Navigating the Special Education Maze
September 22, 2007
Navigating the Special Education Maze
by: Nadine O’Reilly, M.A.
As a school psychologist, as well as the mother of a child with a chronic health condition, I understand all too well the intimidation that accompanies entering the “bargaining” sessions of IEP meetings. There are ways, however, to stack the proverbial cards in your favor. Read on
To begin with, be prepared for anything. Keep accurate documentation and note the dates and times that everything occurs. I’m not exaggerating - EVERYTHING. Every phone call, every progress report, etc. Nothing is more intimidating to IEP teams than a parent who has prepared for their meeting. A parent with a Plan of their own is scary for us, because what if we look like idiots, or offend you? That’s why you have to come into meetings prepared for anything, almost as if you’re documenting for a Due Process hearing. You never know, you might have to “go there.”
Second, know your rights. Ask for a copy of your State’s Parental Rights in Special Education (PRISE) for your review before you attend any meeting at all. You can find the PRISE for your State by entering a search on Google.
Some Good News About Blended Families
September 21, 2007
They Spur Members To Grow Emotionally
Tatiana Tannenbaum grappled with a classic stepfamily struggle when she moved from Moscow, Russia to Portland, Ore. and married Leb Tannenbaum: Her three new stepsons weren’t very happy to have her in their lives.
To earn her stepsons’ acceptance, she cooked Russian meals, which the boys rejected. At times, she spoke English and felt as if no one understood her. It seemed all her efforts to win them over failed, she says.
Finally, she realized she had to love herself and accept the fact that her stepsons might never connect with her, she says. Once she embraced this philosophy, she began to empathize with her stepsons’ point of view, she says. "I was able to see what it was like having me in their life. I realized they didn’t always have it easy," she says.
Everyday, people in stepfamilies, like Tannenbaum, learn to grow in ways they never thought possible, experts say.
Adults learn to empathize with their stepchildren, keep their anger in check, communicate well with their partners and spend time with ex-spouses they don’t really want in their lives. "Nothing will force growth and maturity like stepcoupling and stepparenting as you go through the adjustment pains and come out the other end," says Susan Wisdom, co-author of the book Stepcoupling and a licensed professional counselor in Portland.
Hints on how to encourage children to read
September 20, 2007
Hints from Ruowen Wang
? Keep a small basket filled with joke books, magazines, short stories, books of questions and answers, and books like Ripley’s Believe It or Not in each bathroom of your house.
? Put a map of the solar system, a map of the world, or a map of your local community on the wall. Refer to them often whenever possible, and create map quizzes or games to play with your kids.
? Take your children to the bookstores regularly. Make visiting bookstores your family recreation and eventually part of your "family culture". Get books on many subjects and make them accessible for your children at all times.
? Secondhand bookstores, Salvation Army stores, Value Villages, yard sales and Book Events are the best places to fine inexpensive books.
? When it comes to teaching some "boring stuff", like Math, Phonics and Grammar, a car is often the best place. Kids in car seats have nothing better to do than to pay attention and work out abstract lessons.
? Play with words and letters to explore word formation in the English language. Ask children to identify compound words like "playground", "bathtub". Or add "dis-" before some words, and "-less" after others to show the function of prefixes and suffixes.
Babies Suffering For Colic
September 19, 2007
About one quarter of babies will suffer from colic from around age 3 weeks - and you will suffer too! All babies cry of course, but those with colic will cry relentlessly for at least three hours several times a week, usually in the evening when your partner gets home from work. This can be a stressful time for you all, but it will go away of its own accord once baby reaches about 12 weeks. In the meantime there are some things you can try to ease her discomfort and the decibel level.
Symptoms Of Colic As well as the crying and general distress, baby will often extend or pull up her legs, arching her back; and her tummy may feel bloated.
The Cause Of Colic The causes are not fully understood, although some experts believe that bottle-fed babies are more likely to be affected as they take in air through the teat. Other causes are smoking during pregnancy - this includes being in a smoky atmosphere (second-hand smoke).
Other theories include an intolerance of lactose (a natural ingredient of milk), and the immaturity of her digestive system - the latter is supported by the fact that babies usually grow out of colic at around 12 weeks of age.
Just What Is A Learning Disability?
September 18, 2007
A learning disability is defined as a permanent problem that affects a person with average to above average intelligence, in the way that he/she receives, stores, and processes information.
There are many wrong ideas out there about learning disabilities. For example:
1) A learning disability will go away in time. Unfortunately, this is not true. The good news is, you can learn ways to get around the problem. For example, kids who have trouble taking notes in class, like Michele did, can record the class on audiotape. Other students can make copies of the notes they have taken for them. The teacher can make copies of the notes they are lecturing from. Or, when the notes are written on an overhead transparency during the lecture, they can be copied after class and given to the student.
For children who have trouble reading, tapes of many of the textbooks are made available through the publishing companies. At one school where I taught volunteers did the taping. We also used tapes that were recorded by a company called Recordings for the Blind.
Unilateral Disarmament - The First Step to Improving Communications with Your Teenagers
September 17, 2007
Many times, we are so conditioned in how we speak that we do not realize whether or not we are effectively communicating with our teens. This is especially true when they upset us.
To ensure that you are fostering an environment that will encourage your teenager to talk to you, as opposed to fearing you, the first step is to evaluate your communication style. How you express yourself and what you say to your teens, especially when you are angry, can inhibit your relationship with them. Reacting by shouting short sarcastic phrases will usually turn off most people, including our teenagers.
The following are twelve examples of statements and questions that you should avoid saying:
1. When I was your age
2. What part of the word “NO” don’t you understand
3. Because I said so
4. Who pays the mortgage around here?
5. You’re NOT going out dressed like that
6. What do you see in him, you can do better
7. You kids have it so easy today
8. I didn’t say that
9. You live under my roof, you live by my rules
10. Are you PMSing?
EEG Biofeedback Training as a Treatment Option for ADHD
September 17, 2007
The popularity of EEG Biofeedback Training continues to grow both in the USA and around the world. Many parents are searching for treatment options for ADHD other than medications, and as a results are exploring this high tech approach to treatment. Here are some things that I think you should know about Neurofeedback or EEG Biofeedback training if you are considering it for your ADDer:
First, I believe it to be a good option for treatment. This is based on my ten years of personal experience as a provider of this option in my practice. I have treated over 300 ADHD kids and adults using excellent equipment from EEG Spectrum in Encino, CA. I have found that about 70% of my clients have received either “good” or “excellent” results from the training.
I am often surprised by the results, and sometimes disappointed by the results. For example, I am just completing treatment with a 20 year old college student with ADD (space-cadet type) who is very bright and highly motivated. His brother had been through treatment in the past and had done remarkably well, as had his step-sister. Yet he has had only fair improvement at best. He has received most of his benefit from taking the nutraceutical Attend on a regular basis, and at much less cost.
Medical Assistant - Medical Assistant Distance Education
September 16, 2007
Considerations in Distance Education for the Medical Assistant Instructor
Medical Assistant distance education is emerging to meet the demands of a new generation of students in the twenty first century. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School distance education program for medical assistant presents a good model for this integration of technology with medical assistant education. Distance education, particularly in its most recent form, online education, is being integrated into even the most cautious and conservative of educational institutions. Yet the impact of these alternative forms of teaching and learning on students, faculty, and institutions has yet to be broadly or deeply studied. New models such as that at St. Augustine Medical Assistant School are immerging. St. Augustine Medical Assistant School is available at: www.medassistant.org
Distance education is not new, and can be traced as far back as the first century. The Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christian churches, instructing them from a distance (even when he was under ‘house arrest’ in Rome). This was probably the first type of ‘correspondence course’, which was the only method of learning at a distance until the advent of the telephone. Today, distance education and in particular online medical assistant instruction calls upon an impressive range of technologies to enable medical assistant instructor and the medical assistant student who are separated by distance to communicate with each other either in real time (synchronous) or delayed time (asynchronous).
Maximizing Your ADHD Childs Performance in School.
September 15, 2007
As a parent there are lots of things that you can do to help your child with ADHD succeed in school, with friends, and in life. Here are some tips for you that just may help you in your ongoing efforts to help your child. Since we know that ultimately it is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that the special needs of his/her ADHD child are met, and not the teacher’s responsibility, or the school’s, or the President’s, we need to do what it takes daily to raise our kids. But let’s make sure not to let it become an emotional crisis for us. After the initial awareness of the existence of a problem, there need not be an overwhelming feeling of helpless again! Here are some things that we can do for our kids:
1. Keep a file on hand, and a start a daily journal from the moment you first suspect or are told that there is a problem. Document what you see in your child at home, document your observations of your child at school, and document the observations of family members, neighbors, teachers, or anyone that has frequent contact with your child.
Reading to Learn: Turning Kids into Lifelong Learners
September 14, 2007
Reading to Learn: Turning Kids into Lifelong Learners
by: Aldene Fredenburg
Along about third grade, children reach a level of reading competency which allows them to read independently for the purpose of gathering information and learning new skills. At this point, a whole world opens up to them. They are developing the tools to pursue interests of their own, and wise teachers and parents will take advantage of this phenomenon to build on their children’s educational success.
Poetry and fiction are always favorites among children: case in point, the unprecedented success of the “Harry Potter” novels. But kids are thirsty for knowledge about people and places around the world, as well as history, science, math, and art. A varied collection of books and magazines in the classroom will keep exciting information at students’ fingertips. A scheduled weekly trip to the school library, with lessons on how to find books and research specific topics, offers skills that children will use throughout their school career and beyond. Kid-friendly online search engines provide more opportunities for students to research their favorite interests.
