Items 1 through 2 have been deleted, since they are primarily for families
living in Virginia and Maryland, and I did not want to send useless
information to the folks in the rest of the country. However, please let me
know if you live in Virginia, Maryland or DC; so that I can add you to my
private email distribution list for events in those states.


3. IEP meeting guides and tools:


* I.E.P. Pop-Up Tool Chart from the National Center on Low-Incidence
Disabilities at http://nclid. <http://nclid.unco.edu/nclid/bvi/>
unco.edu/nclid/bvi/. Each Pop-Up IEP contains phrases that parents have
experienced during their child's Individualized Education Program (IEP)
meetings. Each phrase has several courteous, yet assertive responses parents
can make when faced with these challenges. Additionally, sections of the
special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA), are included to supplement responses. Finally resources and
information are given where appropriate.


* Schools' Excuses for Lack of Progress Often, at IEP meetings,
school districts present common justifications when confronted with the fact
that a child has not progressed. Parents need to be prepared to address
these justifications both at IEP meetings and during the school year. Click
the link below to read justifications presented by schools and sample
strategies for parents to address these excuses:
http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/home/2005/09/often_at_iep_me.html
<http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/home/2005/09/often_at_iep_me.html> .


* Parent "Comebacks" for IEPs:
http://www.bridges4kids.org/IEP/Tips.html
<http://www.bridges4kids.org/IEP/Tips.html> .

* Common Funding "Excuses" Related to Computers & Environmental
Control Devices: http://www.ucp.org/ucp_channeldoc.cfm/1/12/70/70-70/740
<http://www.ucp.org/ucp_channeldoc.cfm/1/12/70/70-70/740> .

* IEP Meeting Alert Levels:
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/needinspiration/ig/To-Do-Lists/iepmeetin
galert.htm
<http://specialchildren.about.com/od/needinspiration/ig/To-Do-Lists/iepmeeti
ngalert.htm> .


4. Research Survey about Siblings of children with Developmental
Disabilities at The University of Alabama Psychology Department is beginning
a new study of siblings of children with developmental disabilities. This
project is being conducted as part of a graduate student dissertation. They
are interested in families with children between the ages of 4-16 years of
age. This study examines strengths and weaknesses observed in children as
they cope with having a sibling with special needs Information for this
study will be collected in two stages. First a parent will complete a brief
15 min. interview by telephone. Next parents will be mailed a survey packet
of questionnaires regarding their children and family, which will take
approximately 1 hour to complete. The survey packet may be completed at the
participant's convenience and returned to the researchers in a stamped
envelope at no cost to the participant. Following completion of the survey
participants will receive a $5 gift certificate to a major bookstore. If you
are interested call Dr. Laura Klinger, at (205) 348-9312 or by email at
crump002@bama. <mailto:crump002@...> ua.edu.

5. Katie Sorensen is happy to announce an opening of the new children's
gym, JW Tumbles in Ashburn, VA at 43150 Broadlands Center Drive, Suite 184.
We are looking to invite ALL children to expand their minds and body in a
noncompetitive atmosphere. As head teacher, I would like to cater to the
needs of our community and offer a class for our children with special needs
and/or invite all our children to mainstream into our program. I will be
happy to accommodate to each individual. My degree is in child psychology
and applied behavior analysis. I have spent the last year and a half in the
D.C. metropolitan area providing one-on-one therapy to those with Autism and
have been working with the special needs population for 8 years. I am
continuing to do therapy along with teaching the classes at JW Tumbles. I
invite you all to come an check out our location. You are encouraged to call
or e-mail me with any questions, suggestions, or comments. Our grand opening
is Saturday, Sept. 16th from 9-3. Please stop by for demonstrations, free
food, free Tumbles balloons, free t-shirts, and lots of other cool prizes.
Elmo & Clifford will be joining us between 10:30-12:30! For more info,
contact Katie Sorensen at JW Tumbles at <http://www.jwtumbles.com,>
www.jwtumbles.com, <mailto:ashburn@...,> ashburn@...,
or directly at <mailto:ksoren42@...> ksoren42@..., or (701)
786-3687.

6. "Vaccines, Medical Neglect and Child Protection Services (CPS)" dated 24
August 2006 by Rose Hunt from Associated Content at
<http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/53210/vaccines_medical_neglect_and
_child.html>
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/53210/vaccines_medical_neglect_and_
child.html.

"It is becoming widely known that immunization shots can cause minor to
major side effects, from a rash to autism to death. Knowledgeable parents
are concerned about the health of their small children, and in an attempt to
do what they feel is best for the child are breaking state laws and becoming
criminals. The Child Protective Services are legally overstepping God's law
and removing the parent's rights and/or children in false cases of criminal
child medical neglect. Not only is there concerns about the mercury
involved, there is legitimate worries about the live viruses themselves and
especially in the case of MMR- a single vaccination with three types of live
viruses- Measles, Mumps and Rubella. The horror stories about what can
happen is not a myth, as the National Vaccine Information Center can tell
you. The Children Services Agency was supposedly birthed to 'save' all the
children that are being hurt by uncaring parents. So here is the big
question- why are Children Services abusing the caring parents that are
concerned about immunization effects? Because the state laws allow them too.
In the 'land of the free', the United States, all fifty states have
mandatory immunization laws. Although every state has at least one
exemption, the rules regarding those exemptions are strict and sometimes
impossible to meet. Medical exemptions can be obtained by a medical doctor,
and must be reviewed by the state health officials before exemption
permission can be granted to the parents. There is two problems with this.
One- the CDC has severely strict guidelines that must be met. Two- medical
doctors are becoming weary of writing the exemption due to possible career
tribulations in the future by investigations from state health and education
officials. Yea- I said education officials! Almost every state provides
religious belief exemptions, but this does not mean that the exemption is
any easier to get. The parents must hold personal religious beliefs that
conflict with taking the vaccinations, but does not have to belong to
specific religions. In about a third of the country, a parent can object to
vaccinations on personal or philosophical beliefs. Despite the CDC's claim
that the vaccinations are safe, there is a National Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program to monetarily compensate those adversely affected by
vaccines. However, the system is set up so that the government decides for
itself who it will and won't pay."

7. "Age 2: Findings From the 2-Year-Old Follow-up of the Early Childhood
Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B)" dated 29 August 2006 from the
National Center for Education Statistics at
<http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006043>
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006043.

"This E.D. TAB is the first report produced using data from the second round
of data collection for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort
(ECLS-B), a study of a nationally representative sample of children born in
the year 2001. The report provides descriptive information about these
children when they were about 2 years old. It presents information on
selected child and family characteristics, on children's mental and physical
skills, on children's attachment relationships with their primary
caregivers, on their first experiences in child care, and on their fathers.
The report profiles data for this population of children both overall and
for various subgroups (i.e., males and females, children from different
racial/ethnic groups, poor and nonpoor children, and children living in
different types of families). ..."

8. "Autism Speaks, First Signs, and Florida State University to Collaborate
on Web-Based Autism Video Glossary" dated 5 September 2006 in a press
release from Autism Speaks at
http://www.autismspeaks.org/press/video_glossary.php
<http://www.autismspeaks.org/press/video_glossary.php> .

"Autism Speaks, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness
of autism and raising money to fund autism research, together with First
Signs, the leader in early identification and intervention of children with
developmental delays and disorders, and Florida State University today
announced they would collaborate to build a web-based video glossary to help
parents learn more about the early warning signs of autism. The glossary
will contain more than 125 video clips and will be available to the public
free of charge early next year at <http://www.autismspeaks.org/>
http://www.autismspeaks.org/, <http://www.firstsigns.org/>
http://www.firstsigns.org/, and <http://firstwords.fsu.edu/>
http://firstwords.fsu.edu/. The goal of the project is to help parents
better understand some of the words and terms they might hear used in
association with a diagnosis of autism or by an educator. Video clips will
be used to show examples of such terms as social reciprocity, joint
attention, sensory defensiveness, hand flapping, and echolalia. In most
cases, side-by-side video clips will show behaviors that are typical in
contrast with those that are red flags for autism. Video clips will also
give parents short windows into the different types of therapies available
for children with autism. "Sometimes text is not enough," said Alison
Singer, senior vice president of Autism Speaks. "Our hope is that parents
will use this tool to help them better understand behaviors they see in
their children and to learn more about terms that have been used by doctors
or educators so that they can be the best possible advocates for their
children." "The goal of this project is to facilitate earlier diagnosis and
intervention for children with autism," said Nancy D. Wiseman, president of
First Signs. "Right now, early intervention is the best weapon we have
against autism." Renowned autism researcher, professor, and Director of the
Florida State University FIRST WORDS Project, Amy M. Wetherby, PhD, will
oversee the selection of appropriate and descriptive video clips. ..."

9. "Four Million Children Left Behind- Forced to attend failing schools in
Los Angeles" dated 7 September 2006 by Cling Bolick in the Wall Street
Journal Opinion Journal at <http://www.opinionjournal.com/cc/?id=110008906>
http://www.opinionjournal.com/cc/?id=110008906.

"This city is the main front in the pitched battle over the No Child Left
Behind Act. Like many large urban school districts across the nation--though
more brazenly--the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is resisting
the law's core command: that no child be forced to attend a failing school.
In LAUSD, there are over 300,000 children in schools the state has declared
failing under NCLB's requirements for adequate yearly progress. Under the
law, such children must be provided opportunities to transfer to
better-performing schools within the district. To date, fewer than two out
of every 1,000 eligible children have transferred--much lower even than the
paltry 1% transfer figure nationwide. In neighboring Compton, whose schools
are a disaster, the number of families transferring their children to better
schools is a whopping zero. The question is whether Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings--whose administration has made NCLB the centerpiece of
its education agenda--will do anything about it. She has the power to
withhold federal funds from districts that fail to comply with NCLB, and has
threatened to do just that. Rhetoric, so far, has exceeded action. In L.A.,
the district has squelched school choice for children in failing schools by
evading deadlines for notifying families of their transfer options; burying
information in bureaucratese; and encouraging families to accept
after-school supplemental services (often provided by the same district
employees who fail to get the job done during the regular school day) rather
than transfers. Still, the district insists that the reason for the low
transfer numbers is that parents don't want their kids to leave failing
schools. That explanation rings false because, well, it is. The Polling
Company surveyed Los Angeles and Compton parents whose children are eligible
to transfer their children out of failing schools. Only 11% knew their
school was rated as failing, and fewer than one-fifth of those parents (just
nine out of 409 surveyed) recalled receiving notice to that effect from the
districts--a key NCLB requirement. Once informed of their schools' status
and their transfer rights, 82% expressed a desire to move their children to
better schools. ..."

10. "Song born of lost words- Music helps couple connect with daughter who
has autism" dated 7 September 2006 by Mary Ann Fergus from the Chicago
Tribune at
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-0609070251sep07,1,8922
28.story?coll=chi-ent_music-hed
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-0609070251sep07,1,892
228.story?coll=chi-ent_music-hed> .

"It was a sunny summer morning and Candy Waters was enjoying one of her
father's private, impromptu serenades in the back yard of their Park Ridge
home. Robert Waters strummed his guitar, opening with the Beatles song "I
Need You." Candy, who will turn 6 Friday, responded with a broad smile as
she played on the swing. Waters loves that his music helps connect him with
his firstborn, who has autism. Recently, he also used his passion for
writing songs to connect with politicians and parents of children with
autism to raise awareness and hope about the lifelong developmental
disability with no known cure. Waters and his wife Sandy wrote a song about
autism and will be honored Thursday by the Cook County Board. Autism
affects social interaction and the ability to speak. It often comes with
some degree of mental retardation. Since their daughter's diagnosis three
years ago, the couple has moved in and out of despair and denial. They
struggle to get services for Candy, who regressed from speaking about a
dozen words at age 2 to only a few words today. One December evening two
years ago the Waterses were talking about Candy after reading a brochure
from an autism group that called for "faith, hope and love." Waters, a
songwriter, started strumming the guitar. Sandy Waters began offering
lyrics. Their frustrations and dreams poured out quickly and within 15 or 20
minutes they had a song. "I think it was all building up inside of us,"
said Waters, a United Airlines stockroom clerk. "It was easy for us to come
up with the words because we're living it." They got the copyright for the
song "Faith, Love and Hope," then had it produced professionally with
Jessica Taylor, a former member of The Platters. A year later, they started
sharing it with autism organizations and politicians, then parents. They
have spent a couple of thousand dollars making and distributing the song.
Now, as their CD makes the rounds, they are enjoying some publicity and
positive feedback. ..."

11. "Parents get court order allowing shock therapy" dated 8 September 2006
by MICHAEL GORMLEY from the Associated Press at
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--regents-shockther09
08sep08,0,4203690.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
<http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--regents-shockther0
908sep08,0,4203690.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork> .

"Parents of autistic and disabled children obtained a temporary court order
Friday to continue "skin shocks" of their children at a special school in
Massachusetts. The federal court opposed the New York state Education
Department's restriction on shock therapy for children the state sends to
the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Mass. The children are sent there at a
cost to the state of about $50 million a year because there is no room for
youths in New York facilities. Although shock therapy isn't performed on
these disabled youths in New York, it has been done at the Rotenberg Center
with parental permission. The New York state Board of Regents has sought to
severely restrict the use of shock therapy after complaints and newspaper
accounts of the practice. The court order requires the issue be argued in a
pretrial hearing on Oct. 19. "We are so grateful to the judge for allowing
our son to continue to receive the treatment he needs," said one of the
parents who sued the New York state Education Department. "He has made
enormous strides at JRC, and aversive therapy is a critical part of his
program." "The court refused to grant the broad injunctive relief requested
by JRC," said Jonathan Burman, spokesman for the Education Department, which
has jurisdiction over the students. "Instead, it issued a very narrowly
tailored preliminary injunction that applies only to those student
plaintiffs that meet specific criteria established by the court," Burman
said. "The injunction does not prevent the regents from proceeding with the
adoption of regulations at next week's meeting of the board." The court
order sets requirements for children to continue treatments. It could apply
to 45 children. The state usually has about 150 children at the school.
Earlier this year, a state Board of Regents committee recommended the state
prohibit the use of automatic shocks _ triggered by getting out of a seat,
for example _ and for shocks administered while a student is restrained. The
school has also used automatic, multiple or restrained shocking methods.
Parents and students say the shocks, similar to bee stings that last a
couple seconds in weekly sessions, have been more effective than medication
for students."

12. "Woman charged in death of autistic boy, 12" dated 8 September 2006 by
JOSH WINGROVE from the Toronto Star at
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic
le_Type1
<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Arti
cle_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1157709187608&col=968705899037&ca
ll_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News>
&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1157709187608&col=968705899037&call_page=T
S_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News.

"A 25-year-old Toronto woman has been charged after an autistic boy in her
care fell to his death in Scarborough in early May. The 12-year-old boy was
taken to the caregiver's 16th-floor apartment at 51 Trailridge Cres. in the
Morningside Ave. and Ellesmere Rd. area on the evening of May 4. The
caregiver went into another room and came back to find the boy gone, Toronto
police said. A witness who saw the boy fall from the apartment called
police. Officers arrived to find him in front of the building. The victim
was taken to Scarborough Centenary Hospital where he died. The building is
in good repair and had locking windows and screens, said building assistant
superintendent Dawkey Cornelius after the boy's fall. "A window screen will
not prevent your child from falling out, as it can easily give way to the
weight of a small child," said Allyson Hewitt, executive director of Safe
Kids Canada, in a May statement. Such incidents call for caregiver
standards at a national level, said Louise Fleming, executive director of
Autism Society Canada. "Children with autism require more care than your
typically developing child," Fleming said. "You need people who are trained
and are knowledgeable about autism," she added. Tameka Elliott was charged
today with Criminal Negligence Causing Death."

13. "'X' marks the spot in hunt for autism genes" dated 8 September 2006
from New Scientist magazine at
<http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125685.400-x-marks-the-spot-in-hunt
-for-autism-genes.html>
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125685.400-x-marks-the-spot-in-hunt-
for-autism-genes.html.

"A previously unrecognised trigger for autism may have been found, in the
form of mutations that affects neuron development in a brain region
important for learning and social interaction. Autism is around four times
more common in boys than girls, which suggests that mutations on the X
chromosome play a role, as boys lack a second X chromosome that could
compensate for any genetic abnormality. Studies have identified several
hundred gene candidates, but no conclusive links to a specific mutation.
Now a 15-year-long international screening effort has identified two
different mutations of the same X chromosome gene, which seem to be linked
to autism in two unrelated families (Molecular Psychiatry, DOI:
10.1038/sj.mp.4001883). The gene encodes a protein called L10, a vital
component of ribosomes - the structures that build proteins. L10 is most
actively manufactured in the hippocampus, a brain region important in
learning and memory as well as some social and emotional functions. Lead
author Sabine Klauck of the Division of Molecular Genome Analysis at the
German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg says the mutations are rare, and
not present in their other patients. But they do reveal an important pathway
by which different genetic defects could lead to different types of autism.
Essi Viding of University College London says the findings are in line with
structural brain changes seen in autism, but cautions that many other genes
will be involved."

14. "When Doctors Hide Medical Errors" dated 9 September 2006 in an
editorial in The New York Times at
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/opinion/09sat4.html?ei=5070&en=3a3186fe26
0f4795&ex=1158465600&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print>
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/opinion/09sat4.html?ei=5070&en=3a3186fe260
f4795&ex=1158465600&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print.

"It's probably no surprise that doctors are less likely to admit a serious
mistake if they think they can get away with it than if they think the
patient will find out. But now we have confirmation from a survey of some
2,600 doctors in the United States and Canada concerning what they would
tell patients about serious medical errors in four hypothetical cases. The
doctors talked a good game - fully 98 percent endorsed the need to disclose
serious errors to patients, according to survey results published in the
Archives of Internal Medicine. But most had something less than full
disclosure in mind. Only 42 percent would actually use the word "error,"
while 56 percent would mention the adverse event but not the error,
relegating the harm to the "stuff happens" category. Only 33 percent would
explicitly apologize for their mistake. If the error were apt to become
obvious - say a sponge left in the patient's body that required a follow-up
operation, or an insulin overdose that required resuscitation and transfer
to intensive care - the doctors were far more apt to admit error and
apologize than if the error was too subtle for most patients to recognize.
"Basing disclosure decisions on whether the patient was aware of the error
is not ethically defensible or consistent with standards," the authors
admonish their colleagues. The researchers are dubious that limits on
malpractice suits would have much impact on what doctors admit. Changes in
medical education to encourage disclosure of errors would surely help, as
would computerized systems to detect errors that might otherwise remain
unnoticed. As it is, doctors seem reluctant to provide what patients deserve
and say they want: an explicit acknowledgment of error, information about
why it happened, and an apology from their physician."

15. "Seeing Two Figures In Coordinated Action Helps Brain Pick Out
Movements Of One" dated 10 September 2006 in a press release from the
University of California, Berkeley at
<http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=51463>
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=51463.

"A new study by vision scientists at the University of California, Berkeley,
finds that the human visual system is better able to discriminate the
movements of a single person when his or her actions are coordinated in a
meaningful way with a second individual. When shown a pair of figures in
motion, for instance, the brain is better able to pick out an individual if
it perceives that one person is throwing a punch while another is making a
defensive block, the researchers said. This is especially important when
the view is somehow obscured or impaired, according to the study, published
in the September issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. "Our study
reveals a greater degree of complexity in human visual processing than
previously understood," said Dennis Levi, UC Berkeley dean of optometry and
principal investigator of the study. "When we watch two people interacting,
knowing what one is doing helps us understand the actions of the other. We
think of it as 'It takes two to Tango.'" Other researchers on the team are
Peter Neri, a UC Berkeley post-doctoral fellow in Levi's laboratory, and
Jennifer Luu, an undergraduate who joined the group as part of the UC
Berkeley Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program. Luu is now a UC Berkeley
Ph.D. student in bioengineering. This research provides insight into how
accurately we can interpret what we see from grainy security cameras,
particularly when identifying whether a crime is taking place. There is even
research taking place on the development of artificial intelligence computer
programs that can automatically detect which actions are suspicious. At its
most fundamental level, the human brain's ability to interpret and react to
the action it sees within a fraction of a second is a matter of life and
death, such as identifying that a tiger lunging forward with teeth bared is
a threat and then deciding how best to get away. But this skill - when not
impaired by such disorders as autism - is also essential to our success as a
social species, allowing us to determine whether someone is happy, sad or
nervous based upon visual cues both subtle and obvious. "Our study is the
first to provide quantitative evidence that this ability to interpret action
enhances the processing of visual discrimination," said Neri, the lead
author. ..."

16. "New schools for special-needs children are smart investment" dated 10
September 2006 by PAUL POTITO from the Central Jersey Home news Edition at
<http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060910/COLUMNISTS/60910039
5&SearchID=7325653622343>
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060910/COLUMNISTS/609100395
&SearchID=7325653622343.

"The New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community
firmly believes that each child in our state should have a chance at an
effective education. For children with disabilities, that means an education
appropriately designed to address the unique learning characteristics of
their disability. That belief is in line with federal and state laws
guaranteeing that each child with a disability receive a free, appropriate
public education. In fact, the state special education administrative code
includes the phrase "free, appropriate public education" five times in the
first two pages of the code. Federal and state laws also are designed to
ensure that the education provided to each child with a disability is
effective and is provided in the "least restrictive environment." Generally,
least restrictive environment means that whenever appropriate, the child is
educated in the same school he or she would attend if he or she did not have
a disability - for most children that means the neighborhood school. While
some argue that being included in the neighborhood school is the most
important aspect of special education, COSAC believes that receiving an
"appropriate" education is by far the most critical item to be considered.
Being in an appropriate educational program can do far more to afford each
student the greatest chance for success in school and in their lives as
adults. For that reason, COSAC supports the Middlesex County Improvement
Authority's decision to fund two new schools for special-needs children, as
expressed in the Home News Tribune's Aug. 11 editorial, "Special-needs
schools worthy county investment." COSAC agrees that the decision to fund
two new schools is responsible, responsive and appropriate because it
focuses the attention right where it should be: on the students' individual
educational needs. The proposed schools are designed to address the acute
needs of students with significant disabilities, i.e., autism, multiple
disabilities, behavioral disabilities, and clinical depression. While many
school districts have developed effective educational programs in the
neighborhood schools for student with somewhat milder disabilities, should
they be expected to have the Solomon-like wisdom to know how to adapt that
class to also teach students with complex, significant disabilities in the
same setting at the same time? Eventual inclusion in the regular classroom
is the goal toward which most parents may aspire for their children with
educational disabilities. They recognize, however, that some children may
require more help than others to get there. For many children, particularly
those with autism or other complex disabilities, the highly specialized,
professional interventions such as one-on-one therapy they need can
realistically only be delivered in specialized settings. With that therapy,
their behavior can improve. Some children, especially those with autism, can
make tremendous gains in their academic, communications and social
development if they receive the right intervention early enough. COSAC
believes that these children should be educated in a setting in which those
services can be effectively provided. ..."

17. "Autistic kids proudly ride a healing wave" dated 10 September 2006 by
Zach Hanner from the Wilmington Star News at
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060910/NEWS/60910
0329/1051
<http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060910/NEWS/6091
00329/1051> .

"When John and Tina Pike's son Gianni was born, their lives became more full
than they could have imagined. But for John Pike, a longtime surfer, a giant
closeout wave was rearing its head on the horizon. "Gianni had setbacks and
wasn't meeting the goals that he was supposed to," Pike says, referring to
his son's eventual diagnosis of autism. "Luckily, we had a pediatrician that
realized where we needed to go rather than just saying, 'He'll grow out of
it,' like some doctors might. Having his diagnosis happen early on has
allowed us to get the proper education, tutors and schools and he's made
amazing achievements as a result." Once the reality of Gianni's condition
set in, Pike started thinking about something he had seen on television
years earlier. "I had seen a segment on Bryant Gumbel's Real Sports about
Israel Paskowitz and his family," Pike said. "In it, they talked about his
son being diagnosed with autism and how it really perked him up to be in the
water." Paskowitz comes from one of the best-known surf families in
Southern California. He had been a champion surfer with a long professional
career when his son, Isaiah, was diagnosed with autism. "I just kept
thinking that God picked the wrong guy, that this wasn't supposed to happen
to me and my kid," Paskowitz said. "I was a pro surfer, traveling the world
and I had met and married the prettiest girl in town. It was a tough one. To
encounter a condition that's so ugly in such a beautiful world was a very
hard thing to deal with." It wasn't long before Paskowitz began to notice
how Isaiah reacted when immersed in the ocean's relaxing waters. "After he
was diagnosed, we still took him to surf contests in California and Hawaii
and we started to notice that when he was in the water, he was a lot better
than any other time," Paskowitz said. "Immeasurably better. He reacted
better to things, his outbursts were way fewer and that sparked the idea."
Paskowitz created Surfers Healing, a day long camp for children with autism.
He and a team of seasoned surfers would paddle the kids out on huge tandem
surfboards and ride waves with them. The response was incredible and
Paskowitz soon discovered that the experience was mutually beneficial for
the kids and the instructors. "It's not even the surfing so much as it is
being in the water, in the ocean," Paskowitz said. "But, some of these guys
are so good, they're sticking kids in the tube. That's the coolest part of
surfing, so why can't these kids be cool too?" ..."

18. "SCHOOLS NOT COMMUNICATING WITH PARENTS ABOUT SPECIAL EDUCATION LEGAL
RIGHTS" in the September edition of Advocacy in Action from The Advocacy
Institute at
<http://www.advocacyinstitute.org/advocacyinaction/Procedural_safeguards_Not
ice_Study.shtml>
http://www.advocacyinstitute.org/advocacyinaction/Procedural_safeguards_Noti
ce_Study.shtml.

"Parents' Rights Notices that are not easily readable do not comply with the
law, and they do not meet its intent to provide clear information to
parents. If parents and schools are to be partners in the education of
children with disabilities, clear communication is essential. The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) - the federal law
mandating special education for all eligible students with disabilities -
gives parents the rights to

* be informed of schools' proposed actions with regard to their
children,

* be full partners in decision-making teams, and

* take legal action if they oppose the school's proposals for their
child.

Under IDEA, schools are required to advise parents of their rights in a way
that is easy to understand. Parents not only have the right and duty to
participate in special education decisions, they can and should provide
information about their child that no one else can provide. The decision to
provide special services and the choice of services provided can be crucial
to a child's future. Upon the recent release of IDEA 2004 final federal
regulations, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings promised that the new
regulations "strengthen parents' involvement in their children's education."
Yet a recent study finds that states currently are not doing a good job at
articulating the rights and responsibilities essential to strong parent
involvement. ..."



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