Monday, February 16, 2009

NO MORE - EMH-TMH-PMH !!!!! Hooray!!!
*Parents need to know this NEW RULE CHANGE like the back of their hand and understand what it is REALLY SAYING..especially 'the SAMPLE WORKSHEET' on the last page! This is now in effect and will have to do with many of our Children with Developmental Disabilities especially those with Down syndrome!

Contact FL DOE if you have any questions about it, be sure to really take the time to READ AND UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS SAYING...this is the main FL DOE RULE THAT becomes 'the label' aka ELIGIBILITY for our Children to receive ESE Special Education Services!

Instead of your Child being "called" for example: TRAINABLE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED aka TMH your Child would now be identified as InD eligible on their IEP Document. (Or EMH=Educationally Mentally Handicapped or PMH=Profound Mentally Handicapped)

The Department of Education has issued the following memorandum regarding the DPS:2009-014 Questions and Answers: Rule 6A-6.03011, Florida Administrative Code (FAC.), Exceptional Student Eligibility for Students with Intellectual Disabilities. The memorandum may be viewed at: http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-5296/dps-2009-014.pdf
PRINT OUT READ AND REREAD THIS TILL YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS NEW ESE RULE CHANGE IS REALLY SAYING! (*Mark it up with pencil like it's a college textbook!)

*I was invited and was part of the rewriting of this ESE Rule change and have a personal passion to make sure it serves our families correctly!


Sunday, February 15, 2009

Slide Show from Holiday Party 2008

PODS Angels Holiday Party 2008 Pictures
Photography by Nancy Harris

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bradley's name was NOT on the list...

Bradley's name was NOT on the list....
My grandson, Bradley, is an awesome kid. He brings great joy into my life. He is eight years old, attends first grade and he just happens to have Down syndrome. Today his mother and I attended his class Valentine's Party. When I arrived after her, I could tell his mother was very upset. She leaned over and showed me that he had only received three Valentines and also shared that when she arrived his teacher said that she (the teacher) had passed out all his valentines for him. Bradley also did not receive a bag of goodies that had been put together by the classroom mom. Bradley was very excited about the party---just like all the other children.

My daughter talked to a couple of the other mothers and found out that Bradley's name was not on the list that was sent home. The class list was not sent home with Bradley or my daughter would have caught the error. My daughter got a list of students from the school web site so she could help Bradley prepare his Valentines. His name was on that list. I know his teacher personally so I called her tonight with my daughter's permission. She said, "it was an accident"---"someone must have interrupted me when I was typing it"---she said this very matter-of-factly and without feeling. She said she was sorry it happened. She also said that she passed out Bradley's Valentines because "he was out of the classroom when the children exchanged cards."

What do you think the teacher should do? Anything? I don't want to be petty, but this is a Child. It would bother me if it happened to any child. Thank you for sharing your ideas. Bradley seemed to handle it okay, but his speech is very limited, and my daughter was too upset to stay for the whole party. I ran to the parties of two other grandchildren.
Jeanne - Bradley's Grandma

*The above story is a TRUE STORY that was just emailed to me by a friend that is in contact with this family. Permission to post full story here has been granted by Grandma. *(Names have been changed)

Please post your comment here on this blog and let it be known how YOU would react if you were Bradley's mother or grandmother and this happened to someone YOU LOVE ON VALENTINE'S DAY!?!?

Personally....
I feel this teacher is an uncaring idiot and acted shamefully and needs to know that what she pulled off will NOT GO UNOTICED or tolerated by those we entrust our Children to everyday at our schools! Teachers if you are reading this...and you have 'an attitude' towards any of your students which are our precious Children...WAKE UP and get it together and BE RESPECTFUL towards each and everyone of your students! Shame on some you for the attitudes you have towards our "babies!!"

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Inclusion...it's really basically simple!

Inclusion...it's really basically simple! If those that teach would just be more open to the possibilities...the possibilities can be endless!! What is so wrong with being flexible to think-outside-of-the-box and try new ways in how today's classrooms are run and curriculum is 'delivered'...ALL can benefit when trying a different approach or teaching just a little bit differently than how things have always been done, especially if you have been teacher the same way for so long. TRY A NEW APPROACH with a new attitude about it! Inclusion...what is so wrong with wanting to create a truly inclusive environment...not just ONE CLASSROOM but entire school campuses!

I wish our principals and teachers understood more of why it's so important for EVERYONE to be included. Everyone wants to belong, everyone NEEDS to feel they belong but because some are born with something that makes them look or act or think differently than the majority, is not a reason not to be 'allowed' what everyone else is allowed...freedom, it's now a basic CIVIL RIGHT to be allowed! They have to live with the fact that out there in the real world they will be looked at with stares, treated differently, treated unfairly and bullied. Ignored and overlooked...etc...lots of negative 'things people do' to make others feel bad and left out.

At our schools...gosh, why can't INCLUSION be the norm and encouraged to be practiced? With all the Character Education 'curriculum' that is used today to teach how to treat others...inclusion if allowed...would do that!

Seems everyone has their own idea on what Inclusion is or is not...What do you think about Inclusion in our schools?

I will be posting more on Inclusion thoughts...stay tuned....subscribe to this blog!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Your Child's IEP Goals Should Be To Succeed In Regular Education

Your Child's IEP Goals Should Be To Succeed In Regular Education
http://www.concordspedpac.org/articles/RM-Your%20Child%27s%20IEP%20Goals%20Should%20Be%20To%20Succeed%20In%20Regular%20Education.pdf

*Click link for original article or copy & paste into new search window

Special Education Law Reed Martin, J.D.
Taken from Reed's manual: Getting Your Child's Regular Education Teachers
To Do What The Law Requires Them To Be Doing For Your Child


When your child's annual goals are related to academics that are objectively measurable,
the goal should be to raise the student to grade level equivalency -- just like any other
student in regular education. A common problem for many students with special needs,
as acknowledged by Congress in the 1997 IDEA, is the lowering of expectations by regular education teachers. Students are often allowed to progress at a slower rate so you should make sure the goal for your child is to achieve one grade level of growth for each year of instruction. If your child's disability makes that difficult then that is exactly what evaluation is to explore, it is exactly what the IEP committee is to discuss and it is exactly what the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development is required for -- to acquire and disseminate promising educational practices that will enable your child's teachers to attempt to enable your child to have the same rate of accomplishment as other children in the class. It is common to see regular education teachers expecting students with special needs to have a difficult time and to be performing below grade level. So if your child's evaluation shows a deficit, for example in reading of several years below the grade level of the rest of the class, then your goal should be more than one year's growth for one year of instruction -- it should be to get up to grade level. Your child has a right to the same goals and expectations of everyone else in regular education. Being behind in reading will drag your child behind in everything. Worse, being behind in a regular class can lead to teasing by other students in the class and that must be addressed as well. Recent federal court cases such as Leslie B. v. Winnacunnet Coop. Sch, Dist., 28 IDELR 271 (D.NH 1998) showed that regular education teachers could be liable, as well as the school district being liable, when a student is allowed to fall behind and allowed to be teased to the point that they can no longer attend school.
*Click on above link for complete article or copy & paste into a new search window.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Parents Can Sue School Officials Under Discrimination Laws by Pamela Darr Wright, MA, MSW & Peter W. D. Wright, Esq.

Supreme Court Issues Unanimous Decision in Fitzgerald v. Barnstable: Parents Can Sue School Officials Under Discrimination Laws by Pamela Darr Wright, MA, MSW & Peter W. D. Wright, Esq.1

A kindergarten girl, Jacqueline, was sexually harassed by a third-grade boy while riding the school bus. The child's parents brought this to the attention of school administrators immediately. The principal offered to transfer the child to another bus. Her parents asked the school to put a monitor on the bus or transfer the boy to another bus. When the school did not accept these alternatives, the parents drove their daughter to school for the rest of the year.

The police concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the boy. The principal concluded there was insufficient evidence to warrant discipline.
Jacqueline continued to describe disturbing interactions with the boy for the remainder of the school year. Ultimately, she began missing school. Claiming that school officials did not make adequate efforts to protect their daughter, Jacqueline's parents filed suit in federal district court against the school's governing body, Barnstable School Committee, and the superintendent. Their complaint included a claim for violating Title IX of the Education Act Amendments and claims under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. Claims Under Title IX and Section 1983 Claiming that school officials did not make adequate efforts to protect their daughter, Jacqueline's parents filed suit in federal district court against the school's governing body, Barnstable School Committee, and the superintendent. They alleged that the sexual harassment violated Title IX of the Education Act Amendments. The suit also alleged a violation of 42 USC 1983 which states that: "Every person who, under color of any (federal or state) statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage . . . subjects (someone to be deprived) of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured ... "

If a statute, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 USC 1400) provides a clear remedy for statutory violations, then the ability to sue under IDEA precludes an ability to sue using Section 1983.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE provided by: Wrightslaw.com COPY & PASTE below link directly into your search window to go to this link if you have trouble viewing the full article.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/art/fitzgerald.barnstable.supct.htm

This is all so DISTURBING!!!!!!! A 3rd GRADER on the bus acting out of line with a little Kindergartner and THE SCHOOL offers to move the little girl to another bus and NOT do THE RIGHT THING?!! What are our PUBLIC SCHOOLS coming to? GOOD FAMILIES and our innocent children are the victims more and more today!!! WE ALL HAVE TO continue to make our schools ACTIONS & ADMINISTRATORS ACCOUNTABLE...our Children's lives & eductaions are at stake here! Thank you 'parents' of this little girl for paving the way for the rest of us!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Mediation!!!

Mediation!!! How many have attended one? If it's pertaining to your own Child it gets you to the CORE of your being! If you are attending to be supportive and be someone else's ADVOCATE it still gets to the CORE of your being...especially if you are FIGHTING FOR THE BASIC RIGHTS to have someone INCLUDED in what is everyone's basic right...to be ACCEPTED & INCLUDED into whatever and everything! THE LAW IS THE LAW...yet school after school, IEP 'team' after IEP 'team', PRINCIPAL after PRINCIPAL run their schools the way THEY WANT to run their schools and believe you me...there really are still so many more that DON'T believe or understand what INCLUSION really is, even today with so much technology available with YouTube, PowerPointPresentations, online web conferences etc...to help EDUCATE THE EDUCATORS and ADMINISTRATORS!

I do believe that MOST of our school districts today are run by HIGH PAYING 'Specialists' that are truly only specialized in keeping the doors shut on our kiddo's to benefit from being fully included into their classroom 'societies'...where in the real world...is there a 'special' or intensive or varying exceptionality PLACE ANYWHERE ELSE in our society today? Is there a SEGREGATED side of the lobby of the Bank that only certain people can go...how about a Special Wal-Mart or a Special Target? I don't get this OUT-DATED mind-set anymore..there is no excuse for it to still be common place and encouraged to be allowed anymore!

Mediation...is the beginning steps to a DUE PROCESS when we don't AGREE to what is being proposed at our Child's IEP meeting! Something that does have benefit! For one its a great place to lay your cards on the table and see how individuals really feel about 'those kids' and why....omg...you wouldn't believe the nonsense that is still going on in peoples minds!

Somehow...there has to be a way to EDUCATE those that run our districts DUE PROCESS departments...to educate the ones that ATTEND IEP's...teachers, Principals and just about all those that GET PAID from the money OUR KIDDO's BRING into their schools! Parents need to stand firm in their beliefs of what they KNOW TO BE BEST for their Children! Not enough will go to Due Process and stand firm in their beliefs...!

I am fired up and disgusted at how so many PRINCIPALS...because they are the ones that RUN THE SCHOOLS and for so long have been able to get away with spending our Children's GREEN MONEY the way they want...they have gotten so used to doing things the way they have always done...they aren't going to budge!

Mediation is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you just want to see how far you can get with a bigger opportunity to have a place where you can actually have a good COLLABORATION meeting to really lay every one's cards on the table and have a State Mediator facilitate...ALWAYS check off that you want STATE MEDIATION not the LOCAL CONFLICT resolution as the person that will be facilitating then would be a district paid employee!

Thank you for allowing me to help you with the good fight of FULL INCLUSION and looking forward to seeing things move forward into a more positive direction for you and especially for your little one!

Yahooo.....that meeting is over with!! What a ROLLER-COASTER RIDE of EMOTIONS!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

*No names of Child is used, name of school is not used, to protect privacy. I will at times insert a MADE-UP STUDENT NAME & I could possibly MAKE UP A SCHOOL NAME in order to write what is really happening out there 'in the trenches' of Special Ed Advocacy and what many parents are really going thru 'out there' for the sake of EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN.

My blog today is in response to a mom in an email she told me the school says her daughter HAS TO BE EVALUATED in order to see what services she would qualify for and in order for her to get an aide in Kindergarten!

Will she be attending the same school you are working at?...isn't that the school that has the cluster with 'all those kids'?? The school better not even TRY to think for a millisecond that they are going to try to get your little girl into anything other than "REGULAR" KINDERGARTEN...don't worry that she has to be 'tested all over the place or IQ'd' in order to go INTO KINDERGARTEN or to have the support of an AIDE!! NOT TRUE....and hey...what's the WORST that could happen IF she went INTO Kindergarten WITHOUT an aide...'they would GET ONE EVEN QUICKER' and the bottom line is they are responsible for keeping ALL of their LITTLE students SAFE! Don't you worry...do not set a date for anything BUT an IEP to determine ESY for this summer....and unless she needs her ANNUAL IEP to update for her year while IN Kindergarten, that is when you would request an INTERIM! That is thee only reason you would need an IEP...UNLESS she has not had something done in 3 years since the original EVALUATION...which I do not believe it's been 3 years since her original evaluation, she's just 4 turning 5 soon isn't she??...and just deny them to IQ test her no matter what up until almost the day before she turns 6 years old...ok not exactly 6 years old but at 5 years 9-10 months old PERIOD! This is MY suggestion anyway...other than that always get your IEP updated at an INTERIM IEP to make 'adjustments' to something that you have a concern about...that's it in a nutshell...if she is 5 years old before September 1st and unless she has a really significant disability..and I really don't believe that her having DOWN SYNDROME is a significant disabilitiy..it's actually one of the more 'common' ones...it is NOT a reason to deny her access to GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS with Supports and Services she will need to be successful in her Gen.Ed class!

Good luck and let me know how things go and if you need me to attend the next IEP meeting with you...you know "YOUR GIRL IS MY GIRL when it comes to getting her all the help she needs at school to help her!

This is going on THIS WEEK for this mom and her trying to do what's best for her little sweetie!