Little Children & Due Process

Today it's Aniah's day in COURT! Broward School District filed for a Due Process Hearing. Aniah's mother DID NOT AGREE WITH the content of the Psycho-Educational EVALUATION that the school Psychologist wrote up about her. Mom was in disagreement on several things, one mainly being that she was evaluated from the schools perspective as if she were a child with Autism and not a child with Down syndrome.

Mom disagreed with several inconsistencies pertaining to her daughters true academic abilities that the school psychologist had written into the report. So she disagreed with the PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL REPORT and the school district believes it was accurate. Therefore the School District takes the Parent to Due Process!

*Parent requested a second opinion or an IEE=Independent Educational Evaluation at PUBLIC EXPENSE. Parent Request was DENIED!

It has been a Roller-Coaster Ride of emotions and stress to say the least on the entire family. Not only that but a financial burden as well.

Today at the Due Process Hearing, mom took her daughter, Aniah with her to meet the ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE. Aniah was a perfect Angel during the entire proceedings that lasted a few hours. She finally was able to go ask him what his name was and snap a few photos when the Due Process Hearing was over.

Having a school district TAKE YOU TO DUE PROCESS is no fun, absolutely but the "process" is an amazing opportunity for parents & the entire family to learn just how "nasty" the schools legal department can make things on an involved parent, that is advocating for their Child's Education!

Outcome of this Particular Due Process Hearing: Our Children's Individual Educational Planning is NOT UP TO THE DISTRICTS LEGAL & DUE PROCESS DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES!! 

....for the record....we have THAT in writing via the COURT REPORTER on the TRANSCRIPTS from Aniah's Due Process Hearing!

Glad this chapter is over!

As My ESE World Turns in Broward Public Schools

As My ESE World Turns 

in Broward Public Schools

My Daughter's CIVIL RIGHTS ARE BEING VIOLATED and her Public School Education has become what the ESE Department & the LEGAL Department of our Broward Public School District wants it to be!

I am amazed at how much EVERYONE LIES!! Those that work for Broward County Public Schools have taught or are teaching my daughter! Teachers that I thought cared, care more about keeping their steady paycheck instead of telling the truth under oath! District level Program Specialist who's only real job duty today is...to make sure the "IEP TEAM" does what the ESE Department Administrators want to have happen at a particular IEP 'team' meeting. 

It does not amaze me about ESE Specialist and what they do, cause they have always done whatever they were told to do...they are the Tiny Robots just doing what they are programmed to do...they do as they are instructed! They are the good workers of parent manipulation! The ESE Specialist are the ones doing what they are told to do, they can't help it...they love their jobs! They need that paycheck!! They are the best at being robot like when dealing with ESE Parents! They are good at it too!! I have only met ONE that was 'human' and seemed to care....and that was only because she was new at her job! I don't care how 'nice' an ESE Specialist acts, they are the ones that have to carry out what the ESE Department instructs and demands of them to do!....if they want to keep their jobs!

Do you have AREA PROGRAM SPECIALISTS or now called DISTRICT PROGRAM SPECIALISTS attending and sitting in at everyone of your IEP meetings? It is hoped that this person should know IDEA and the State & Local Laws very well. I have found there are some really Intelligent & Smart Program Specialist that can really be helpful with knowing the Laws and the implications when something is about to change during an IEP meeting. Now it seems there are sometimes two Program Specialist attending our IEP meetings. I have had the pleasure of working with one of the most amazing Program Specialist during my daughter's elementary school years. Definitely needs to be more of the 'good ones' attending our Children's IEP meetings. When one is 'sent' by the ESE Department, a switch out of the one that normally attends your IEP meetings, that almost always smells of trouble on the horizon! Program Specialist can make or break your good intentions when putting together a quality IEP for your Child....because they have the 'final say-so' at the table.  

PARENT LIAISONS ~ Ever heard of a Parent Liaison that was ACTUALLY FOR THE PARENTS CONCERNS? Not in Broward County Florida! That job is given to the one that has the most hardened heart of them all. That person in no way acts in anyway for the parent but most certainly is the final ax when it comes to anything a Parent is trying to add to or help their Child's Individual Education Plan via the IEP 'team' process. This person can do much of their work via a few emails without anyone really noticing, they are also doing what their 'job' requires them to do. Get the job done no matter what!...oh and as an added bonus to their job status, go ahead and piss the parents off as much as you possibly can! "What a Job!" 

I am amaZed at the Total Disregard for the Educational Rights of our Children Today! It's all about how much $$MONEY$$ they 'gleen' from our babies and then not provide a REAL EDUCATION that leads to an Academic Diploma aka the High School Diploma ~ Academic Track. It doesn't amaze me today how bad it has become in not being able to have our Children's IEP Documents written in such a way that even the parent would fully agree to what has been written into their Child's IEP. Instead today it's about the District by way of ESE Support Robots...they attend IEP meeting to do what the District is trying to shove down our throat this time. 

*ESE Parents..."the LESS THAN 1%" out there not happy with 'things'...y'all need to FILL THE ROOM at the KC Wright School Board Building downtown. The mirrored glass building across from the County Courthouse. Starting tog on the corner of SE 3rd Ave. and SE 6th St tomorrow...and continuing to attend the School Board Meetings on a regular basis. Our Voice needs to be hear...in numbers. Not just the same couple of parents, but all of us! 

OUR SCHOOLBOARD MEMBERS ~ They were ALL VOTED IN their positions! When I hear a few of them Speak....I am sickened by how much they have changed so quickly after being VOTED into their positions. They can just as quickly be VOTED OUT!

I am an ESE Parent Not Happy with How Things are Going ~ I Am the Less Than 1%

It is time to stand up for what is right!

2/5/13 Broward School Board Meeting ~ ESE Parents Speaking Out

BECON-TV Video
M_02-05-2013 

Entire Broward Public School Board Meeting held on Tuesday Feb. 5th, 2013. Several ESE Parents Speaking out at the 2/5/13 School board meeting starts at 116. on the video. 

ESE REFORM is needed now!

Please share this video!

Steps 4 Change is needed now!

https://becon223.eduvision.tv/Default.aspx?q=IsahXh4JBPSXSCmY0VGDVg%253d%253d#

Broward parents demand more rigor for special-needs students - Schools - MiamiHerald.com

Broward parents demand more rigor for special-needs students - Schools - MiamiHerald.com

Some Broward parents with special-needs children complain the school district pushes their students off the path for a real high school diploma.

BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
MRVASQUEZ@MIAMIHERALD.COM
In testimony that was at once angry and tearful, a group of Broward mothers told School Board members Tuesday that their special-needs children are being forced into less rigorous classes that don’t result in a standard high school diploma.

The parents insisted their students are capable of earning a regular diploma, but the children are instead placed on the path to a “special diploma” that has little practical use.

Parent Nancy Linley-Harris told board members that the district’s methods of evaluating special-needs students are “toxic” and for parents the process amounts to “being in a war zone for our children.”

Nearly 33,000 special-needs students — with disabilities ranging from minor to severe — attend Broward district schools. In interviews after the parents’ harshly critical public appearance, district leaders stressed that it was only a small group of parents (joined by a few children and other supporters) who were complaining.

School Board Chairwoman Laurie Rich Levinson said thousands of parents with special-needs children “are thrilled with the education they’re receiving.”

“You have, just as you do with anything, some parents who are dissatisfied,” she said.

Some of the upset parents told The Miami Herald they’d been forced to pursue legal action to fight the district.

Linley-Harris said her 14-year-old daughter, Mariah, who has Down syndrome, was placed on the special diploma track last year. Mariah wants to one day become a veterinary technician, and attends Parkway Middle School’s STEM magnet program.

Mariah’s new classes, her mom said, are “a very expensive babysitting service for our kids. They water down the goals.”

Linley-Harris has a pending legal case against the district, alleging her child’s “due process” rights were violated.

Those lawsuits are the last resort for parents unhappy with how their special-needs child is being served by the school system. But Kathrine Francis, executive director of Broward’s Exceptional Student Education department, said there are other ways for parents to resolve disputes with the district.

A simple talk with the child’s school might be enough to solve any problems, Francis said, and when that doesn’t work, the district offers its own in-house conflict-resolution service. Francis said parents filing due process lawsuits represent less than 1 percent of special-needs students served by the district.

Still, Francis said the district is always looking to improve and is conducting a satisfaction survey with special-needs families in the coming months.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/05/3219059/broward-parents-demand-more-rigor.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy


* I tried that "having a simple talk with my Child's school"....6 IEP's later and 1 "in-house conflict-resolution service." (...service?)

This is not what I had in mind this school year to be an INVOLVED PARENT WITH MY DAUGHTER'S NEW SCHOOL & EDUCATION! This level of Advocating for my daughter has taken me away from Volunteering at my daughter's Middle School, like I had plans to do. My school district has not been 'reasonable nor workable'.....throughout all the "simple IEP meetings" that I had a Lawyer with me at everyone! Thank you Disability Rights Florida for helping me get my "sea legs" back and encouraging me to REPRESENT MYSELF in my Due Process. www.disabilityrightsflorida.org

No one can REPRESENT THEIR CHILD BEST THAN THE MOTHER!!! (...or FATHER!!!) I know every detail of the 'chain-of-events' that this districts ESE Department Administrators, Program Specialist, ESE Specialist and my Elementary School Principal has taken me on!! I know my daughter, Mariah is entitled to a WORLD CLASS EDUCATION ...ha!! The SPECIAL DIPLOMA IS NOT SO SPECIAL when it amounts to NOTHING in the real world for my daughter, or anyone's daughter or son for that matter...Who the heck created this SPECIAL DIPLOMA 'track' in Florida? 

I don't believe I am part of the "less than 1%" and I certainly am not, the parent that doesn't care...I DO CARE!! I care so much, last year that I sat on 6 different Advisories, as an ESE "Parent Voice." I am a Special Needs Advocate. I absolutely know what families experience during IEP meetings in Broward and other Florida Districts! What is and has been happening here for so long is going on in the entire State of Florida and beyond! It's a mess everywhere!

I would encourage parents to learn all you can about your CIVIL RIGHTS and the Special Ed Federal Laws, IDEA and become familiar with your State Department of Education Special Education Laws. Attend National Conferences specific to your Child's Disability. Get connected with a group of parents you can relate to and learn from one another. Attend each other's IEP meetings. Wrightslaw is any parents best friend when learning about your Special Ed Rights & IDEA Federal Law. www.wrightslaw.com 

I AM TAKING THE STEPS 4 CHANGE!

Parents claim Broward district denies services to special-needs students

Parents claim Broward district denies services to special-needs students

Enya -- Only Time [[ Official Video ]] HD

PARENT INVOLVEMENT ~ I CARE ABOUT MY CHILD'S EDUCATION!

PARENT INVOLVEMENT has become more like a cat & mouse game of "EMAIL TAG" with teachers and the District ESE Department!!! Not what I had in mind for being an "involved parent" this year for my daughter's first year in Middle School at all! 

If my child is not what a teacher 'went to school to teach'.....then maybe some teachers chose the wrong profession! I thought teachers went into the teaching profession to TEACH? Diversity is the real world, students are not all the same, just as teachers are not all the same. Students do not all learn the same either. If everyone was the same, how boring would our world be then? 

I just want to know what my child did in school that day and when she comes home with nothing to show what she did in most or all of her 7 classes that day....well, that CONCERNS ME GREATLY!! I am an involved and concerned parent everyday, not just when I feel like it!

Some teachers do a fabulous job of sending home and providing actual classwork my child did while in their classrooms that day. There are some teachers that have made it perfectly clear they are not enjoying having my child in their class and have also made it perfectly clear they are not wanting my PARENT INVOLVEMENT as well......I would love to say to those teachers; GET OVER IT!! 

I am an INVOLVED PARENT with my child's education everyday! Studies show when parents are involved, the student does better in school. My child is a GOOD STUDENT and I am a GOOD PARENT by being and staying involved and on top of my child's daily school work is me being INVOLVED IN MY CHILD'S EDUCATION!

How is your school year going so far? 

Here are just a few snippets of what I found on the internet pertaining why it's important and good that PARENTS are INVOLVED with their child's Education.

"It's not the only factor, but studies show that at every socioeconomic level, children with involved parents perform better in school."

"Involved doesn't just mean helping out with bake sales. Engaged parents make sure that their children don't miss school unnecessarily and that they arrive on time. They read with them, help them master their alphabet and math facts, and essentially back up what the teacher's doing when the student is home." 

"It starts with school leaders making it a point to seek out parents, to treat them as respected partners in their children's education, and if necessary, groom some of them to recruit their peers. It can't just be lip service. Everyone from principal to teachers to kitchen staff must go the extra mile and find clever ways to encourage and reward involvement."
http://www.cleveland.com/bernstein/index.ssf/2012/11/parental_involvement_in_educat.html

What Every Parent Should Know

"Researchers have been studying the effects parent attitudes and actions have on their children's academic success for more than 30 years. The results have been consistent. Anne Henderson and Nancy Berla summed it up in their book A New Generation of Evidence: The Family Is Critical to Student Achievement, which reviewed the existing research: "When parents are involved in their children's education at home, they do better in school. And when parents are involved in school, children go farther in school and the schools they go to are better."
http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/399-involvement-matters-what-to-tell-parents

Differences between an online public school and homeschool ~ K12.com

Differences between an online public school and homeschool

Many people assume that because online learning is done at home, it is homeschooling. But it’s not.  Online public schools are provided by school districts, charter schools, and state education agencies that are part of our public education system. They give every child in a state access to a high quality public school in a home based learning environment.

Here are six important differences between an Online Public School and Homeschooling. Click here for complete BLOG POST by K12.com

www.K12.com

"NEW ESE THINGS" ~ Can District ESE Departments really do these?

My post today is to inform and educate ESE PARENTS and the Public on things.....today it's about a few of the "NEW ESE THINGS" that are of great concern to me....and should be a concern to others as well!!

Excerpt taken from:
Exceptional Student Education
ESE Advisory Council
Report to DAC - District Advisory Council
October 10th, 2012

To read the entire report click on this link:
http://www.browardadvisory.org/agendas-minutes
Look at the top of the list for: 
121114 DAC Nov Agenda Packet.pdf

The Advisory is currently examining the changes in the IEP documentaion: namely closing out the IEP goals prior to the meeting of the Annual IEP, elimination of signatures on the IEP document, elimination of the names of participants at the IEP, the elimination of the Title "Advocate": on the IEP document. Titles of participants still appear on the IEP. ESE parents have expressed concerns that these changes do not help the collaborative process between the parents and the schools and that the general population of ESE parents were not 
informed of these changes.

The ESE Parent Exit Survey has been drafted by the Advisory Committee is currently being reviewed by the Department of Research and Evaluation for future distribution to ESE parents at the end of their child's IEP. Data will be examined to review any areas of the IEP process that may need improvement or reform.

.....I'm just curious WILL THE ESE PARENTS be "manning this EXIT Survey?" Will it be anonymous? 

Excerpt taken from:
Report to School Board Meeting
ESE Advisory Council Meetings
School Board of Broward County
November 7th, 2012
K.C.Wright Building, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Parents have expressed great concerns and disagreed with the changes to the IEP that was put into place without proper notification to our ESE parents. 

These changes include the following:

a.) Elimination of any IEP team discussion with the parent concerning the mastery of goals, unless the parent "requests" such a discussion for a given goal at their Annual IEP. Parents will not be afforded the opportunity at the Annual IEP to review current data that supports any decision concerning the mastery or revision of goals on the previous IEP.
b.) Elimination of names and signatures of attendees at the IEP's
c.) Elimination of the title "Advocate" as a category for an invited person to the IEP.

While these changes may be legal, the question to ask is will it promote collaboration between a school and a parent when such changes only create further questions of school accountability. 

Click here for direct link to website with this public information. Click this link to the District Advisory Council aka DAC website for Broward Schools, click her to read the entire report click:

http://www.browardadvisory.org/agendas-minutes

Look at the top of the list for:

12114 DAC Nov Agenda Packet.pdf

Are these ESE Parental Concerns something that the general population really even cares about? Probably not. Unless you are an ESE Parent on the receiving end of some of these "NEW ESE THINGS" that are being presented at the ESE Advisory Council and reported about at the District School Board meetings, these "NEW ESE THINGS" can and do go quietly UNNOTICED by the General Population of "parents & school board members".!! UNLESS as I said, you are an ESE Parent or Student on the receiving end of some of these NEW & IMPROVED way that the "NEW ESE THINGS" are being done here in our school district.

Just wanted to inform and educate the general population that the "NEW ESE THINGS" that are NOW taking place. I believe this is all WRONG anyway you look at it!!

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http://www.wrightslaw.com/
Parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys come to Wrightslaw for accurate, reliable information about special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities. 

Begin your search in the Advocacy Libraries and Law Libraries. You will find thousands of articles, cases, and resources about dozens of topics:

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Jenny's death is one of two that has rocked the exceptional education department of the school district.

Jenny's death is one of two that has rocked the exceptional education department of the school district.

Elia calling for dismissals after drowning of Riverview student

TAMPA -- Two aides should be fired and the principal and assistant principal should be removed from their positions at Rodgers Middle School in the aftermath of the drowning of a special-needs student.

..."That's if Superintendent MaryEllen Elia has her way. She will recommend to the Hillsborough County School Board next week that Principal Sharon Tumicki and Assistant Principal Shawn Livingston be dismissed from their jobs at the Riverview school...."

Jenny's death is one of two that has rocked the exceptional education department of the school district.

Last January, Isabella Herrera, a second-grader with a neuromuscular disorder, died a day after having a medical issue on a school bus on the way home. Neither the driver nor the aide called 911 as she turned blue and stopped breathing.

The school district is in the midst of an examination of many of its policies and procedures in the Exceptional Student Education department, and the former director of the ESE area sought a transfer to another department.

rshaw@tampatrib.com (813) 259-7999
http://tbo.ly/VPaWfM

Click here to be directed to the FULL ARTICLE: http://www2.tbo.com/news/education-news/2013/jan/09/3/aides-expected-to-be-disciplined-in-death-of-girl-ar-602048/

Click here for another article to this story: http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/nov/01/drowned-riverview-girls-mom-blames-school-ar-550529/          
The mother of an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome who drowned last week after walking out of a crowded school gym said teachers and aides are to blame for her daughter's death.

"I think it was negligence from them for not offering (extra) care for children with special needs," said Elizabeth Rosas, the mother of Jennifer "Jenny" Caballero. "If they had had more care for my daughter, this would have never happened."

She wants investigators to find out exactly what happened at Rodgers Middle School in Riverview on the afternoon of Oct. 22.

"I want everything to be cleared up," Rosas said. "I want justice. I don't want the same thing that happened to my daughter to happen to another child because of poor care."

Jenny was in a gymnasium at Rodgers Middle School in Riverview on Oct. 22 when a student alerted teachers that the girl had slipped out of the gym.


An overall review of the ESE department also is under way.

Hillsborough school board members criticize Wieland's transfer

Click link here for full story. 
http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2013/jan/08/3/memeto1-school-administrator-transfer-criticized-b-ar-600796/

Wieland, who had been the general director of exceptional-student education, requested a transfer last month after her department was rocked by the deaths of two special-needs students and the arrests of two district employees on child-abuse charges.

Reading the comments listed after each of these articles is GREAT READING as well. Comments that could be true of any school district!!!

I wonder how this is affecting all the FLORIDA Districts "ESE Departments" and their "Policies".....hmmm I wonder if this will HELP the entire STATE and our ESE Education! Particularly for the Disability Specific TRAININGS of the Unique Aides or Para Professionals or whatever job title used for the person working the closest to our person needing 'assistance'. 

We can only HOPE it does!!!

Are PARA PROFESSIONALS being trained? If NOT ~ WHY NOT?!!

I am curious if your child has his or her own 1:1 Unique Aide or Para Professional, do YOU know as a parent IF your Child's Aide has actually ever taken any real Training to work with your Child on a daily basis? How would you know? Who do you ask? What kind of training IF they did get any training? Who provides the training IF a training were available? Lots of questions many of us parents have, yet they never get answered..... UNLESS you are a persistently pushy parent like myself and dig deep to find these sorts of things out! I didn't have to go far....I found so much great info on our very own school district ESE Department / FIN Department webpage! It's 'hidden in there'.....but it's there!! I am posting this story in light of all the terrible terrible things that happen to our wonderful children that need the most support to be successful at school.

What has happened in the Hillsborough County School District this past year should never ever should have happened to even just ONE STUDENT! Let's make sure ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE TRAINING those that work with our Children with Unique educational, medical, behavioral and emotional needs. Let's HELP our STAFF HELP our STUDENTS be successful!

What I found from my personal research is this; FIN~Florida Inclusion Network is the department within Broward County School District that's in charge of these types of Para Professional training. They also have a couple of BECON TV Video's that are suppose to go along with the actual training manual. 

How often are the Para Professional's suppose to 'renew or update' their training? ...that I couldn't tell you. If someone is going to be working with your Child, starting from the very first day of school, are they required to take any training before meeting and working with your Child everyday? I would HOPE SO because in one of the video's it even mentions that YES they should! ...but again that I can't tell you. What I CAN TELL YOU is this; that our FIN rep CAN TELL YOU IF your Child's Aide has ever taken the Para Professional Training. If you find out your Child's Para simply has never taken this most basic & simple Para Professional training, can we ask that they do take it? I think we can, we just need to ask the Principal or one of the Assistant Principals that's in charge of the Para Professionals on your Child school campus. Ask if they could please make sure the 1:1 Unique Aide that works with your Child please take the training provided by FIN, in Broward County Public Schools. It should be that simple!

I am posting the actual Para Professional Training here  below in my post, so everyone can see that it's a pretty nice training and the 2 video's that are provided on BECON TV, that are suppose to go along with the FIN training are also pretty good. Are they DISABILITY SPECIFIC? No they are not, but if your Child has some Disability Specific things that need to be known, I don't see why the Principal wouldn't approve of you the parent, that knows your Child the very best to TRAIN or be allowed to talk to the very person that will be the person working with YOUR CHILD everyday....if not....WHY NOT? Why wouldn't the school want the parents of those unique children that need the support of a 1:1 Para Professional provide some basic training to that staff person hired to take care of OUR Child. After all aren't the parents the one that knows that Child the best? If our schools WON'T ALLOW parents to talk to and help make sure the HIRED STAFF know what the heck they are really doing to HELP our Child, I would have to ask......WHY!? I don't think the parents are going to charge the school any money to help TRAIN THE AIDES that will be working with our Children. Why wouldn't the school want to know what the parents have to say? This would be just like parents going over a few things with 'the babysitter' before going out for the evening. How should this be any different? Unless the person hired to work with MY CHILD actually had a Child with the same unique 'special needs'.....which you and I know is very unlikely! Then I would say they need to listen up and pay attention to what the parents would like to be able to share and say to the staff person that will be fully 100% in charge of MY CHILD each and every day when he or she is at school under the school districts care. 

"Paraprofessionals and Inclusive Classrooms" 

"Paraprofessionals are vital members of the support team. "The Paraprofessional's Role in Inclusive Classrooms" is an interactive video resource for paraprofessionals supporting students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The video and print materials were created by West ED, California Department of Education and California State University in San Diego. The video provides introductory information on the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals who are supporting students with disabilities in general education elementary and secondary classrooms."

Above was taken from Broward's ESE Department webpage. Click highlighted to go directly to their webpage if you want.

Florida Inclusion Network (FIN)

Supervisor: Gwen Lipscomb

Facilitator: Barbara Krakower

E-mail: barbarakrakower@browardschools.com
Phone Number: (754) 321-2200

Click Here for: 
The PARA PROFESSIONAL MANUAL ANSWER KEY . All the ANSWERS are inserted into the blank spaces. The answers are actually pretty good! I LIKE this Manual and the Answer Key! What it's training is actually pretty good! Now IF we could only make sure ALL our Para Professionals are ACTUALLY TAKING THIS TRAINING the way it was intended! The school administrators and other staff member should be involved in this training as well, a school wide training...why not!? This way it's across the board that there are MORE STAFF that have taken this fabulous training as well. The more that know the information and content of this absolutely wonderful training, the better for more of our Children that we entrust to our schools with protecting and taking care of every school day!

PARA PROFESSIONAL TRAINING MANUAL without the answers inserted in the blanks.

Para Professional's Role in Inclusive Classrooms Part 1* 
Introduction to Inclusion* 
Your Role as a Paraprofessional* 
Working as Part of a Team* 
Communication* 
Social Relationships* 
Teaching New Behavior* 
Positive Reinforcement* 
Challenging Behavior*
Para Professional 
TRAINING VIDEO #1 



Para Professionals's Role in Inclusive Classrooms Video #2 
Introduction(to part 2)* 
Overall Considerations* 
Instructional Strategies* 
Materials and Adaptation Development


Para Professional 
TRAINING VIDEO #2

An ESE teacher, ESE Specialist, or Administrator may choose to facilitate a discussion at the end of each BECON Video Part 1 & 2 to provide supplemental information or information specific to the student being supported. 

For the sake of the safety and support that many of our Children / ESE Students need in order to be successful in school and with their education, I hope this DS Advocate BLOG POST today HELPS many many people, parents, teachers, principals and most of all....Let's get our Para Professional / 1:1 Unique Aides TRAINED!!!! 

PERIOD

*If you are a Principal... 
~ DO THE TRAINING YOURSELF SO YOU KNOW!
*If you are a General Education Diversified Teacher... 
~ DO THE TRAINING YOURSELF SO YOU
 KNOW!
*If you are an ESE SPECIALIST at your school... 
~ DO THE TRAINING YOURSELF SO YOU
 KNOW!

*If you are the staff person hired to work with MY CHILD with Unique Learning, Medical, Behavioral, Emotional Needs... 
~ DO THE TRAINING YOURSELF SO YOU KNOW!

My Due Process Final Orders Online ~ 12-3961E Filed 12.12.12

My DUE PROCESS Final Orders online!
http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7675/urlt/0069820-12-3961.pdf

Want to read about a few DUE PROCESS Final Orders received in Florida? 
January - June 2013 on the FDOE website.
Case Number                 District Order Date
12-3961E (PDF, 234KB) Broward February 28, 2013

12-3961E is my DUE PROCESS Final Orders, that are now PUBLIC! I will be posting the TRANSCRIPTS too!

To read other DUE PROCESS Final Orders between Jan.-June 2013 in Florida click this link:
http://www.fldoe.org/academics/exceptional-student-edu/dispute-resolution/due-process-hearing-orders/2013.stml
This is the OLD DEAD LINK that was listed on the FDOE website that is now a dead link. I think the FDOE does this every so often to create dead links to documents. http://www.fldoe.org/ese/due-order.asp

In order to fully understand what all the original issues and concerns were and my reason for filing such a long laundry list of IEP/ESE concerns and ultimately led to my filing for a due process in the first place, you may want to read my original email sent to Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie in my previous blog post. 

It has been an absolute nightmare navigating the IEP "Process" as it is now operating in Broward Public School District today! 

Parents have had NO VOICE OR SAY-SO in the educational decisions being made for our Children at these often times, contentious and confrontational IEP meetings for our Children.

SB 1108 will create some good changes for parents at the IEP tables in Florida.

Hillsborough Parents Want Better Training for School Employees Working With Disabled

Hillsborough Parents Want Better Training for School Employees Working With Disabled

“We are definitely looking for mandated training, especially for the aides,” she says. “When you pull somebody in out of the cafeteria to become your child’s aide it’s not safe, and it’s not educationally relevant.”

The Para's / Aides absolutely need DISABILITY SPECIFIC Training and the PARENTS are the EXPERTS on their child, the student they are working with. 

Click below for complete news article.
https://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/11/29/hillsborough-parents-want-better-training-for-school-employees-working-with-disabled/

“I have yet to see a segregated classroom that is better than the general education setting.”

“I have spent hundreds of hours in segregated classrooms,” she said. “I have yet to see a segregated classroom that is better than the general education setting.”

I couldn't agree with this more! Click the link below for the full article. 

http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2011/12/20/why-everyone-learns-more-when-students-with-disabilities-are-included/

Why technology for students with Down syndrome?

Why technology for students with Down syndrome?

Encouraging Speech & Language Skills with the use of an iPad, why not? It makes sense! The Speech Therapist are already using the iPad in our Speech & Language Therapies anyway! What a great tool for parents and teachers as well!

Click link below to view a nice PDF doc on this topic.
http://www.dsrf.org/media/SLP%20&%20iPad%20for%20FVDSS%20June%2014%202012.pdf

ESE Protest Rally being held at The Children's Board of Hillsborough County at 2:00 pm on Thursday, November 29, 2012

If the treatment of children with disabilities is important to you, please consider attending the Protest Rally being held at The Children's Board of Hillsborough County at 2:00 pm on Thursday, November 29, 2012. http://myemail.constantcontact.com/PROTEST-RALLY-IN-SUPPORT-OF-CHILDREN-WITH-DISABILITIES---NOV-29-IN-TAMPA.html?soid=1102546453320&aid=KBG7_qSe4yk   

Click above link to view the PROTEST FLYER

Be sure to CLICK ON THE LINK at the bottom of the PROTEST FLYER to read LOTS more articles pertaining to this issue in Florida! The stories are very sad and a testament that THINGS NEED TO CHANGE AND CHANGE NOW for all our students with Special Needs and how they are or are not educated by our PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

Maybe it's time for ALL of Florida to WAKE UP on these very real issues that many ESE Parents have been saying all along!! Pass this RALLY INFO on to many others!

A mother pleaded with school board members for ESE review after her daughter almost died

A mother pleaded with school board members for ESE review after her daughter almost died - click to read full story.

Here is another story of an ESE Parent that went to School Board Meeting after School Board Meeting...each time speaking on behalf to CHANGE THE WAY Special Education handled 'things'.....hmmmm this reminds me of someone we have here in Broward County that was doing the same thing before her son 'aged out of the school system'....and yet nothing changes here too.

Parents of Students receiving Special Education Supports and Services, we need to band together and support each other and SPEAK UP about what is really happening or NOT happening with our Children's education! After all, isn't about EDUCATION?

It's about Educating our Children! It's about our Children being safe while attending school. It's about having QUALIFIED teachers and staff that work with our Children.

The 2 deaths that have happened in the Tampa area are a WAKE UP CALL FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY and how Children with Special Needs are Educated!! If 2 deaths have occurred in one School District in Florida, you can bet this is happening across the Nation!

JUST LIKE YOU - A NEW Down syndrome video *SHARE THIS!!

JUST LIKE YOU - DOWN SYNDROME

http://youtu.be/5M--xOyGUX4
PLEASE SHARE THIS VIDEO WITH OTHERS!

Hillsborough County School District ~ Student with Down syndrome found dead after walking off campus.

Click here for full story about JENNY in Riverview  
"Jennifer had been at the school for about six weeks, Cobbe said. She had very limited verbal skills and could speak only Spanish. Earlier in the day, she had hidden beneath the bleachers and had to be coaxed out by the physical education teacher, Cobbe said. The girl often would run away and hide when she heard strange voices so the sheriff's office had Jennifer's mother walk with searchers, calling out her daughter's name through a bullhorn. The father called other friends and relatives to make sure none had picked up the girl from school." 

She was in a class with 20 Special Needs Students with 6 (SIX) AIDES and the little girls classmates TOLD them that they saw that 'Jenny' walked away....and the SIX....1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 adult aides there to WATCH 20 STUDENTS and not one of them was WATCHING Jenny leave the area as well? Someone should have been paying better attention so they could have at least RUN AFTER HER!!!?? I can't stress enough to those that DON'T HAVE A BEAUTIFUL CHILD WITH DOWN SYNDROME HOW MUCH YOU HAVE TO WATCH our precious children 24/7! I guess with the 1:3 RATIO for that class of 20 still wasn't enough eyes for Miss Jenny!!

I have sat in on many IEP meetings for families with a child with Down syndrome, having much discussion about the need for an aide for our kiddo's. Parents concerns seem to be viewed as being overly protective or something other than a real concern of our parents for their child's safety while at school. The "IEP team professionals" that work for public school districts more often than not, want to disregard parents pleas for help to make sure their son or daughter is watched more closely because the parents KNOW their child WANDERS OFF and RUNS QUICKLY when they do wander off. Parents KNOW their child the best, parents are the EXPERTS on their child at IEP meetings. IEP meetings many times end without the parents knowing exactly who will be responsible for the safety or our children once they come to school. Many times parents are not allowed to talk or communicate with the child's aide....if they do finally get one. Parents concerns need to be taken seriously. Our children's lives depend on Adults keeping them safe!

Attending advocacy trainings with speakers telling us to make sure you get it written on the IEP about needing an Aide, but for whatever reason our Public School Districts are getting very clever to make sure parents are not able to get 'it written into the IEP document' that their child needs the support of their own aide. This is real folks, safety of ALL students when they leave home to attend school everyday is a real issue more and more today! When certain individuals with certain types of 'special needs' like Autism and Down syndrome, they are more likely to WANDER OFF or LEAVE a classroom or the school campus.

Having had to call the police on a couple of occasions myself because my sweet little girl with Down syndrome was 'missing' for more than 6 minutes was the most helpless feeling a parent should ever have to go thru. I know how blessed and lucky we were that my girl was found, but in this most recent case in Riverview, Florida with Miss Jenny....her parents worst nightmare came true.

I am so sad and so sorry for her parents, family and friends to know that Jenny will not be coming home from school today! 

Prayers to Jenny's family!! 
{{oxoxox}}

Click here for full Bay News 9 article on: Answers sought in Down syndrome girl's death

Just Like You! ~ Cool short video

THANK YOU Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City!! 
This is a PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL short video especially for October being Down syndrome Awareness Month!! 

October is National Down syndrome Awareness Month ~ My Recommendation for Broward County Public Schools

My Recommendations for Broward County Public Schools: Provide training that is ACADEMICALLY meaningful to those that will be working with students that have Down syndrome. 

Our children are not lab experiments to go to school only to have LOGS & CHECK MARKS taken on them for doing every little thing pertaining to how 'they act' while in school.

If only schools staff would track what they are TEACHING ACADEMICALLY to our Children instead of looking for so much "stuff" that they (school teachers, aides, administrators) turn into and create into negative behaviors they then want to focus in on instead of teaching our kiddo's with DS.

School staff are encouraging and creating many of the negative behaviors they are tracking!!

Our children with Down syndrome need sound academic support, not negative 'data' created that only tracks every little move they do.

What about tracking and creating data that shows; WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING TO OUR CHILDREN.

Teachers and all staff working with students with Down syndrome NEED DOWN SYNDROME SPECIFIC TRAINING provided by NATIONAL EXPERTS!

Has anyone from Broward County Public Schools ever attended any Down syndrome National Conventions?

How many teachers and aides actually attend Down syndrome specific training...bet there are more teachers and staff attending and looking into Autism specific training from National experts.

Our students with Down syndrome need academic support with sound researched based practices.

Bring in National EXPERTS to TRAIN this District on, "How to teach students with Down syndrome."

Thanks ~ that would be my recommendation for Broward schools. ....especially those teaching and working with students with Down syndrome. That includes the LEA and AREA PROGRAM SPECIALISTS that attend our children's IEP meetings. THEY NEED THE TRAINING THE MOST because they are the ones CONTROLLING OUR CHILDREN'S IEP MEETINGS TODAY here in Broward County.

OCTOBER IS NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME AWARENESS MONTH ~ Let's do something POSITIVE for our Students and their families this month especially!!