Tag Archives: Teachers

Special Parents Confidential Episode 26 Parent Problems

Parent Problems

Parents of special needs children face problems that few others can understand. Extraordinary  joy and crushing despair, sometimes in the same day, the same hour, the same moment. One thing is true, people who relate the best to these moments are other parents of special needs children. We have a bond that, while often unspoken, is a shared knowledge that ‘this is our life’ and we all know exactly what it’s like.

For those who are just starting out on their journey with a special needs child, the fear and uncertainty can be very daunting. How do you cope? Where do you look for help? Who can you trust? And possibly the most important question of all, who understands what this means?

To help answer those questions, Donna Kirk has returned for another interview episode. Donna was my guest in Special Parents Confidential Episode 23, in which she talked about her book, Finding Matthew, the story of her son who was born with severe brain damage. She and her husband, Ed, experienced everything a parent of a special needs child could face. A terrible life-altering diagnosis, years and years of therapies, trying to find help for their son, watching him struggle into adulthood, and finally facing the hardest loss of all, the death of their special needs child.

After we finished the interview for that episode, Donna contacted me again and asked if she could talk about the lessons she learned and how they might help parents who are currently struggling and trying to cope with the emotional rollercoaster that raising a special needs child can cause. Top of the list for any parent, honesty and communication.

For more resources on specific issues, check out our Helpful Links page.

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 on this page. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us on Google Plus, Tumbler, Linked In, Pintrest, Stumble Upon, Reddit, or other social media sites that you use. 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. You’ll find the form to do that to the right of this posting. We’re also on iTunes, Stitcher, and Poddirectory as a free subscription 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.

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Special Parents Confidential Is Now On Poddirectory

Special Parents Confidential Is Now On Poddirectory.

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Follow the link to find Special Parents Confidential on Poddirectory by clicking here.

Poddirectory is a quick way to listen and search thousands of podcasts, including Special Parents Confidential. It’s done in a Facebook and Twitter friendly format, which makes searching and playing much easier while using your favorite social media site.  Be sure to repost and retweet our updates whenever you can!

We’re going to keep looking for great places for you to find Special Parents Confidential, and continue to make finding our podcast easier. Thanks for your support!

Special Parents Confidential Episode 25 Early Intervention

Early Intervention.

There’s probably nothing more nerve-wracking and stressful for any parent than the realization that your new baby, your toddler, your child might have some problems. Whether it’s not speaking, not walking, or not engaging socially like other kids, the hardest question many parents face is, what do I do about this?

Of course friends and relatives will tell you, oh it’s alright, that’s just how some boys or some girls are… and they’ll grow out of it. But that’s not always the best advice, and if  your child does have a developmental delay or a learning disorder, they are simply not going to grow out of it. They need help. And then the question becomes, where do I get that help?

Our guest on this episode of Special Parents Confidential can answer a lot of those questions. Barbara Corbin is the Early On Coordinator with the Kent Intermediate School District in Kent County, Michigan.  She handles Early Intervention, and Early Childhood Special Education with school districts. She helps parents get their first diagnosis and coordinates getting help for children right at the very beginning. Thanks to advances in medical research and therapies, children can be diagnosed very early, and Early On programs can start at age two.

Links to websites mentioned in the podcast:

1800EarlyOn Early Intervention information for Michigan, with links to other States. The website name is also their toll free phone number: 1 800 Early On.

The Arc of Kent County Information resource for people with intellectual and developmental delays.

Center For Disease Control (CDC) Page for Parents and Infants This page has the Milestones and Schedules information to track expected progress for infants and toddlers.

Great Starts Collaborative Early Intervention Page Success Starts Early’s webpage on Early Interventions. The entire site is full of helpful information for all parents.

Pathways.org  Free online resource and tools for parents.

The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center Online resource tools for families of children with special needs.

Michigan Alliance for Families.  Provides information, support, and education for families who have children (birth through 26 years of age) who receive (or may be eligible to receive) special education services.

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Special Parents Confidential Episode 24 MI Lt. Governor Brian Calley

MI Lt. Governor Brian Calley.

Michigan, like many states, has been working on changes to laws in special education to make sure that the rules are up to date and following the laws that are set down in the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, which are the main requirements of how special education is to be handled across the United States.

Last December in Lansing, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules was going to approve some changes to the Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE) that would have severely impacted parent participation in their children’s education. The Joint Committee was holding a public meeting to take comments from parents back on December 11th, when an unexpected guest stepped forward. 

Michigan’s Lt. Governor, Brian Calley asked that the Committee not approve the proposed changes and take no further action, because he believed that there needed to be more participation from parents in this process. The Committee agreed, and shelved the rules. Since that time, Lt. Governor Calley has embarked on a series of open meetings across the State of Michigan, where he invites parents to talk about their experiences with Special Education in their local districts. He’s also created an online survey for Michigan parents to highlight their experiences, both good and bad, in dealing with Special Education services in their districts.

What the Lt. Governor is doing is an extraordinary step in making sure that parents are more involved in determining special education procedures for their children in the IEP (Individualized Education Plan) process. We are very please to have Michigan Lt. Governor Brian Calley on this episode of Special Parents Confidential to talk about what the changes to the MARSE regulations would have meant, and the personal reasons why he’s made special education in Michigan an important priority.

Links that are mentioned in the podcast: 

Michigan LT. Governor Brian Calley – the official State Website.

Lt Governor Calley’s Online Special Education Survey

The Lt. Governor’s Facebook Page

PR.150610.CalleySpecialEducationSurvey – Press release with detailed explanation of Lt. Governor Calley’s online survey.

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 on our website. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us on Google Plus, Tumbler, Linked In, Pintrest, Stumble Upon, Reddit, or other social media sites you use. 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. We’re also on iTunes and Stitcher as a free subscription, and if you have a moment, feel free to write a review about our podcast. Anything you can do to help spread the word about Special Parents Confidential will help us be able to continue these podcasts.

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Special Parents Confidential Episode 23 Finding Matthew

Finding Matthew

For parents of special needs children perhaps the most stressful and anxious time is when you are first told that your child has problems. That first diagnosis is such a shock. You don’t know what to do, you don’t know what to think, and you feel completely overwhelmed with it all. One of the most helpful things for parents of special needs children is when they hear stories of other families who have already gone through similar experiences and have shared their story. The challenges and struggles are universal, no matter what the disability or the severity. Just knowing that someone else is out there facing the same worries and fears, and has taken the time to tell that story, can be very reassuring.

In this episode of Special Parents Confidential I’d like to introduce you to just such a parent. In 1970, Donna Kirk, who, with her husband Ed, is from a town near Toronto, Canada, had gone to the hospital for the birth of her first son, Matthew. But problems occurred and their baby had oxygen loss during birth and suffered severe brain damage. The next day their son was transferred to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto where the doctor there told them that their son was basically, in his words, “a vegetable with a heartbeat”. This doctor advised them to institutionalize their son and have another baby as soon as possible… implying that they should just forget Matthew.

Donna and Ed ignored what the doctor told them and took him home as soon as they could. They fought for him and cared for him throughout his entire life and, in the process, proved that first doctor and many other people wrong about Matthew’s abilities. Ed and Donna had two other children after Matthew, a brother an sister.  Matthew died at the age of 40 in 2010, and Donna has written a book called, Finding Matthew, about his life, his challenges, and the struggles that she and her husband went through from his devastating diagnosis to his ultimately successful life and becoming a contributing member to society. The book shows how even the most severely disabled people have incredible gifts and how the family can work together to get through any adversity. It’s definitely a must-read for all parents of special needs children and their families.

Donna’s extraordinary book, Finding Matthew is available on Amazon Books, and you an click either of those links to take you  to the page. Donna Kirk also has a blog site where she posts resource information and updates. Just click on her name and you’ll be re-directed to her site.

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 on our website. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us on Google Plus, Tumbler, Linked In, Pintrest, Stumble Upon, Reddit, or other social media sites you use. 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. We’re also on iTunes and Stitcher as a free subscription, and if you have a moment, feel free to write a review about our podcast. Anything you can do to help spread the word about Special Parents Confidential will help us be able to continue these podcasts.

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Special Parents Confidential Episode 22 Vaccine Safety

Vaccine Safety

 In the last 20 years or so we have seen an increase in popularity of an anti-vaccine movement which is based on some very disturbing claims. Primarily among them being that the MMR vaccine, which stands for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, causes autism. Others claim all manner of health problems can come from vaccinations and that we, as a society, should stop vaccinating our children in any way.

But are those claims valid? Do they have any real scientific proof? For that matter, how safe are vaccines and immunizations? Who makes them? How are they tested? What kind of research, safeguards, and oversight is done before a vaccine is allowed to be used in public? Are they just thrown together in careless disregard by big pharma corporations for big profits, as the anti-vaccine movement claims, or is there a much more scientific and careful approach with regulations and oversight from medical groups, the CDC, and the FDA?

Our guest on this episode of Special Parents Confidential is going to answer a lot of those questions. Mary Wisinski, RN BSN, is the Supervisor of the Immunization Program at the Kent County Health Department, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and she has graciously agreed to this interview to provide credible and accurate information. And what she has to say is very important for every parent to hear and understand.

More importantly, Mary answers the one question that the anti-vaccine people have never dared to address: Are there documented cases of children who were not vaccinated, yet still developed autism? Listen to this episode to hear the answer for yourself.

Mary has also supplied a PDF with links to websites that contain accurate, proven, peer-reviewed research that prove the safety and importance of vaccines and immunizations. There is also links to books you can purchase for more information, a toll free number to the Center for Disease Control where you can speak to CDC staff on vaccine safety 24/7, as well as a DVD on vaccine safety.   The website links are listed below and the PDF form link is below them:

American Academy of Pediatrics Immunization Webpage

The Center for Disease Control Vaccine Website

Vaccinate Your Baby – contains a broad array of educational materials and information about vaccines, their safety, vaccine research and science, vaccine misperceptions, and many other topics for clinicians and parents.

Every Child By Two  another site with great information for parents and clinicians.

Immunization Action Coalition and their additional website  Vaccine Information

The U.S. Department of Health Website on Vaccine Safety

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Vaccine Information Webpage

Center for Disease Control offers a toll-free number for consumers and healthcare professionals who have questions about immunization and vaccine-preventable diseases. Call (800) CDC-INFO or (800) 232-4636. The Center operates 24/7 in English & Spanish.                   TTY: (888) 232-6348.

Reliable Sources of Immunization Information – Link to downloadable pdf.

Please note, on the PDF form there is a link to a site called the National Network for Immunization Information. That domain has expired and the links are no longer active.

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, Tumbler, Linked In, Pintrest, Stumble Upon, Reddit, or other social media sites that you use. 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 as a free subscription 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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Special Parents Confidential Episode 21 IEPs and the Law

IEPs and the Law.

Individualized Education Plans. IEPs for short. Possibly one of the most stressful times for parents of special needs children. IEP meetings are those annual events when parents meet with schools to plan out the kinds of help and services their special needs children are going to receive for the next school year.

IEP meetings are very long, sometimes taking two hours or more, and usually filled with terminology that can sometimes be overwhelming. Parents are expected to understand a huge amount of information and make decisions on what kind of educational support their child will receive in the next grade year. The problem is for many of us, we don’t even know how our kids are going to do from week to week, much less three or four months later, after the entire summer break.

Typically the schools bring in the teacher, the special education teacher, any school therapists, the school social worker, and the Principal or Vice Principal of the school. Sometimes the school or district psychologist will attend, sometimes the district’s Director of Special Education will also attend. There can be as many as ten to fifteen people representing the school in these meetings. It is very easy for parents to feel ‘ganged up on’ or intimidated, especially when there is often only one or two parents in the room.

This is where Attorney Advocates can help. Lawyers who work in special education advocacy and mediation are trained in all areas of special education law. They can be the parent’s voice in the room and they know exactly what the laws are in what the school should be doing for your child and whether your concerns are being addressed.

Our guest on this episode of Special Parents Confidential is Attorney Randi Rothberg who’s firm, Thivierge & Rothberg is a Special Education Law Firm based in New York City. She and her partner, Christina Thivierge focus exclusively on representing families of children with special needs, including attending IEP meetings, mediation, Due Process, and, when necessary, litigation in the State and/or Federal Courts. She talks about some of the problems that can arise when parents face an IEP meeting, how to prepare for those meetings, what to watch out for when you’re faced with things you don’t agree with in an IEP, and how to look for an advocate in your area. Randi also does advocacy work for issues of bullying in schools and discusses addressing those situations.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

Some of the legal issues Randi discusses are general, however some points, such as the “Parent Member in IEP meetings” are specific to New York State and may not apply in your State, or Country. Please consult a Special Education and Disability Law Attorney or Special Education Advocate in your area for complete information on your State laws and your rights.

Here are the links mentioned in the podcast:

Thivierge & Rothberg PC – Representing children and adolescents with disabilities in New York & New Jersey

COPPA – Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates

Wrights Law – Special Education Law and Advocacy

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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Special Parents Confidential Episode 20 Health and Wellness

Health and Wellness.

Perhaps no other subject is a greater concern to a parent than the health of their children. Parents of special needs children have an even greater concern because our kids often have disabilities or disorders that require specialized health care options. Some disabilities or disorders like Downs Syndrome can be diagnosed immediately at birth, if not sooner. Others like Autism or Dyslexia may take a few years. However, the one thing all health care professionals can agree on is the earlier you get a diagnosis for your child, the sooner you can get the right treatments and therapies, and that’s better for your child.

But where do you find the experts on your child’s disabilities or disorders, especially if you’re a first time parent and don’t yet have a family doctor or pediatrician? Often, a child can have more than one special need challenge, which can make medical decisions even harder. 

One place that offers a wide variety of services from medical checkups and advice to doctor referrals to support groups and beyond is your local county or city Health Department. Most Health Departments have a person or a group of people who support parents of special needs children with counseling, advice, and education. They can help you with ongoing support, including finding early on or early intervention programs with your local school district to get your child into special education programs that are the right fit for their challenges.

In this episode of Special Parents Confidential, John talks to Chris Buczek, RN BSN, who is the Public Health Program supervisor for Children’s Special Health Care Services of the Kent County Health Department in Grand Rapids Michigan. She also supervises the Hearing and Vision Screening Program for the Health Department, and runs a support group for parents of special needs children. And, as you’ll find out, she has a personal reason for her involvement in Special Health Services.

During the interview Chris talks about a number of websites for resources. The following are the links to those sites:

MDCH Children’s Special Health Care Services   

MI Family Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

US DHHS HRSA Maternal and Child Health

CDC Parent Information Infants & Toddlers

CDC Important Milestones For Infants

NCMHI Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures Page

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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The Numbers Are In!

The Numbers Are In!

When I started this podcast a little over two years ago I was hoping to be able to fill a need for parents or relatives or friends of special needs children and adults. I had no idea how many people would be interested, but I thought there would be ‘some’.

Until now I really had no idea how many people have seen the Special Parents Confidential website, or how many people were listening to the podcast episodes. We don’t have a large number of subscribers on iTunes… this is primarily owing to the fact that the file size for each episode is very large. My crazy insistence on having the sound quality as good as any FM radio station is the cause. Due to these large file sizes, it’s my belief that most of the audience is listening directly on the website rather than downloading the episodes.

Well now I have a better idea of just how many people have been checking out this ‘humble little podcast’. My webmaster guru recently ran a site stat report for me, and I wanted to share some of it here. The report contains large numbers of stats including activity, access, visitors, referrers, browsers, and errors (bots trying to gain access to stuff they’re not supposed to have – don’t worry they didn’t get anything). The numbers are in, and very detailed, so I’ll just post the two most important stats: Since we started in in January of 2013 until April 23 of 2015 (the date the report was generated), Special Parents Confidential has been visited 815,493 times; with 600,882 real people hits and 214,611 spider (bot) hits. More impressively, the total bandwidth usage has been 49.45 GBs. In radio terms, that’s (TSL) Time Spent Listening. This number represents both episode downloads and direct listening time.

Pronouncing the words, “I’m shocked” is a major understatement. I think the phrase, ‘my brain did backflips’ is more appropriate. These are far bigger numbers than I ever expected, or thought possible, given that I haven’t really gone out of my way to promote the site.
To everyone who has visited, listens, and continues to do both, thank you so very much! It’s gratifying to know there are so many more of you than I thought. You have my assurances that I’ll continue to produce episodes that cover subjects you want to know about. You should also know that you have a voice in this process too. Please like our Facebook page or Follow us on Twitter so you can comment directly on each episode (we monitor those the most frequently)*. Also feel free to share episodes and the website on your favorite social media sites.
Thanks!

John

PS- if you’re interested in sponsoring or advertising on our podcast or this website, please use our Contact Page, and I’ll send you a more detailed version of the stat report and we can talk things over.

*We use Facebook and Twitter for podcast comments, rather than a webpage ‘comments section’ in order to reduce spammer advertising.

Special Parents Confidential Episode 19 Understood Dot Org

Understood Dot Org. 

One of the major benefits of the Internet is the amazing amount of information that is available on virtually any subject you might want to know about. The problem is trying to figure out what information is accurate and what information is nonsense, especially when the nonsense information comes disguised as something credible. This is especially true for parents of special needs children who are trying to find reliable and accurate information for their children. There are far too many websites containing unproven information, fake cures, and outright lies about various learning disabilities, special needs disorders, and treatment options.

Thankfully many groups and organizations are counteracting these fraudulent sites with accurate, evidence-based research sites that have peer-reviewed, credible information. And many of them are doing everything they can to make it easier to get the accurate information that parents need. One such site is Understood.org.

About two years ago a group of fifteen different organizations, including the National Center for Learning Disabilities, The Parents Education Network, Learning Disabilities Association of America, Common Sense Media, and others, decided to combine their resources for parents and educators to be able to access the latest tools and information for children with learning disabilities. Understood’s goal is to help the millions of parents whose children, ages 3–20, are struggling with learning and attention issues. They want to empower them to understand their children’s issues and relate to their experiences.

One of the features on Understood.org are blog articles written by parents and experts, and on this episode of Special Parents Confidential, we are joined by one of Understood’s parent advocate, writer, and contributor, Amanda Morin. Amanda is an education writer and a special education advocate. She uses her experience as an early interventionist, teacher and a special needs parent to inform her work. She has written two books and she is also a parent of three kids, two of whom have learning disabilities. In our interview, she talks about her challenges as a parent, her background in education, and how she began to use her training in special education advocacy to write books and blogs about how to navigate the world of special education.

Here are links to the websites mentioned in the podcast:

Understood

Parenting Special Needs Magazine

Amanda Morin’s Website (which has a link to where you can purchase her books)

Amanda’s Facebook Page

Amanda’s Twitter Feed

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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Special Parents Confidential Episode 18 Living With Dyslexia

Special Parents Confidential Episode 18 Living With Dyslexia

Dyslexia is possibly the single most mis-understood of all disabilities. People who don’t have it think that those who do see misspelled words, or letters out of order, or even that they read backwards. But none of that is actually true. People with Dyslexia can recognize letters and words, and even sentences. The real problem is the comprehension component of reading is diminished, or in some cases not there at all.

New research has shown that there is a specific area in the brain that causes Dyslexia and the hope is that new treatments may come from that discovery. But those treatments are still a long way off and in the mean time many children and adults are continuing to struggle. Added to this is the fact that as of right now, March of 2015, only 24 states in America recognize Dyslexia as a learning disability and have specific treatment protocols for school districts to follow. That means that over half of the school age children in the United States who have Dyslexia are not getting the right kind of help, if they’re getting any help at all.

One of the aspects of children with special needs that many people don’t understand is that a child can have more than one specific disorder. A child may have ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, Autism, or Downs Syndrome, and also have Dyslexia. But if the main disorder is more prevalent, the Dyslexia may not be recognized or even noticed without a more intensive diagnosis.

Dyslexia is the best known of these disorders, and causes problems with reading comprehension. There is also Dysgraphia, which causes problems with handwriting, and Dyscalculia, which causes problems in mathematics comprehension. Over the next series of podcasts, we’re going to take a closer look at Dyslexia and the related learning disorders to try to get a better understanding of the causes and the treatments.

To begin, I wanted to get a better idea of what it’s like to have Dyslexia and how it affects the ability to read and learn. Fortunately a friend of ours is willing to talk about her challenges. Elizabeth D’Aurora is a third grade elementary school teacher in West Michigan and she has Dyslexia. She talks about some of the problems and difficulties she had in school. As an educator she also discusses treatments and therapies for Dyslexics and their effectiveness. As you’ll learn in this podcast, there is no ‘cure’ for Dyslexia. No one “overcomes Dyslexia”; instead the person learns ways to cope and strategies for learning that can help them in school and beyond.

For more information on Dyslexia and related learning disorders visit Understood.org.

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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New Episodes Coming Soon

New Episodes Coming Soon.

We’re working on more interviews in the next few weeks. Some of the subjects we’re covering:

Did you know Dyslexia is only recognized in 24 states as a learning disability, with specific definitions and guidelines for special education? We’re doing  two episodes devoted to living with Dyslexia. We will be talking to an elementary school teacher who has Dyslexia to learn how she dealt with Dyslexia while growing up and how she now teaches. We’re also going to talk to a mother and son (the son has Dyslexia) who are working together on trying to get Dyslexia recognized as a learning disability in their state and other states.

We’re also going to talk to an RN with our local health department for medical advice and health issues that are important for special needs children and adults.

Be sure to subscribe to our social media pages, we’re on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Linked In, and others where you can comment and give us suggestions for future episodes! Don’t forget you can subscribe to our email list, and find our podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

We’re working on some big plans for this year to make Special Parents Confidential even better, so be sure to connect with us for all the news and updates as we go!

Finally, be sure to share our site with your friends and family. You never know who might be interested or have a need to know something we have here. We do these podcasts for you and your help in spreading the word is what keeps us going!

Thank you for your support!

John

Special Parents Confidential 17 When Schools Say ‘No’

Special Parents Confidential Episode 17 When Schools Say ‘No’.

In 1990 Congress passed IDEA, or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which entitles each student with a disability to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to meet his or her unique needs. Originally titled Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EAHCA), it was based on Congress’ finding that the millions of children with disabilities had educational needs which were not being met due to a lack of services and inappropriate public school placement. IDEA set down guidelines for how schools and states were to implement special education procedures.

Unfortunately, there is a wide disparity across states as to how those guidelines should be implemented, or even interpreted. Similarly, school districts can even have differing standards for services they offer in special education. Simply put, IDEA allowed States and schools a lot of leeway in special education implementation, based on numerous issues including need, population, local economic factors, and other considerations.

The problem for parents is, this leeway in the implementation of procedures can sometimes allow States and school districts to restrict or even deny extra help for students who don’t fit the exact definition of a particular disability or learning disorder. School Districts and States are also cutting certain aspects of special education support from Education budgets as cost-saving measures. While districts and States aren’t outright eliminating Special Education, they do cut budgets for support programs, assistant teachers or para-pros who help in the classrooms, and other accommodations. The result is many parents are finding out that their children will perhaps get minimal help (the least allowed under regulations), but more often than not they hear the word ‘no’ when asking for additional help or support for their child.

So what can you do when your school or State says ‘no’?

Our guest in this episode has some answers. Suzanne Wilcox is the co-owner of Hope Educational Consulting, LLC a special education advocacy service based in Ohio and Michigan. She is also the mother of four children, two of whom needed special education support in school.  She explains how IDEA works, and how schools and states interpret those regulations. She also explains how ‘best practices’ can sometimes be overlooked due to budgeting, or availability issues.

During the time when she and her family lived in Ohio, she and her partners were instrumental in creating and passing legislation that allowed Ohio to become one of the first States in the country to recognize Dyslexia as a learning disability, and implemented official regulations on the kinds of therapies schools must offer to help students with Dyslexia. She has worked with parents, teachers, school districts, and legislators on numerous issues with special education.

Suzanne offers some great advice and information that all parents of special needs children need to know.  Please feel free to share this episode with everyone you know who has a child with special needs or works with children who have special needs.

* Note: first paragraph attribution to Wikipedia article on IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. For more information on IDEA, visit http://idea.ed.gov

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.

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New Findings On Dyslexia

New Findings On Dyslexia.

Hello!

We heard an interesting report on the NPR program, Here & Now, entitled, “I’m Not Stupid, Just Dyslexic”. The program discussed problems children have with dyslexia in school and how it can cause a lifetime of difficulties.

Neurologists are discovering the physical link in the brain that can cause dyslexia, and they’re hoping to use this research to diagnose the condition in early infancy so that children with dyslexia can get the help they need before kindergarten. Typically children are not diagnosed with dyslexia until the third grade at the earliest, which means they’re far behind by the time they start getting help.

The report is just under eight minutes long. We recommend listening to it, downloading the show so that you can review information, and sharing with everyone you know. Dyslexia can be present even with other disabilities and because of this it can sometimes be missed or undiagnosed.

Here’s the link to the program: I’m Not Stupid, Just Dyslexic

SPC One Year Anniversary

SPC Studio

SPC One Year Anniversary.

One year ago this week I posted the first two podcasts on the newly minted Special Parents Confidential website. Fifteen episodes in one year, about three more than I thought I would be able to get produced, which puts me ahead of my expectations. And that’s always a good thing.

What does it take to create a podcast? As far as equipment goes, not much really. A mixer, a microphone, a phone interface, headphones, speakers, a digital recording platform, and some wires to connect it all.

But Special Parents Confidential is far more than the equipment. It’s a lot of people who helped me get started nearly six months before this date last year. Those people and their contributions are listed on the About Us page and I’d like to encourage you to take a look at the links to their own websites because they are some amazing people who do incredible things.

Most importantly I’d like to thank the 15 people who agreed to take time out of their busy schedules to answer questions about what parents of special needs children need to know and what they do to help. Some very graciously took a long time, nearly missing important events or meetings, just to make sure they answered every question.

When I started these interviews my goal was to create an online support group for parents of special needs children who aren’t able to attend support group meetings. Thanks to these first 15 people I can say that the goal has been exceeded

Here’s the list of those fine people and their episode subjects once again. If you haven’t heard all these interviews yet, please take a listen!

1. Carol Lippert – Support Groups

2. Dan Blauw – Legal Issues

3. Cyndi Blair – Playdates

4. Dr. Oren Mason – ADD/ADHD

5. Kindy Segovia – Assistive Technology

6. Kathy Holkeboer – Special Education Advocacy

7. Stacy Burns – One Parent’s Journey

8. Chris Kenward – Social Issues In School

9. Julie Wiseman – Deafness and Hearing Impairment

10. Paula Lancaster – Special Education

11. Rev. Mathew Cockrum – Special Needs and Spiritual Needs

12. Elizabeth Welch-Lykens – School Funding and Special Education

13. Rabbi Tzvi Schectman – The Friendship Circle

14. Gabriella McCall Delgado – We Connect Now

15. Conny Raaymakers – Applied Behavior Analysis

It’s been an amazing journey. I’m looking forward to continuing with more episodes in 2014 and beyond.

To everyone who agreed to be interviewed, to everyone who helped out in making this podcast and website a reality, and most of all, to you for finding my site, taking a listen, and then recommending these episodes to people you know:

A huge   T H A N K   Y O U !!!!

Special Parents Confidential Episode 15 Applied Behavior Analysis. ABA.

Applied Behavior Analysis. ABA.

Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA is a term parents of special needs children hear a lot in schools, doctors offices, therapy centers, and just about anywhere our kids interact with people. Studies have shown that ABA can be used to help children as early as 18 months learn to cope with everything from social settings to the educational environment. ABA has been proven to be successful especially for children with autism and can be used to help kids with other disabilities and disorders.

In this episode John talks with Conny Raaymakers, who is director of ABA serves at Developmental Enhancement Behavioral Health, a group that specializes in using ABA for the treatment of autistic children. Conny is a Behavior Analyst and Limited Licensed Behavioral Psychologist.  She talks about the history of Behavior Modification, the decades of research that has been done to study the effectiveness of the treatments, and clears up  the misconceptions people have about Applied Behavior Analysis. Conny also discusses the drawbacks and problems with using alternative or ‘fad’ treatments, how to watch out for misleading claims and how to spot phony success stories.

UPDATED LINKS 10/02/2017

Developmental Enhancement Behavioral Health

Conny Raaymakers Profile Page

Email: craaymakers@debh.org 

Association for Behavior Analysis International

 

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 listening!

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Special Parents Confidential Episode 14 We Connect Now

Special Parents Confidential Episode 14 We Connect Now

When it comes to educating our kids with special needs we as parents tend to focus primarily on the here and now, especially if our kids are younger.  But what will life be like for our kids when they get older and go into college and then the workplace? What kinds of challenges will they face? What help or resources are available?

Our guest for this episode of Special Parents Confidential is able to offer a lot of information on that very subject. Gabriela McCall Delgado has a learning disability and in 2008 while she was a freshman at Louisiana State University she decided to create a website resource for other college students with disabilities called We Connect Now. Her site has been visited by over 175,000 people from all over the United States and 137 other countries. We Connect Now is online forum about college and university life for students with physical disabilities and learning disabilities where they can share their stories and information. And as those students graduate and move into employment they’re using We Connect Now to share stories and information about the job world and successes or problems they encounter there.

Gabriela talks about the challenges she faced in college as well as transitioning into a career and why she decided to start We Connect Now.  She also talks about some of the other stories that people have shared on her site and what resources are available for students with special needs as they go into college and the workplace. This is vital information for any parent who are looking at getting their kids into college and jobs.

Links mentioned in this podcast:

We Connect Now Facebook Page

We Connect Now on Twitter

Email Gabriela at We Connect Now: weconnectnow2008@gmail.com

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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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

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!

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!