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SPC On WGVU FM Morning Show With Shelley Irwin.

SPC On WGVU FM Morning Show With Shelley Irwin. Tomorrow morning 10/24/13.

If you happen to be in the listening area of WGVU FM in Grand Rapids, MI tomorrow morning (10/24/13) you can hear John Pellegrini talk about Special Parents Confidential with Shelley Irwin on the WGVU Morning Show.   88.5 FM in Grand Rapids, MI and 95.3 FM in Muskegon, MI.

If you’re not in the listening area, you can still hear the program by clicking on the Streaming Live link on the WGVU Morning Show website.

John will be on the program around 10:15 AM, but we recommend you listen to the entire program from 9:00 to 11:00 just because it’s a great show!

That link, once again, is the WGVU Morning Show With Shelley Irwin.  Please be sure to share this link with everyone you know on social media. Use the convenient buttons below.

Thanks for listening!

Deciding Who Sees Students’ Data – New York Times Article

Deciding Who Sees Students’ Data. New York Times Article.

Privacy issues are becoming more and more prevalent in almost all aspects of our lives. Now we’re starting to see concerns over the way schools are keeping and storing the private data of their students. For a parent of any student this raises issues but especially for parents of special needs children who’s private records can include medical records such as their diagnosis, therapy information and prescription medications and much more personal information.

This article from the New York Times is a must read for parents and educators. While there can be benefits to utilizing cloud-based data storage, there can also be many concerns over security and potential theft of records.  Deciding who sees students’ data is an issue that should include parents, teachers, school administration, and the school board, not just a few people. While no system may be truly perfect, this is issue far too important to be simply made without real investigation and research.

Deciding Who Sees Students’ Data – New York Times Article

7 Myths About Medication – From The Cleveland Clinic

7 Myths About Medication and The Facts Behind Them. From The Cleveland Clinic

Medications of any kind are always a difficult decision for not only parents of special needs children but all parents. So we are pleased to be able to share an article that has great common sense advice on taking medications from the Cleveland Clinic:

7 Myths About Medication – and The Facts Behind Them

This article is mostly about over-the-counter (OTC) medications and information for adults, but much of the information applies to prescription medications and children taking medications as well.

We would add one more bit of advice that we have been given from our own pediatrician as well as other people we know in the medical profession: When giving any kind of OTC medication to a child, make sure you use your child’s weight for the dosage, rather than their age. Why? Body mass has much more of an effect on how you absorb medication than your age, and to a far greater degree with children. Some kids don’t grow as quickly as others and can weigh much less than the average for kids their age, which means for those kids a dose measured to the amount for their age would actually be too much.

Always get your medical information from reliable sources, like the Cleveland Clinic. Other good sources are The American Academy of Pediatrics, The Mayo Clinic and Web MD. You can also find links to excellent information from reliable sources on our Helpful Links page.

Avoid the myths about medication and always follow your doctor’s advice.

Special Parents Confidential Episode 13 The Friendship Circle

Special Parents Confidential Episode 13 The Friendship Circle

One of the recurring themes we have in our podcasts is how some of the best information and support comes primarily from parents of special needs children. We know what our children need for help and it’s incredible when some parents step forward and create groups and organizations that fill those needs when other avenues are not available.

This is certainly the case with the group we are talking about in this episode. The Friendship Circle was created by parents and family members of special needs children to help those children find friends and support. They’ve grown in just a few years from a group of a few parents who started bringing their kids together in Detroit, Michigan, to a now nearly world-wide organization. They pair up special needs kids — all children with physical, developmental, or learning disabilities are welcome no matter what the diagnosis — with ‘normal’ or ‘neuro-typical’ kids to be friends and help each other. As it turns out, all of the kids get something incredibly rewarding from the experience. The Friendship Circle offers sports activities, tutoring, play time, and they even have a mock-village where special needs children can learn life skills like going to the bank, the store, and other social situations that happen in every day life. They also have a phenomenal anti-bullying program, which was created by the parents and the kids called the Upstander Project, that is making an amazing difference in schools across the country.

Our guest for this episode is Rabbi Tzvi Schectman, who is a family coordinator at the Friendship Circle. Most people first encounter The Friendship Circle through the daily emailed newsletter, known as The Friendship Circle Blog, that Rabbi Schectman compiles. These emails feature articles on many different kinds of information that parents of special needs children can use.

Links mentioned in this podcast:

The Friendship Circle.org  Website for The Friendship Circle organization. Learn more about this amazing group.

The Friendship Circle.com Friendship Circle International – to find Friendship Circle programs and groups in locations around North America and the world.

Weinberg Village The mock-village facility run by the Friendship Circle.

Upstander Project The anti-bullying program created by The Friendship Circle.

The Friendship Circle Blog The newsletter from the Friendship Circle with great articles and advice for parents of special needs children. You can subscribe to have the blog sent directly to your email each day.

As always a reminder that if you like this episode of Special Parents Confidential or any episode we’ve done, please share our site with your friends, family, and all your connections on social media. You can do this easily with the social media buttons located right below this paragraph. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us on Google Plus, or any of the other sites like Tumbler, Linked In, Pintrest, Stumble Upon, Reddit, and others. You can also sign up for our email service and have new posts and podcast episodes delivered right to your inbox the moment they’re available online. That form is located to the right of this text.  We’re also on iTunes and Stitcher and if you have a moment, feel free to write a review about our podcast there. Anything you can do to help spread the word about Special Parents Confidential will help us be able to continue these podcasts.

Thanks for your support!

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We’re Back – With A Request

We’re Back With A Request.

Hello!

We’ve had a short hiatus to attend to last minute end of summer trips, the usual back-to-school necessities, and other family needs. We’ll be posting a new podcast episode soon and start doing more interviews in the coming weeks.

We also have a request for you.

In a couple of previous episodes we’ve discussed whether charter schools are a viable option for education and whether or not charter schools are able or willing to adopt special education standards and practices for our special needs children. Many experts have debated this issue but there is one group that we’ve noticed who have not been heard from: parents.

Do you have a child with special needs who is enrolled in a charter school?  If so, we want to hear from you! We’d like to interview a few parents about their experiences with special education in charter schools, good or bad or whatever.  You’ll be able to keep your personal information private and even remain anonymous if you prefer. Our goal is to get feedback from parents as to whether or not charter schools are meeting the needs of their special needs children and if they are indeed a viable option for educating special needs kids.

If you’re interested in talking to us, or if you just want to email us some comments that we can use in an upcoming episode, please use the form on our Contact Us page and let us know how to contact you. We do not share our email list with anyone so your information will be kept private. Thanks for helping and hope to hear from you soon!

PS- if you do not have special needs children in charter schools but know someone who does, please forward this blog post to them, or use the Social Media sharing buttons below to help get out the word. Thanks for your support!

Important Legislation Update: H. R. 5.

Important Legislation Update: H. R. 5.

We received an email from the National Center for Learning Disabilities requesting immediate action on a bill that’s coming up in the House of Representatives. This is an urgent and important issue for every parent of a special needs child to act on.

The House is scheduled to vote in the next day or two on a ‘reform’ bill (H. R. 5.) to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as ‘No Child Left Behind’. While the ESEA needs reform, this new bill, H. R. 5. makes the act even worse because it removes all the accountability provisions in ESEA and allows students, as early as third grade, who need extra support to instead be removed from the high school diploma track and not receive a regular diploma. Can you imagine a child at age 8 or 9 being told that they will not be allowed to graduate with a high school diploma based on their current skills in third grade? That’s what might happen if H. R. 5. is allowed to pass.

Please follow this link to the page on why the NCLD opposes H. R. 5 for more information. At the bottom of the page there is a link to a form that makes it easy for you to quickly email your Congressional representative to tell them to vote no on H. R. 5.

Please act today, Wednesday 7/17/13, because the vote on H. R. 5. could come as quickly as tomorrow 7/18/13. Then share this page with everyone you know on social media. You can use the quick share buttons right below this article to easily make this happen.

Thanks for your help!

Special Parents Confidential Episode 12 – School Funding and Special Education

School Funding and Special Education.

For years we’ve been hearing that our public education system is in trouble. Budget cuts, mis-managed funding, over-paid staff, millions and millions of dollars wasted. Many people want to do away with public education. Their argument is that charter schools and private schools are the better choice. But what about special education? Where does special education fall in all of these budget problems and funding cutbacks?

Some parents and even some school advocates believe that special education is ‘protected’. That it is fully funded and will never be cut or eliminated. But is that true? Can special education or any kind of assistance for special needs children be cut or eliminated? Certainly the budgets for those teachers and assistants who work with special needs students have been cut. Could entire programs be eliminated? And if so, what kinds of special needs assistance or special education help are Charter Schools and Private Schools required to offer? You might be surprised and even shocked to learn what those schools are and are not required to provide.

Our guest for this episode has the answers to many of those questions and a lot more information on the nation-wide public education funding situation. Elizabeth Welch-Lykens is a labor law attorney in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is an elected board member of her local school district, as well as a member of the district’s legislative committee that meets with state representatives in Lansing. She has first-hand knowledge of dealing with school district budget problems, and has spent time on these very issues. While some of what she talks about involves issues in Michigan, the fact is many states and school districts nation-wide are facing the exact same problems. And as Elizabeth verifies, these nation-wide education funding problems are not a coincidence, they are part of a planned effort to privatize the entire national education system for the benefit of a few corporate profiteers. This is an interview that every parent with kids in school, not just parents of special needs children, should hear.

Links mentioned in this podcast: 

For national based information on the school funding crisis visit Dianne Ravitch‘s blog site. She is a former assistant secretary of education under President George H. W. Bush, and a highly respected advocate of public education. Her site contains a lot of facts and information that disproves many of the theories claimed by those who want to shut down public education.

For information about what’s going on in the State of Michigan as well as local Michigan school districts, visit Michigan Parents For Schools. 

As always a reminder that if you like this episode of Special Parents Confidential or any episode we’ve done, please share our site with your friends, family, and all your connections on social media. You can do this easily with the social media buttons located right below this paragraph. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us on Google Plus, or any of the other sites like Tumbler, Linked In, Pintrest, Stumble Upon, Reddit, and others. You can also sign up for our email service and have new posts and podcast episodes delivered right to your inbox the moment they’re available online. That form is located to the right of this text.  We’re also on iTunes and Stitcher and if you have a moment, feel free to write a review about our podcast there. Anything you can do to help spread the word about Special Parents Confidential will help us be able to continue these podcasts.

Thanks for your support!

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Empaths on the Autism Spectrum – Autism and Empathy

Empaths on the Autism Spectrum – Autism and Empathy.

Please note, the original link provided in this posting is no longer active. I have found updated links, which can be found below. Sorry for the inconvenience.  – John.

We’ve often heard that people with Autism lack social empathy. That people with autism have no emotional connections to others and lack the ability to have compassion. 

However, new research has proven that this belief is nothing more than a myth. 

The Same As Everyone Else.

The study, Divergent Roles of Autistic and Alexithymic Traits in Utilitarian Moral Judgments in Adults with Autism , was published in Nature, the Journal of Scientific Reports in March of 2016. From the Discussion section of the report, “Therefore, we maintain that the current findings hint at non-verbal intelligence as a compensatory strategy that high-functioning autistics rely on while endorsing moral choices that are in line with prevalent socio-moral norms.”

Also worth noting is the finding that people with ASD were more averse to causing harm to others, even if the decisions would produce better results.

Easier To Read Summaries.

The report itself is very clinical in it’s writing style and may be difficult to read fully. There are some excellent summaries about the findings, which I have linked below.

It is important that this information be shared on social media to counter the incorrect stereotypes that have been prevalent over the past decades. People with ASD are exactly the same emotionally as those who are considered ‘normal’.

We May Have Been Wrong About Autism And Empathy – HuffPost Summary

People with Autism Can Read Emotions, Feel Empathy – Scientific American

A Look Inside Children’s Minds – New Study from UI.

A very informative and interesting study is being done at the University of Iowa that shows how 3 and 4 year old children retain what they see around them.

Using an older technology that isn’t as invasive or difficult as an MRI, the researchers have been able to monitor how a child’s brain functions when memorizing. The researchers can now see neurological activity and brain development in children.

From the article: “The research is important, because visual working memory performance has been linked to a variety of childhood disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, developmental coordination disorder as well as affecting children born prematurely. The goal is to use the new brain imaging technique to detect these disorders before they manifest themselves in children’s behavior later on.”

This study is helping to emphasize the importance of early intervention.

Read the full article here: Iowa Now – A Look Inside Children’s Minds

To easily share this article with your friends, click one of the ‘share’ buttons below.

Updates For June and July

Updates For June and July.

Time goes by quickly when the kids are home instead of being in school. But we wanted to post some updates about what we have coming up in the remaining days of June and in July. We have two podcast episodes recorded and we’ll get them posted in the next couple of weeks.

The next episode, SPC number 11, which we hope to have online very soon, features an interview with the Reverend Mathew Cockrum and we delve into ways in which we can help our special needs children get the best experiences in our places of worship, as well as how to work with ‘Sunday school’ or religious class staff so that our kids can have positive experiences. We also discuss ways to reconcile that sometimes certain religious beliefs can be in conflict with medical or scientific study, and that it is possible to accept both viewpoints, and many other great ideas.

SPC episode number 12, which will be ready after that, is all about education funding. We talk with Elizabeth Welch-Lykins who is an elected official in her local school board, a member of her school district’s legislative committee, and a lawyer. She has experienced the budget crisis in our schools first-hand through having to negotiate cuts in staff and services and she talks in detail about how school districts have had so much trouble and the real reasons why so many of our school districts are in trouble. She also details how budget cuts to public schools are definitely hurting special education programs and the dangers of not paying enough attention to who we vote for in elections.

We have more great interviews planned throughout the summer and into the next school year, so please keep checking back!  Better yet, sign up to get an email subscription to our podcasts so you’ll be notified every time we post something new. Just look over to the right column on our home page and enter your email address where it says “Get Podcast Notifications Via Email”. You’ll get automatic updates and we promise we will never give out your email address to anyone else.

Thanks for your support and don’t forget to help spread the word about us!

 

How To Know When Someone Is In Trouble When Swimming

How To Know When Someone Is In Trouble When Swimming.

Article: How To Know When Someone Is In Trouble In The Water

Thanks to Slate.com for this well-written article about safety in the water. Drowning victims don’t look like they’re drowning. With summertime swimming activity increasing, and since special needs children sometimes need extra help in the water, it’s important to know how to spot someone who is in trouble. Especially if you’re paying extra attention to your special needs child but you have other children in the water as well.

Read the article and learn the signs. Drowning victims DO NOT look like drowning victims! They almost never splash wildly or call for help. Most people don’t realize someone is in trouble until it’s too late.  Learn about drowning and water safety. Please be sure to share this article with family and friends.

Have a great and safe summer!  

How To Know When Someone Is In Trouble In The Water

Special Parents Confidential 08 Social Issues In School

Social Issues In School

When we talk about issues that can cause anxiety for parents of special needs kids,  dealing with social situations in school and elsewhere is probably right at the top of the list.  Will our children be accepted or will they be teased? Will  our kids be able to handle the day to day interactions in the class room, in the cafeteria, or on the playground? What about bullying? And what are we supposed to do when our kids experience problems with these situations?

For many schools the person who can help guide our kids through their day in school is the social worker. They’re also the person who parents can talk to for help with making sure their special needs child can fit into the various social situations and can offer advice that parents can use to reinforce the school’s expectations at home.

Our guest on this episode of Special Parents Confidential is Chris Kenward, an elementary school social worker who has many years of experience dealing with both special needs students and general education students.  Many experts agree, the vast majority of social problems begin early in elementary school so the sooner a child with special needs can get help in dealing with social issues, the better their progress will be throughout their life. The information Chris shares here is going to be vital for every parent of a special needs child, as well as for teachers, special education experts, care givers, and anyone who has a relationship with a special needs kid.

Links Mentioned In The Podcast: 

Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid  The website from the authors of the book.

Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid link to the book’s listing for sale on Amazon

Driven Story – Jon Singer – This is the website of the author of the book, “The Special Needs Parent Handbook”, which you can find on this page.

Views From Our Shoes – The website of the Sibling Support Project, where you can see stories from the book and order a copy.

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Upcoming Episodes For May

Upcoming Episodes For May:

We have some great guests scheduled for interviews in the next couple of weeks! Among them an elementary school social worker who will talk about acceptance, dealing with peers, preventing bullying, and helping our special needs children navigate the social structures of school.

We’re also going to talk with a Professor of Special Education – the teacher who teaches the teachers. We’ll discuss the ins and outs of special education from the perspective of the teachers and how parents can work effectively with their child’s teachers to make sure our kids are getting the best help available.

May is Better Hearing Month so we’re also going to talk with the mother of a deaf child who has cochlear implants, and is a board member of the Hearing Loss Association of America (Grand Rapids chapter). She’ll talk about the cochlear implant process, the modes of hearing, advocating for hearing loss children in school, support programs available for parents with hearing impaired children, and how to help parents find the right choices for treating hearing loss.

Keep checking back with us and be sure to sign up for our email alerts, which will notify you immediately when we post something new! Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes (its FREE!), and please consider writing a review of our shows on iTunes to help us spread the word!  Thanks so much for all your support!

Special Note: To receive email notifications of new posts and podcast episodes, type your email address in the space under “Subscribe To Blog Via Email” – on the right hand side of this page. That way every time we post a new episode or any news updates, you’ll get an immediate email notification. If you only register to make comments on our posts, you won’t get our email newsletter. Thanks!

Special Parents Confidential 07 One Parent’s Journey

One Parent’s Journey

Parents of special needs children spend most of their time dealing with the present. We tend to think mostly about what our children are doing right now, tomorrow, and maybe next week. If we think of the future, it’s mostly along the lines of, “what is school going to be like for our child next year?” Rarely do we ever consider what our children’s lives will be like ten years from now, fifteen, twenty, beyond.  Perhaps because the reality of special needs children is that so much needs to be taken care of in the present, the future can be hard to visualize.

Predicting the future is, of course, impossible, but sometimes it can be helpful to hear from parents who have older children. Those of us whose children have made it into adulthood and are transitioning from schools to colleges, and even into careers. In many cases these parents have not only seen their children’s lives change, but have had their own lives changed in ways they never expected.

Our guest on this episode of Special Parents Confidential has had just such a journey. Stacy Burns has two sons born with Aspberger’s Syndrome. Her oldest, Devin, is now an adult going to college and beginning a career. Stacy talks about Devin’s life from early childhood to the present and also tells us how his disability wound up giving her opportunities that ultimately lead to a new career in a field she never would have imagined. It’s a story of hardships, frustrations, and setbacks, but it’s also a story of achievements, unexpected changes for the better, and success. In other words, it’s a story of a parent, and a great example that even though our children require special help, they can achieve as much as any child.

Organization mentioned in this podcast: 

MOKA – Muskegon, Ottawa, Kent, & Allegan: We See The Individual In Everyone. Serving individuals and their families throughout Western Michigan.

YAPSS – Young Adults Project for Service and Socialization of West Michigan.

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Special Parents Confidential 06 Special Education Advocacy

Special Education Advocacy.

As parents of special needs children we hope that our kids will have every opportunity to get a good education, and get assistance when they need it in school. Special Education has changed over the past couple of decades. Special needs children are spending more time in mainstream classrooms and spending only limited time out of the class with their special education teachers for whatever assistance they need.

But what exactly is Special Education? We know that our kids are supposed to get help. Where can we get good advice or assistance when facing the task of getting the educational help for our special needs children? Do we have to see a lawyer? Can we just expect the school to handle it properly? What are the standards? What’s an “IEP” (Individual Education Program), what’s a “504”, and what kind of educational help can we even reasonably expect our children to have in the first place?

Our guest on this episode of Special Parents Confidential can answer a lot of those questions. Kathy Holkeboer is a Special Education Advocate in West Michigan. Advocates for Special Education work with families on understanding what kinds of educational assistance their special needs children are entitled to have, based on need.  They can even go with the parents to meet with school officials to put the special education plan in place for each school year.

Links To Websites Mentioned In This Podcast

Pacer Center The National Parent Training and Information Center for children with disabilities. They offer publications, workshops, and other resources to help parents make decisions about education, vocational training, employment, and other services for children with special needs.

Parent Technical Assistance Center Network Directory of regional (State by State) special education advocacy centers for parents of special needs children.

Michigan Alliance for Families Special Education Advocacy for families in Michigan. Note: for non- Michigan residents, you can search similar websites for your state in the PTAC directory.

Wright’s Law Special Education Law and Advocacy, created by two lawyers, Peter and Pam Wright (husband and wife), providing legal assistance and information for parents of special needs children.

Contact Information for Kathy Holkeboer – (note: Kathy is a special education advocate in the State of Michigan, and works primarily in the West Michigan region. Residents of other States or regions in Michigan should consult the PTAC directory for Special Ed Advocates in their area). Holkeboer Advocacy -Facebook page.  Kathy’s phone #: (616) 218-2395.

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Autism Is Not A Disability

Autism Is Not A Disability Article From The Baltimore Sun, by John P. Hussman.

Our friend (and first episode guest) Carol Lippert, shared this very interesting article that was published in the Baltimore Sun on April 10th, and written by a parent of a 19 year old boy with autism.

The article has some eye-opening perspectives for people about what a ‘disability’ really means. It’s definitely worth sharing with your friends and family, especially those who may not fully understand what autism means.

For that matter, you could apply the same perspective of this article toward virtually every other disability that people may have.

Autism Is Not A Disability, by John P. Hussman, published in the Baltimore Sun, April 10th, 2013.

April Is Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. Autism is a medical term for a large umbrella of brain disorders encompassing a wide range of disability from very mild high functioning to severely disabled.  Some or all of the areas shown below can be affected in different ways. Autism is a genetic neurological condition that you are born with, and is not the result of bad parenting, diet, overstimulation, or any other outside influences. Learn more at the Autism Speaks website.

brain_autism

This graphic comes from Iain Carstairs blog: Science and Religion, in an article entitled Atheism and Autism. It’s a fascinating read, and you can find a much larger version of  this graphic in the article (this was the best I could pull off).

NBC Rock Center Segment On Adult ADHD.

Last night Rock Center on NBC had a great report on Adult ADHD. They offered a lot of really important information on ADHD including proof that ADHD is a genetic condition in the brain. Definitely worth watching! NBC Rock Center

Also check out our interview with Dr. Oren Mason, who shares his own story about living with undiagnosed ADHD (he went through medical school and many years of private practice with it) and how he now specializes in treating ADHD.

Special Parents Confidential Is Now On iTunes!

Just got the word that Special Parents Confidential is now available on iTunes! To add us to your iTunes account, simply click the iTunes button on the right under “Follow Us”. Or click here.

Don’t forget to also follow us on your favorite Social Media site, by clicking the button(s) for which ever one you prefer! We’re on Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Thanks for your support and please remember to share our podcast with everyone you know!

We’re recording more interviews this week and over the next few weeks as well. Keep checking back for more information and updates.