What exactly are the DD Medicaid Waivers?

What exactly are the DD Medicaid Waivers?

MEDICAID WAIVERS ~ fldd resources.org

If you still have not filled out the forms to have your child signed up and on the Medwaiver WAITLIST, here is the link with all the resources to help you with the process. JUST DO IT and get all the paperwork turned in and get going with it. If you need help or have questions and need help, please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to assist you.

Remember for the Developmental Disabilities Medicaid Waivers it is only for 5 specific documented disabilities:
1. CP
2. Autism
3. Spina Bifida
4. Mental Retardation
5. Prader-Wili syndrome
Sign up starts when the child is 3 years old,
don't keep putting it off...JUST DO IT!


http://www.flddresources.org./html/medicaid_waivers.htm

Pledge for Parental Involvement

Pledge for Parental Involvement

I pledge to support my child's education
to the best of my ability.
I will have high expectations for my child
to succeed in school and in life.
I will make my child's education a priority,
and model positive actions and attitudes.
I will partner with my child's school
to ensure I am informed and involved
in all aspects of my child's education,
and I will be an active advocate
for my child's education.
I understand that education is the key
to success, and will do everything I can
to nurture my child's ability to learn.

*November is Parental Involvement Month
I received this saying at a Title I Parent Training

Is she getting a good education today?

Just when you think you have the kinks out of all the school issues and things are running smoothly, something tugs inside of you to keep doing what we do and that is to continue to STAY ON TOP OF EVERY LITTLE THING that is or is not happeing at school with your Child, in my case with Mariah. When it comes to making sure our Children are being taught....really taught how to READ, WRITE & DO MATH, we have to continue to keep the lines of communication wide open regularly!

 With the long Christmas Break finally over and the New Year finally here...the first week of January is my time to send out a few emails to both Mark & Mariah's teachers and ask a few questions and make request for some help in a few of my areas of concern. I believe if parents get too comfortable with NOT being in contact with our Children's teachers and they don't have regular parent/teacher conferences or some kind of contact either small phone chats or emailing them it is easy for our Children to not be provided the support they need to help them learn.



I started my emailing the first day they were back in school and WOW what a whirl-wind of positive things start happening! When I inquire about certain things and they get back to me, it helps me know where I need to keep ON TOP OF THINGS better.



Parents if you haven't had a parent teacher conference in awhile or yet this year...absolutely it is time set one up and get reconnected to all the different teachers and have some discussions.



Emailing is my 'mode of communication' that I prefer to use when wanting to touch base and ask some questions on how things are going. I'm sure there are some teachers that dread any email coming from me or some parents, but to be honest..emailing teachers is the surest way to get the ball rolling with some good conversation about YOUR Child and how things are really going at school.



I encourage each of you to make contact with your Children's teachers & ESE Support people right about now, the first weeks of the New Year. Spring Break is just around the corner and in Florida we have the Standardized test called the FCAT. When its just before FCAT, that is ALL that is going on at school...preparing everyone how to do well on it! The end of another school year will be here before we know it. Make it a priority to keep good communication happening all the time with their teachers. Sending out an email once in awhile to get updates on some things is a good thing.



Set up a PLANNING MEETING with your Child's teachers, this is not an IEP meeting. This is a meeting that is alot more casual and free flowing with conversation about what's working, what's not working and what are some of the challenges teachers and you both are seeing. What are some of the wonderful things that are going on at home and while in school. I love doing MARIAH PLANNING MEETINGS in the middle of the school year especially when everyone comes to the table with an open mind and willing to share ideas and some possible new changes to how things have been going.



Right now, things are working out wonderful for Mariah's 5 grade year. She has 3 great teachers that are all good at emailing me back. The beginning of the year didn't start out so well because Mariah's homeroom/reading & math teacher refused to ever talk or communicate with me! She may have been good teacher but if she couldn't provide any parent/teacher communication...ever...not one email was ever replied back to, not one phone message I left for her was ever returned. I was a wreck at that time because of it! I wanted to have a parent/teacher conference around the 5th week of school just to touch base and discuss how things were going. We were having some MATH issues going on at the time. Needless to say, I finally had that parent/teacher conference close to the 13th week of school! If she wasn't going to ever talk to me than I guess I needed to be able to observe her classroom and to see how she worked with my daughter. What I saw during that classroom observation was my daughter being fully segragated and not included at all!! I was so upset by then that I had already spoken to the Principal and requested for a new teacher for my daughter.

Not only did Mariah get a new homeroom teacher, she got a new MATH teacher as well! Ever since the switch of teachers I have not had a problem with being able to communicate and have Mariah's teachers email me back. The classwork she brings home now tells me she is being provided an opportunity to be part of the classroom lessons and to do the best she can. She is learning so much this year in 5th grade!



If things don't seem right, chances are they aren't right! When things sent home from school show you that real learning took place, that is a great sign!. If you ever have a teacher that refuses to collaborate and communicate with you about your concerns for your Child's education and is unwilling to work with you on a regular basis, put in for a teacher change as quickly as you can! The school year goes by way too fast to waste a week or a month or a couple of months trying to make things work out with someone that probably doesn't believe in your Child like you need them to anyway. It's not about worrying about hurting someones feelings...it's about YOUR CHILD getting a good education and being able to have a good parent teacher relationship! If you have a teacher that doesn't give YOU the time of day...trade em in for a different one - QUICK!! It's all about PARENT INVOLVEMENT & if you have a teacher that doesn't want that or get that...request for a teacher that does! 



Mariah's new teacher is an absolute delight to work with! What a breath of fresh air to be able to have a teacher that actually wants to say hi to me and give me friendly updates about my daughter and on classroom stuff. It was not a fun time for me to have a teacher that refused to have any conversation with me about my daughter, it was something that totally took me for a loop, I just never expected it. *Isn't it part of a teachers job discription to talk to parents? .......sometime? 



Is she getting a good education today? Well..I know she loves going to school everyday and I know she has a good handful of nice friends that truly care about her. Her teachers are good people and they are doing the best they can helping my daughter do her personal best while she is in their classrooms. When parents & teachers are able to work together for the sake of the Child that is when everyone is learning! Teachers that embrace inclusion and aren't affraid of parents that want to be involved are the teachers become just better teachers because of it! Inclusion and having students with significant learning challenges in General Education Classrooms is not easy, I won't lie, but it is rewarding and at the end of the school year, that teacher with the open mind and the desire to teach ALL CHILDREN is the better teacher by far!! (Can I have an amen!) 



Having a student with Down syndrome fully included in a General Education classroom is not something that just happens overnight...it takes lots of collaboration and work from both parents & the teachers and it takes having 'talks'...either in person by having little planning meetings or shooting an email once in awhile or even a quick friendly phone conversation. Parents don't be affraid to have a NON-IEP PLANNING MEETING for your Child, some of the best ideas and ways your Child learns or how the teachers present lessons are talked about at these meetings.



Everyone touch base with your son or daughters teachers and get an update on things. Have a wonderfully productive January and a Healthy New Year!
 
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