This is a very special deal and will only be available until Friday to sign up for!!

Lindamood Bell is having their February 1/2 off evaluations. You can purchase the evaluation before Friday and then schedule March or April. These evaluations are good tools to show as "another" evaluation" as to where your child is performing - or not - and use to request District paid summer services. Also, LMB will let you retest for free the next 3 years - so you can compare how your child is doing after almost a full school term. Now that is the short version - and there is a lot more to this. Getting this evaluation does not guarantee anything - however this is a great price, only offered in February and can be a solid tool for requesting District to pay for intensive services. Ask an advocate or attorney - but take advantage if Lindamood Bell has ever been mentioned as a potential teaching tool for your child. It's not for all children however it has helped many of my clients.

You know it is full out IEP season when your LinkedIn account has more than 9 views stating: LinkedIn member - This member chose to be shown as anonymous.

Please remember it is all about the child folks!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelle-gilman/harvard-schmarvard-why-ge_b_5896976.html

Harvard, Schmarvard; Why Getting Your Kids Into College Should Be the Least of Your Concerns

Posted: 09/28/2014 8:54 pm EDT Updated: 10/01/2014 6:59 pm EDT

It's almost that time of year. I can feel it in the fall air and see it on the faces of parents and seniors everywhere. It's almost college application time and the race begins, as parents and kids vie for the chance to get into their first choice colleges.

For some parents, college acceptance approaches the culmination of every single parenting choice ever made. It can seem the ultimate goal, the ROI of parenthood, the final gold award and the epitome of a parenting job well done. It feels like the end game for every AP class, honors class, volunteer opportunity, and sports involvement that you required of your child. This college acceptance looms as the justification for the hours upon hours of helping with homework, rewriting their essays, doing most of their science fair projects since sixth grade, hiring the most expensive college counselor, and pushing, pushing, pushing your kids to get the A at any cost. "My child got into his first choice university" will be worn proudly and loudly as a testament to how well you have done as mom and dad.

I'm just being honest. I have been hacking into your lives for the past 25 years as a founder and head of school at a private school in California. If you are finding yourself already getting annoyed or a little angry with me, I ask you to hear me out. I was once where you are now, until my son decided on a much different path and forced me to rethink the whole process and what constituted my achievement as a parent. It was not college acceptance.

What I have found in my 25 years in education is that as parents we are almost forced into this artificial race upon birthing our children. We start with our best intentions, of course. We want the best preschool, the best teachers, the best summer camps. Slowly, without our being aware of it, we are competing with our neighbors, our friends, our families. What started out as just wanting the best for our children, suddenly morphs into my child needs to be the best.

So, what do we do as a result? We DO too much! And, we expect our kids to do too much. We start believing that we need to start the protracted process of getting our kids ready for college in elementary school. We begin having massive anxiety about college acceptance when our kids are in middle school. And by high school, oh boy, we get bat shit crazy! We lose our focus on our children and what's best for them and instead start seeing them as a reflection of us as parents. They must get into a great college or we have failed miserably at parenthood. What will our neighbors think? What will we say about our kids at dinner parties? Of course, we don't think we think these things, but I know they exist in some form in our heads! Our societal anxiety about this is, in my humble opinion, at an all-time high!

And it must stop.

We have strangled the creativity out of our children by forcing them to do things they may not want to do, but as good parents we have to check the box that reads competitive sports -- check! We have robbed them of their childhood so that we can feel good about their chances at college entrance. Many of our kids don't even know what it is they like to do because we have been telling them what to like for their whole lives. Our children are riddled with anxiety and we are medicating them more now than ever. Why are we doing this? So that they can get into college and be successful! Let me tell you something -- college acceptance does not make a person succeed, nor does it say one thing about your parenting.

You know what does speak volumes about your parenting? Ask yourself the following questions:

• Does your child have a compassionate soul?
• Does your child have a healthy dose of intellectual curiosity?
• Is your child resourceful and independent?
• Is your child happy with who she is?
• Can your child creatively problem-solve?
• Is your child passionate about anything?
• Can your child sit with himself and enjoy his own company?

We must stop the competitive, ridiculous, and oftentimes painful race to college. We must remember that our children come from us but are not a reflection of us. Together, we can stop this madness and allow our children to find their way in this world, prestigious college or not. By embracing what makes THEM happy, and by seeing them as the creative beings that they are, we can stop competing with each other as parents, and they can enjoy, flourish and even love this one life they have.

If you are still a little angry with me, the comment section is just below. Thank you for reading.

___________________

Learn About Positive Behavior Interventions for Your Child and Family!

There are two learning events being held the week of October 20th, sponsored by  the Georgia Advocacy Office. These are value based training and these events are around behaviors in children who cannot - for whatever reason - use their voice to communicate - and instead "act out" as it may be viewed by the school, parent, caregiver.

These may include children with PTSD, Autism, Bi-Polar, Anxiety and where conventional interventions do not work. This workshop will provide a myriad of content around behaviors and positive supports.

You are invited to attend one or both of these workshops which are designed for anyone (individuals with disabilities, human service workers, advocates, family members, concerned citizens), who is involved in supporting people with significant impact of disability to fully participate in community life.  The workshops are sponsored by the Georgia Advocacy Office, the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the Georgia Microboards Association.

To receive the flyers for the event details - contact Donna Champion.

Space is limited so do not wait to sign up.   

If you have any questions you may contact the event coordinator, Donna Champion by telephone (voice or TTY) at 404.885.1234 (in metro-Atlanta) or 800.537.2329 (toll-free in Georgia) or by email at dchampion@thegao.org

Click to view this email in a browser

Summit Starts in Two Weeks Sign Up Now! Educating Traumatized Children SummitSept 30-Oct 10, 2014 FREE Register here Join us for 11 days of interviews from professionals who are passionate abouthelping children with trauma and attachment disorders succeed in schools!  Calling all Teachers - Parents - Child Care Professionals With special introductory interview from Dr. Robert Anda Co-principal of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study Topics include: How Trauma Impacts Learning Recognizing Attachment Disorder in the Classroom Building Trauma Sensitive Schools Teaching Empathy Strategies for Reaching Traumatized Children Alternatives to Traditional Public School Speakers include: Joel Ristuccia, TraumaSensitiveSchools.org, co-author of Helping Traumatized Children Learn Heather Forbes, LCSW, Beyond Consequences Institute Jane Stevens, ACEs Connection Founder Susan Craig, Ph.D., Author of Reaching and Teaching Children Who Hurt Lawrence Smith, LCSW-C, Attachment Therapist Christine Moers, Therapeutic Parent See complete list of speakers here Do you have questions about the Summit? Download a flyer to share here Essential Conversations for Therapeutic Parents Join the conversation with ATN's Learning Center Faculty on important topics for therapeutic parents.  This 5-part, pre-recorded series of webinars is critical for all ATN members.  As a member, your price is discounted and if you buy the whole set for $60 you'll receive FREE Therapeutic Parenting cards. Learn more about these great conversations here. Visit ATN:  www.attachtrauma.org. And remember: YOU'RE NOT ALONE! Buy Recordings & Transcripts Can't find time to hear all 22 interviews?  Want to share them with colleagues?  Take advantage of Early Bird Pricing by pre-purchasing downloads of the  the Educating Traumatized Children Summit. All the interviews (including any bonus interviews) will be available to download as mp3s after the conference.  We will also have transcripts available as pdfs for each interview. Order now to assure you get the best pricing. Remember:  ATN is powered by volunteersand donations.  We always need both!  Maybe 2014 is the year you can pay it forward and help other children and families.  Check out our Volunteer page or contact our Executive Director, Julie Beem.  And donate anytime, right here. Follow Us On Join ATN Today!

Studio Movie Grill theaters presents "Dolphins 2" on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 11:00am. You can go to Roswell or Duluth locations. All special needs screenings are free for children with disabilities and their siblings. Everyone else pays $6. SNS run with the lights up and sound down so the children are free to laugh, play, sing and even dance while they watch. Seating available on first come, first served basis. Ask your server for the "Chefs for Children" menu special and 5% of the proceeds from these food items will benefit Spectrum and other local non-profits!
Spectrum is proud to be one of the sponsors of Special Needs Free Screenings at SMG!

The focus of this webinar is "Recognizing and managing GI and nutritional issues in autism" presented by Dr. Tim Buie, Lurie Autism Center, MA. 

Please feel free to disseminate this invitation to others  who may interested. 

Below is the registration link and the invitation.     

http://bit.ly/NLCWebinar0923 

Where Does it Say in the Law That……?

08/28/14
by Wrightslaw

At Wrightslaw, how can we tell that school has started?  Questions from parents (and teachers) are pouring in each day.

I have a question about…who has to attend IEP meetings? goals in the IEP?

How do I search for information about… a special ed teacher revising the IEP?  behavior and discipline strategies?

Where do I look for…appropriate modifications? social and communication skills info?

We are always a little surprised when people write, “I just can’t find any answers to my questions.”

Tips: Looking for info, getting started!

1. Go to www.wrightslaw.com and scroll through the topics on the left hand side of the page, A-Z.

- See more at: http://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/?p=11633#sthash.Ir5HjCXz.dpuf

Keeping Vigilant...

I have been trying to capture the right words to describe my week up in Virginia's William and Mary College of Law, for the ISEA (Institute for Special Education). While the week was both inspiring and informative, there is no doubt every parent, every family, every community will need to continue to be vigilant to assert their rights, if their child is to receive a fair and appropriate education.  After meeting attorneys and a sprinkle of advocates from across the United States, the theme across our Country is disparaging – bordering on egregious.  If you have a child with special needs, you MUST understand YOU WILL HAVE TO PURSUE these rights for your child.

One of my goals from the training, is to make sure I provide you with a road-map and resources.  Having an active Advocacy and Educational Consulting practice, kiddos come first and the blog the least important on the to do list. I now realize, to help as many as possible, I need to drop in more often. We are in this together, you are not alone and you can learn how to work with your School or District.  And if that is not possible, you can learn the best remedy you have.

Along with keeping the blog current, I am bringing back quarterly workshops.  I am sincerely grateful for the overwhelming demand for the return of my workshops.  I will be including both previous workshops (please remind me if you were on the waiting list) as well as a series where we dive deeper into individual groups. Next week I will post a calendar of subjects and dates. However, we will launch in September with the infamous "Binder Workshop".  Managing your child's paperwork NOW and not when when in crisis.  This workshop tends to be an eye opener, and where parents find out what evaluations their child is missing, or out of date. How to manage all the work samples you are saving and also how to build an effective communication log. This workshop is relevant to parents of children with special needs - as well as parents who have their children in a private school setting, and are looking to transition back to public school.

Remember to Keep Calm and Advocate!  Robin

Emmy's Bash 2014

This is a wonderful fundraiser for child respite. Corrigan Care offers drastically reduced rates for parents of special angels. More important, the children have fun and are accepted for the gift they are. Please check out Corrigan Care on Facebook - as well as their partner YourRespite.

Alert - TIME SENSITIVE!!! SAT Special Education Accommodations

I wanted to reach out to the group, as having accommodations for your child's SAT requires planning.  As you can see from the information below, if your child is taking the SAT in October, you need to apply by the end next week!

The website for applying for accommodations for college boarding test is:
http://sat.collegeboard.org/register/for-students-with-disabilities

Accommodations take about 7 weeks to process and the deadline for applying
is 08/22 for the October test and 09/19 for the November test.  If
approval is processed 2 weeks before test, the accommodations will appear
on the students ticket.  If the accommodations do not appear on the
students ticket, the request will be honored if the student has met the
deadline for applying for the accommodations.

Inflexibility May be Hardwired In those with Autism

Disability Scoop

Congress Approves Funding for Special Ed....