attention away from classrooms like Eash's. The federal government also has cut back on money for special education -- an effort to discourage school districts from inflating the number of students who require special education services. The shift in priorities is obvious in Eash's class. …Herald Tribune, 11/28/07. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071128/NEWS/711280534/0/newssitemap

30. Clinton Unveils Autism Plan. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) -- Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday pledged to help autistic families by boosting funding for research and education to $700 million a year. "Driven by their love and devotion, mothers and fathers across the country have raised awareness, demanded funding, and opened our eyes to the needs of so many children," she told a crowd of hundreds gathered at the Jesse E. Marshall Boys Club of Sioux City. "It's up to us to reclaim the future for our children, and ensure that every child can live up to his or her God-given potential."  She said when it comes to autism, "we don't know how to cure it, and we don't even know the best ways to treat it." "I think it's time we had a government and a president who recognized the seriousness of autism and addressed it head-on," Clinton said.  The number of autism diagnoses has risen from one in 10,000 in 1993, to one in 150 in 2007 - or about 25,000 children diagnosed with autism each year, Clinton said. She called the disorder a national health crisis, saying it costs the nation at least $35 billion each year.  Clinton outlined her years helping children with autism, including co-sponsoring legislation called the  Combating Autism Act in 2006, and earlier this year the Expanding the Promise for Individuals with Autism Act. She criticized President Bush for refusing to fully fund such efforts. If she's elected, Clinton said she would also take other autism initiatives including: - Expanding research to identify the causes of autism, including potential environmental reasons. - Improving education and early detection and intervention, including creating a task force to investigate autism treatments and services. - Training for teachers to instruct children with autism. Lee Grossman, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America, said the investment America makes in early identification, services and support "will create opportunities for these individuals to contribute meaningfully in our society - as is their right." "Senator Clinton's plan is a very important step in that direction," Grossman said in a statement provided by Clinton's campaign. Clinton used the opportunity to talk about health care. She said families dealing with conditions such as autism find that "often times insurance is so expensive you can't afford it, or the insurance doesn't cover the very thing you need it for."  The universal health care plan she's proposed would help all families, including those dealing with autism, to afford quality health care - as good as what members of Congress are getting, she said. "Parents will no longer be burdened by unmanageable premiums just because their children have autism," Clinton said. Associated Press, 11/24/07. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLINTON_AUTISM?SITE=MALOW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

31. The Autism Explosion: Autism 'Epidemic' Largely Fueled By Special Ed Funding, Shift In Diagnosing. (AP) A few decades ago, people probably would have said kids like Ryan Massey and Eddie Scheuplein were just odd. Or difficult. Both boys are bright. But Ryan, 11, is hyper and prone to angry outbursts, sometimes trying to strangle another kid in his class who annoys him. Eddie, 7, has a strange habit of sticking his shirt in his mouth and sucking on it. Both were diagnosed with a form of autism. And it's partly because of children like them that autism appears to be skyrocketing: In the latest estimate, as many as one in 150 children have some form of this disorder. Groups advocating more research money call autism "the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States." Indeed, doctors are concerned there are even more cases out there, unrecognized: The American Academy of Pediatrics last week stressed the importance of screening every kid - twice - for autism by age 2. But many experts believe these unsociable behaviors were just about as common 30 or 40 years ago. The recent explosion of cases appears to be mostly caused by a surge in special education services for autistic children, and by a corresponding shift in what doctors call autism. Autism has always been diagnosed by making judgments about a child's behavior; there are no blood or biologic tests. For decades, the diagnosis was given only to kids with severe language and social impairments and unusual, repetitious behaviors. Many children with severe autism hit themselves or others, don't speak and don't make eye contact. Blake Dees, a 19-year-old from Suwanee, Ga., falls into that group. For the past eight years, he has been in a day program with intense services, but he still doesn't talk, he's not toilet-trained, and he has a history of trying to eat anything - even broken glass. But he's not a typical case. In the 1990s, the autism umbrella expanded, and autism is now  shorthand for a group of milder, related conditions, known as "autism spectrum disorders." The spectrum includes Asperger's syndrome and something called PDD-NOS (for Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified). Some support groups report more than half of their families fall into these  categories, but there is no commonly accepted scientific breakdown. Gradually, there have been changes in parents' own perception of autism, the autism services schools provide, and the care that insurers pay for, experts say. …CBS News, 11/28/07. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/04/health/main3450585.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_3450585

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1.      Mentally Ill in Serbia Are Abused, Report Says. BRUSSELS — A 21-year-old man with Down syndrome tied to a metal crib for 11 years. Children, naked from the waist down, left to eat and defecate in their beds. A 7-year-old girl with fluid in her brain left untreated “because she will die anyway.” These are some of the allegations of abuse at Serbian state mental institutions and orphanages described in a report to be released Wednesday by Mental Disability Rights International, a group based in Washington that spent four years investigating the treatment of some of the 17,200 children and adults with disabilities in institutions in Serbia. In the report, which is expected to be read closely by European Union officials who are assessing Serbia’s readiness to join the 27-member bloc, researchers concluded that “filthy conditions, contagious diseases, lack of medical care and rehabilitation and a failure to provide oversight renders placement in a Serbian institution life-threatening.” European Union officials said that such reports would be a basis for their assessments of a country’s record in upholding human rights, and of its readiness to enter the union. The institutions investigated include the Kolevka, or Institution for Children and Youth, in Subotica; the Institute for Mentally Ill People, in Curug; the Institution for Children and Youth, in Kulina; the Special Institute for Children and Youth, in Stamnica; and psychiatric hospitals in Vrsac and Kovin, east of Belgrade. Eric Rosenthal, executive director of the rights group, said the use of physical restraints on children for years at a time was the most extreme he had seen during 14 years as a disability rights advocate. He said there were no enforceable laws in Serbia regulating the use of such restraints. “This is the most horrifying abuse I have seen on powerless children, who are tied to beds and unable to move,” he said. “This constitutes a clear case of torture.”Vladimir Pesic, a Serbian government official dealing with disability issues, declined to comment, saying he had not seen the report.  . . . Mr. Rosenthal said the extent of the abuse at mental institutions in Serbia was particularly egregious, given that countries had spent tens of millions of euros to help rebuild institutions in Serbia after the 1999 NATO-led war against the country, when it was led by Slobodan Milosevic. “The mental institutions have been newly rebuilt with the help of the West, so the abuse is happening in clean, new buildings built with foreign money,” he said. “This tragedy could have been prevented.” Laurie Ahern, an investigator who toured the Serbian mental institutions with a registered nurse, said she was most alarmed by the case of a man with Down syndrome, who was tied to his bed at Stamnica, an institution southeast of Belgrade. When Ms. Ahern asked a nurse how long it had been since the patient had left the bed, the nurse replied, “Eleven years,” she said. “There were rows upon rows of young people with Down syndrome,” Ms. Ahern said. “These children are mobile and can move around. But they are being left in metal coffins to lie there until the day they die.”  New York Times, 11/13/07. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/europe/14serbia.html?_r=1&ex=1195707600&en=9fdb31cb8468cc39&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

2.      Card scheme to put autistic people beyond suspicion. CHRIS Hunter is autistic. He is not a criminal, yet he is regularly stopped by police. Speaking to strangers is difficult, even traumatic for Mr Hunter, but his evasiveness often brings him to the attention of officers who suspect him of criminal intent. He is not alone in this experience - now so commonplace a special identification card has been launched by Strathclyde Police, enabling autistic people easily to explain their behaviour when stopped. It is just another hurdle, exposed in a series of articles by The Scotsman, faced by the growing numbers of people diagnosed with the condition. Mr Hunter, 21, from Govan in Glasgow, said: "The police stop me and ask me if I am on drugs or if I have been drinking, because they think I walk past people funny. "I just tell them I've been playing on my computer for too long and needed to get some fresh air. It's very frustrating." His mother, Ann, said: "He spends a lot of time on his computer so he likes to go out about 10pm for a walk around the block. They ask him where he's going and what he's got in his pockets. "He comes in raging that he's the only person in the street who gets stopped." Mr Hunter believes the identification card issued by Strathclyde Police would help him explain to officers, who are trained to make eye contact, that many people with autism dislike direct gaze and can feel stressed or threatened by strangers. People with more severe autism may be unable to respond verbally and can become noisy or agitated if asked to deviate from their regular routine. To counteract the problem Mr Hunter has been improving his communication skills through a social group organised by the National Autistic Society Scotland (NAS). The group has become his lifeline to the world after a major setback when he was forced to drop out of college because lecturers suspected he might be autistic. He said: "I loved doing economics and I felt angry and frustrated because they could have discovered my autism at high school or primary school, not in the middle of a course." The blow saw him retreat into himself, shunning social situations and rarely leaving home. He said: "I liked the computer and watching DVDs and that was it. But in the group I have friends I can talk to. They are the same as me and they understand what I am going through. "Other people say they know but they just don't understand - I find that very frustrating. "Now, I can actually talk to other people, although it is still quite hard." The group of under-30s meet monthly for activities such as pool, speed-boat trips, visits to a climbing wall or meals out. Mr Hunter said: "I enjoy it. I think it is important because I have got more confidence and I can talk to a lot more people." He has a groundskeeping job at a hotel in Renfrew but would like to return to study. He said: "Eventually, yes, but the social group is very important because I can go out and have a life instead of being stuck in the house twiddling my thumbs." Sandra Buckley , social programmes manager for the National Autistic Society Scotland, said: "I cannot believe how different this boy is. "When I met him 18 months ago he wouldn't make eye contact, and he certainly wouldn't chat with you. It has given him confidence." His mother added: "He's gone from being a wee quiet boy to going out and talking to people. I just wish the group was more often than once a month…." Scotsman (UK), 10/30/07. http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=702&id=1728462007

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Public man, private father…My quest leads me down a shaded, winding road in France’s jewel-like Chevreuse Valley, near the little country town of Milon-la-Chapelle, just outside Versailles. Embraced by the arms of a mighty oak that is said to represent the great man himself, there stands the elegant Château Vert-Cœur. The chateau is home to a few dozen souls, some of them refugees taken in by Charles and Yvonne de Gaulle after the Second World War, all of them with intellectual disabilities of one kind or another. I am welcomed by its inhabitants, gracious women with soft hands and kind faces, as well as by members of the de Gaulle family, and by representatives of the foundation that bears the name of Anne de Gaulle. . . .An enthusiastic tour of the grounds begins, followed by lunch in a sunlit room. Over champagne, I learn the story of the relationship between one of the world’s most powerful men and his cherished, vulnerable daughter. Scholars from all over the world have long combed the archives for clues into the puzzle that was de Gaulle. How did one young general find the courage to stand alone against the Nazis, breathing life into a dying nation? Even as the Germans marched into Paris in 1940, de Gaulle’s stirring call to arms via a BBC radio broadcast put a thumb in the eye of the would-be conquerors and created the French resistance: “”But has the last word been said? Must hope disappear? Is defeat final? No!” There are many theories about the roots of de Gaulle’s indomitable resolve, most originating in ideas about a haughty man marked by boundless ambition, an iron will and a passionate allegiance to France’s ancient glories. But for those who knew him in his private moments, some part of the answer to the riddle resides in the influence of a girl who was not like the others. The general’s youngest child Anne arrived on New Year’s Day, 1928. Her face carried the characteristic signs of Down syndrome, a condition now known to be caused by an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. Adding to the family’s woes, Anne had also experienced birth injuries that left her with motor impairments. Despite the family’s best efforts at teaching her, she would never be able to walk alone. The news of Anne’s disability devastated her father, a war hero and an officer posted to Trier, Germany, and his wife, the former Yvonne Vendroux. He was a studious and driven young man wedded to the nomadic life of the military; she, the daughter of a Calais businessman, was not yet 28. They already had two other small children, Philippe and Elisabeth. In the years between the great wars, public awareness of disability was shaped by the ideal of military casualties: brave men bearing injuries with honor in the service of a noble cause. By contrast, Anne’s condition was perceived as a cause for shame and social stigma. The couple concluded that their family life should be kept very private. The discovery of DNA was still decades off, so scientists had turned to racial stereotypes in an effort to explain what they could not understand. They labeled Anne’s condition “Mongolian idiocy,” reflecting a popular Eurocentric belief that Mongolians occupied a low rung on the evolutionary ladder. Children like Anne were viewed in that era with superstition and were often wrongly regarded as an indication of degeneracy, venereal disease or alcoholism on the part of their parents. The recent advances in medical care and education that have enhanced the health and welfare of people my daughter’s age were not yet dreamed of. Commonly in Europe between the wars, as in the United States, such children were sent to institutions that offered little more than subsistence living. Photographs of the young Anne reveal a pretty child with an earnest gaze and a strong resemblance to her mother. The de Gaulles rejected public stereotypes and came to view Anne as a gift, their nephew says, an attitude that may have been rooted in large part in their deep Catholic faith. Though Anne’s speech did not progress beyond the realms of childhood, her unconditional love became the emotional center of the de Gaulle family. Her father described her as “my joy,” adding, “She helped me overcome the failures in all men, and to look beyond them.” Charles and Yvonne set about trying to create a life in which each of their three children felt accepted and cherished. They insisted that Anne travel with them everywhere – Germany, Lebanon, Algiers. The general sang songs for her and read her stories, displaying an affection and tenderness that he did not readily share with the other members of the household. The family had one rule above all: Anne was never to be made to feel different or less than anyone else. When the Nazis invaded and the general hastened to London in a desperate effort to spark the resistance effort, Madame de Gaulle embarked upon a resistance of a more personal sort. She saved the lives of all three of her children, driving them and a nurse through the flood of desperate refugees to the last ferry to leave Brest before the Germans arrived. If Madame de Gaulle thought the journey might be made more perilous by the presence of a 12-year-old girl who was not able to walk alone, her actions did not reflect her fears. “We always had to take Anne, never abandon her. God gave her to us. We keep her,” Anne’s brother Philippe later wrote. “We have to take care of her as she is and wherever she is.” The family spent the war years with the general in the Hampstead section of London, where he came to know in more detail the full horrors of the Nazi activities. Looking back, I wonder: did he learn then of the Nazi Aktion T4, the eugenic program which systematically exterminated some 200,000 people with physical and intellectual disabilities between 1939 and 1941? Had he known about it earlier? And how, given his very personal commitment to his daughter, might that knowledge have informed and shaped the outrage with which he denied the legitimacy of Vichy? Although the archives don’t reveal whether the general knew the specifics of T4, there was no mistaking the eugenic winds that were blowing across Europe. In the years before the war, men who later assumed influence under Vichy had been publicly espousing forcible sterilization for “defectives,” a philosophy that fit neatly with Nazi desires for cleansing society of “racially unsound” elements. The implicit attack on Anne and on the de Gaulle family must have been all but unmistakable. . . .News and Commentary on Disability  Issues, 6/4/07. http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2007/06/04/public-man-private-father/

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~~~~Resources~~~~

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1.      Holiday fun: http://www.elfyourself.com/

2.      Learning That’s Hands-On Holiday Fun. Focus on reading readiness and enjoy winter holidays at the same time, with these simple activities you can incorporate into your preschooler’s daily routine: http://www.ldonline.org/ldnewsletters/ed_extra#download

3.      Toys for special needs children. Say goodbye to the stuffed animal. Plush toys are usually the gift du jour for children with special needs, because many family and friends aren’t sure what else to get. But giving purposeful and fun toys to children with special needs is getting easier. Toys “R” Us, for instance, provides an annual “Toy Guide for Differently Abled Kids,” complete with symbols that indicate the skill-building benefits of each toy. The booklet is a collaboration between the retailer and the nonprofit National Lekotek Center, which also provides a list of toys on its Web site, www.ableplay.com. The Toys “R” Us list is available online at www.toysrus.com/differentlyabled. Boston Herald, 11/20/07.   http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1045826

4.      How can you design effective differentiated lessons? In his new book Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, Grades 6-12 Rick Wormeli guides you step-by-step from the blank page to a fully-crafted lesson and demonstrates how to weave differentiation into all subject areas. Click here to browse the entire book online! http://www.stenhouse.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=9091&r=sb071121

5.      The Motivation Assessment Scale on the Web. ...a free service to psychologists, teachers, parents and others devoted to positive, nonaversive responses to problem behavior. http://www2.monacoassociates.com/masontheweb/index.aspx

6.      Reclaiming Reluctant Writers presents classroom-tested practices—such as eyewitness writers' notebooks, peer conferencing, and exemplary read-alouds—that will help you engage writers in grades 4-8 and give them the confidence and motivation to write well. Browse the entire book online! http://www.stenhouse.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=9087&r=sb071126

7.      The following are examples of home-to-school communication systems used by IEP teams, including parents, for specific students. Each one has a slightly different focus and method of communication reflecting what the student’s family and educational team felt was most important to share on a regular basis. They will be posted along with other topics in The Idea Exchange on the Disability Solutions website. (From Disabilities Solutions, Volume 4, Issue 2).  http://www.disabilitysolutions.org/newsletters/files/four/4-2.pdf

8.      Do your students resist or refuse to complete long reading assignments? Short texts can transform indifferent and reluctant readers and give them a way into literature. Less Is More gives you strategies for teaching short texts in a variety of genres without sacrificing required novels. Browse the entire book at http://www.stenhouse.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=9093&r=sb071127

9.      Dakota's Pride is a heartwarming documentary about a father's search for the truth about Down syndrome. Tough questions are posed to and answered by a noted Harvard Physician, and parents of children with Down syndrome. The answers are surprising and inspiring. In addition to being informative, this documentary celebrates the successes that have been and can be achieved by individuals with Down syndrome. Dakota's Pride has been aired on PBS and is a must see for anyone. This family friendly director's cut has 45 minutes of bonus track footage and ten extra minutes of running time.  "Informative and inspiring. . . It's wonderful to know that parents can be so involved, educated, and determined to reach out and make a difference. These people are giving many others hope." 'Dakota's Pride' is a truly inspiring tale! This is a feel-good documentary." Universal Film Festival www.universalfilmfestival.com "Dakota's Pride is a unique film that shows a side to Down syndrome that is rarely featured, and that is the hope and success that these individuals and their families can experience in life."  http://www.createspace.com/228034

10. Military & Department of Defense (DOD) Special Education. Children whose parents are active in any of the branches of the military often have a rather non-traditional educational experience. These children transfer schools often and sometimes attend school overseas. Although military children may not be educated in the U.S., they are still entitled to a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). The information on the Military and Department of Defense page describe various aspects of a military special education and the unique issues these children face, including frequent transfers in and out of schools with different levels of instructional programming, and the emotional issues that accompany the deployment of family members. http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/dod.index.htm

11. Photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about inclusion before he had his son Samuel seven years ago. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Habib’s documentary film Including Samuel examines the educational and social inclusion of youth with disabilities as a civil rights issue. View a trailer of Including Samuel. The film is built on the efforts of Habib and his family to include Samuel, 7, in all facets of school and community. Including Samuel also features four other families with varied inclusion experiences, plus interviews with dozens of teachers, young people, parents and disability rights experts. http://www.includingsamuel.com/

12. TodaysMama.com, an online resource that provides personal, professional and parenting resources designed to foster a greater sense of identity, empowerment and connection for women and mothers everywhere. http://www.todaysmama.com/mama_vote-articles.php?view=173

13. It is a bittersweet irony that The Child King, an inspirational tale of love and redemption, was born in the midst of a famously tragic event in American history. In 1993, Jeff Kerr was a federal agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) assigned to the siege of David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas- a siege that would end in a horrific loss of life. On the day of his departure for Waco, Jeff had a chance encounter at the Federal Building in Boston, Massachusetts with a fellow agent who had brought along his three year-old son for a visit. The boy was captivating, energetic, full of affection… he also had Down syndrome. In the following weeks during the long siege at Waco, Jeff found free time to begin developing an idea about two brothers traveling to the North Pole to find Santa Claus. Recalls Jeff, "The Child King was written during off-duty time and while sitting in one of the Jeeps surrounding the Branch Davidian compound. Our Jeep was stationed way out in the dark countryside, the middle of nowhere, with nothing but cows and bulls for company. There were two agents assigned per Jeep and we alternated taking hour-long breaks. During my off-time I would scribble The Child King under a flashlight." The story he scribbled needed a hero. Inspired by his earlier meeting with a certain precocious young man in Boston, Jeff made his hero a teenager with Down syndrome. Twelve years later he would team with brother Frank, a longtime filmmaker, to finally realize the feature motion picture, The Child King. THE CHILD KING SYNOPSIS: When little brother, Jarret (Will Kellem) expresses doubts about the existence of Santa Claus, his older sibling, Jeremy (Peter Johnson), a teenager with Down syndrome, takes him on a journey to the North Pole to prove Santa is real. In the course of their magical adventure, the brothers encounter a host of colorful characters-- none more fascinating than a large man with a snow-white beard who mysteriously appears in various guises, offering the boys a guiding hand on their way North. Paralleling this story is their mother's ancient bedtime fable of a child prince, banished for his disabilities by an intolerant king, who returns one day to reclaim his throne-- a tale that makes an especially strong impression on Jeremy. Like the fabled child king he so admires, Jeremy safely returns with his little brother from the quest and, although Santa remains elusive, their lives are forever changed by the experience. http://www.thechildking.com/media.html

14. Virginia Board for People with Disabilities quarterly newsletter, Voices & Visions.  Past issues have been archived on our site and can be downloaded from http://www.vaboard.org/vbpdnewsletter.htm. Issue: November 2007 (PDF Format)
Title: Volume VI, Issue 3, August 2007 Length: 8 pages
November 2007 Voices and Visions - Text Version (Word Document)

15. Children should be screened for visual problems from birth onwards. Asking the parent whether they have any vision concerns may elicit the first clue to uncovering an abnormality. From birth until 2 years infants and toddler should have the following eye evaluation: http://www.pediatriceducation.org/2007/11/26#a249

16. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children with Down syndrome should be examined by a pediatric ophthalmologist <http://www.aapos.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=95 or an ophthalmologist who is familiar with the examination of infants with disabilities. The initial exam should be done by six months of age with follow up exams as indicated by the ophthalmologist.

17. Potty Training Tips: http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/Potty-Training-Tips/Potty_Training_Tips.htm

18. Autism Resources:

-Web site for Autism Speaks and Cure Autism Now, which says it is
the world's  largest autism advocacy organization. Concerned with both the
medical and  scientific aspects of autism as well as raising awareness and
helping  children and families cope. http://www.autismspeaks.org
 
- Web site of the "TEACHH" program at the University of North
Carolina. The  program provides a wide range of services for people with autism
and their  families. http://www.teacch.com/
 
- Web site for the Autism Society of America; also the home of Autism
Source, an online resource center. http://www.autism-society.org
 
 - Web site of the Autism Research Institute. According to the
site: "ARI is primarily devoted to conducting research, and to disseminating the
results of research, on the triggers of autism and on methods of diagnosing
and  treating autism." http://www.autism.com
 
-  From the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: A
one page summary plus lots of resource links and access to scientific news,
research literature and clinical trials. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
 
 - From the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National
Institutes of Health, a page rich with links to autism resources of all kinds.
 
 
 www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/autism/complete-publication.shtml
 
- From the National Institute of Mental Health -- more technical than
other  sites, but worth slogging through for information on current
research.  www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism
 
- The Centers for Disease Control Autism Information Web site, with
links to  research, organizations and government information.  
 www.kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/brain/autism.html
 
- How do you explain autism to other children? This site has an
informative  section about the causes and the treatments. http://autism-ascc.org/kids.htm

19. Connected Schools: Thought Leaders. Essays from International Thought Leaders in Education. We live in a Knowledge Society, where connectivity delivers information at unprecedented speeds, in multiple formats and creates opportunities for new partnerships. In this exciting age education is the prime driver for economic growth, peace and prosperity. Connected Schools demonstrates how governments across the world have realised the need to focus resources on the evolution of their educational systems, and have used new technology and the Internet to drive change. http://www.cisco.at/pdfs/publicsector/connected_schools.pdf

20. IDEA Partnership at National Association of State Directors of Special Education LINKS:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
http://www.ed.gov

Engaging Parents in Education: Lessons from Five Parental Information and Resource Centers
K-8 Charter Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap
Supporting Charter School Excellence Through Quality Authorizing

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
http://nationsreportcard.gov/

NAEP fact sheets
NAEP state-by-states profiles

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers

Disability Employment 101
27th Annual Report on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Institute Of Education Sciences
http://ies.ed.gov/

Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning: A Practice Guide
Encouraging Girls in Math and Science: A Practice Guide

National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) at IES
http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/

Perceptions and Expectations of Youth With Disabilities. A Special Topic Report of Findings >From the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)

National Center for Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov

Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities: Highlights:
Download full report.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE & DISSEMINATION Network

Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)
http://www.acteonline.org

CTE’s Role in Secondary-Postsecondary Transitions

Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE)
http://www.directionservice.org/cadre
CADRE provides the following list of resources that may be helpful for those in dialogue about students' needs.

Educating Our Children Together: A Sourcebook for Effective Family-School-Community Partnerships
Facilitated IEP Meetings: An Emerging Practice
Resolution Meetings: A Guide for Parents
Special Education Mediation: A Guide for Parents
Steps to Success: Communicating with Your Child's School
The Involvement of Students in Their Special Education Mediations

Project Forum @ NASDSE
http://projectforum.org/
Recently released documents include:

Reading First and Special Education: Examples of State-Level Collaboration
Standards-Based Individualized Education Program Examples
State Definitions of Significant Disproportionality
Collaborative Partnerships Between SEAs and Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs)
Parent Participation in State Monitoring
Supplemental Educational Services Under NCLB: State Implementation for Students with Disabilities
The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS): Current State Implementation

National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt)
http://www.nccrest.org

Collection and Use of Evidence
NCCREST’S professional development module, Collection and Use of Evidence, is designed to help building leadership teams learn the skills required to mine data and use it to make decisions. In this module we take a serious look at understanding and using data and other evidence of student performance to improve student learning.. Academy 1: Mining Meaningful Data Academy 2: Identifying School-Wide Patterns of Student Performance Academy 3: Looking at Student Work to Target Instruction

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)
http://www.nceo.info

The NCEO Data Viewer
The NCEO Data Viewer lets you view information related to students with disabilities and create individualized reports based on criteria that you can choose. Two major databases are currently available for your use: 1. State Policies on Assessment Participation and Accommodations for Students with Disabilities 2. Annual Performance Reports
Each of the interactive databases provides the following sections: • Reports Overview — Introduction and directions on how to use the site's functions • Report Designer — Customizable data reports that allow for deeper analysis • Summary Reports — Customizable summary data reports

National High School Center
http://www.betterhighschools.org

State Approaches to More Reliable and Uniform Dropout and Graduation Data
Meeting the Needs of Significantly Struggling Learners in High School: A Look at Approaches to Tiered Intervention
Easing the Transition to High School: Research and Best Practices Designed to Support High School Learning
Dropout Prevention for Students With Disabilities: A Critical Issue for State Education Agencies
Findings from the Early College High School Initiative: A Look at Best Practices and Lessons Learned Regarding a Dual Enrollment Program
New Hampshire's Multi-Tiered Approach to Dropout Prevention

FROM OUR PARTNERS

Council of Chief State School Officers
http://www.ccsso.org

State Education Data Center
A place for educators, researchers, and policymakers to access information about public schools. The SchoolDataDirect website allows you to download the data available on SchoolDataDirect in several ways. You may Download a Data Table, Create Your Own Table, or use the Data Download Tool. Instructions.

Education Commission of the States
http://www.ecs.org

The State Role in Accelerating Student Growth in Low-Performing High Schools
Special Populations in High School Assessments
Exit Exams
STATE NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher and Paraprofessional Database
Minimum Subgroup Size for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP): State Trends and Highlights
State Graduation Rate Goals for High School Accountability

National Association of School Psychologists
http://www.nasponline.org

Response to Intervention: A Primer for Parents
This paper explains (a) the essential components of Response to Intervention; (b) key terms; (c) the role Response to Intervention plays in special education eligibility; (d) how parents can be involved in the process; (e) potential benefits of RTI; and (f) next steps in implementing RTI approaches.

OTHER

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD)
http://www.ldonline.org/njcld

Transition to School and Work: A blueprint for your child's success after high school
The Documentation Disconnect for Students With Learning Disabilities: Improving Access to Postsecondary Disability Services
The purpose of this report is to outline the issues affecting documentation for postsecondary disability services and to suggest ways to bridge the gap between secondary and postsecondary settings. The NJCLD is comprised of thirteen national and internation member organizations; collectively these organizations serve over 400,000 constituents.

Government Accountability Office (GAO)
http://www.gao.gov

Residential Treatment Programs: Concerns Regarding Abuse and Death in Certain Programs for Troubled Youth
Full report
Highlights

Workforce Investment Act: One-Stop System Infrastructure Continues to Evolve, but Labor Should Take Action to Require That All Employment Service Offices Are Part of the System.
Full report
Highlights

The ZERO TO THREE Policy Center
http://www.zerotothree.org

Tracking Services for Infants, Toddlers and their Families: A Look at Federal Early Childhood Programs and the Roles of State & Local Governments
The chart provides a summary of the primary federal programs currently focused on serving very young children.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children's Bureau
http://www.childwelfare.gov

Addressing the Needs of Young Children in Child Welfare: Part C - Early Intervention Services
This Child Welfare Information Gateway bulletin provides examples of State efforts to implement the new Part C referral provisions in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)

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~~~~~Voices~~~~~

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Credit Where Credit is Due

She almost never let him buy the coat.

He is in the lineup in front of me. He's maybe thirty, Down syndrome, and had picked out a new winter coat. He was alone. Quietly standing in front of me. I smiled an invitation to chat but he chose to just stand quiet instead.

When it came to his turn the clerked looked up at him and gave him one of those 'ahh' smiles ... maybe like I had done ... and then ran the coat over the scanner and the price popped up. It wasn't cheap, a bit over $150. Good taste, expensive taste.

"And how will you be paying for this?"

He, still silent, pulled out a credit card.

She looked shocked. She didn't say it aloud but her face definitely screamed, 'someone gave you a credit card?' She fumbled for what to say. "I'm going to need picture ID." He pulled a health care card out of his wallet along with some kind of picture ID I didn't recognize. She looked holes through them, looked back at him, checked the name on the
credit card. He stood, patiently waiting.

"I'm going to need to call my manager," she said and did.

I'm sitting there itching for a fight, for him to get mad and demand to be treated like any one else--to state that this is discrimination, but he didn't. He just waited. The manager arrives and they confer, looking over at him and back at the ID's and credit card.

"Where did you get this card?' the manager asked.

"From the bank," was the answer.

"Really?"

"I have a job, I have a bank account and I have a credit card," he said. Still calm.

"I don't know if we can ..."

"There's one more thing I have," he said and they looked up questioningly.

"A lawyer."

They rang the coat through on the credit card.

Then the clerk looked over at me in my wheelchair with my purchases bundled on the till.

"I have a credit card too ... do I need a lawyer too?"

She shook her head and quietly ran my items through.

The world has indeed changed.

- from: http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/

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