Dylan has accomplished many things: being included in school, having friends, going to birthday parties, dancing the night away at prom, going to football and basketball games, earning a letter jacket, going to college for four years, become a burlesque dancer moving out, finding a job, speaking at national and state conferences. And like all […]
New: Watch the YouTube video of this newsletter. Click here. Listen to just the audio version of the newsletter while you’re on the go. Click here. Today you and I are going to be exploring the concept of […]
Parents rejoice when their child takes his first step alone, when he can tie his shoes by himself, or when he can read his favorite book without any help. Teachers praise and reward students when they can complete a project without any assistance, correctly solve a difficult math problem, or independently write a well constructed […]
The summer months do add another spin for parents, don’t they? Ask yourself, what would my child be doing over the summer if he or she did not have a disability? Going to soccer camp, doing satisfying volunteer work, participating in the library’s summer reading program, enjoying scout camp, creating memories on family outings, or having […]
How to Prevent Summer Boredom Your kids may be just into the first week of their summer vacation, so hopefully you haven’t heard that declaration, “I’m bored!” You may want to be ready to respond if you hear this dreaded remark from you child. Ask them, Have you done something creative, played outside, read a book, […]
Dylan: I want to go to college like my brother and sister did! Me: Well, I don’t know Dylan if we can find a college that will let people with Down syndrome go to it. That was the beginning of a conversation my son, Dylan and I had in 2005. It was 2 […]
Often when parents advocate for their child to be included in general education classrooms and settings they will receive some push back from educators. This can be in the form of eye rolls, the sideways glance to a peer, or a variety of comments: “We want to make sure your child can be successful first.” “Our […]
You want your child to be happy, safe, and a learner at school. That’s not wishing for too much. You hope there’ll be supportive friends for your child to have fun with, caring and knowledgeable teachers that expect your child to learn, and an accepting and nourishing climate in the school. That’s not hoping for too […]
Have you ever been at a meeting and wished you had a Magic IEP Wand so you could wave it and make some immediate changes? Of course, different parents would want to wish for different changes. Recently, a parent contacted me and mentioned she would love if the staff understood Sensory Processing Disorder better so her […]
Breathing a sigh of relief that you have made it to the Accommodations section of the IEP…you realize there are just a few, generic accommodations listed. As you read the short list, you also realize these are the same things listed on your child’s IEP for the past several years. Ugh! What do you do? a. You […]