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You can register online here!Your purchase includes one web access and one toll-free phone line for live 90-minute event, materials and unlimited access to Webinar archive. Gather a group in one location so many can participate for one low price!What:This webinar addresses the frequently confusing topic of student accommodations. Specifically, the presentation reveals how ambiguous accommodations can be - and how to select appropriate accommodations for each individual.The goal of this webinar is to present a model that can be used collaboratively by advocates, parents, students, and teachers to identify unambiguous accommodations. In preparation for the webinar, participants are requested to consider the commonly used accommodation "preferential seating." If you chose this for a student's IEP, exactly where should next year's teacher seat this child?   Time is provided for questions from participants.  When:Wednesday, March 14, 2012 12:00 to 1:30 PM MT Contact:The Advocacy Institute Phone: 540-364-0051 Email: info@advocacyinstitute.org

Click here to register!What:The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, in conjunction with the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics, the Harvard Law Project on Disability and the UNESCO Bioethics Chair American Unit, is proud to invite you, to join us on December 10th for a Symposium on Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Autism Research at Harvard Law School. The free event will run from 9 AM to 3 PM at the Harvard Law School campus, Hauser Hall, Room 105. Topics covered will include prenatal testing, community participation in research methodologies, appropriate and inappropriate intervention goals and much more. This symposium will serve a unique role in shedding light on ethics and values issues within the autism research community. By bringing together self-advocate and researcher participants, we hope this will serve as a starting point for meaningful dialogue between those conducting research on autism and the community of Autistic adults and youth. Confirmed participants include Administration on Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Sharon Lewis, ASAN President and IACC Public Member Ari Ne'eman, National Institute on Child Health and Human Developmental Director Alan Guttmacher, Harvard Law Professor Michael Stein, Paula Durbin-Westby, Emily Titon, Liz Pellicano, David Rose and many more.   This event is open to the general public without charge and is made possible by a grant from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities.When:Saturday December 10, 2011 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM ESTWhere: Harvard Law School, Hauser Hall Room 1051563 Massachusetts AvenueCambridge, MA 02138 Contact: Ari Ne'eman Autistic Self Advocacy Network 202.596.1056 info@autisticadvocacy.org

What:This presentation addresses the components of a successful Assistive Technology (AT) evaluation, who needs to be involved, models for effectiveness and how to make sure that the evaluation results support successful implementation. Webinar attendees will learn the difference between consideration and evaluation, how to leverage IEP team or 504 team participation in the evaluation process and how to translate data collection and findings from the AT evaluation into successful implementation within a plan based on the environments and tasks the individual is likely to encounter.  This webinar will examine questions parents and advocates should ask to guide and inform participants in the evaluation process. We will explore the legal obligations of schools to provide assistive technology evaluations and examine the factors that often go awry as well as suggestions for moving the process forward in the best and most effective manner possible. Time is provided for questions from participants.Registration: Cost: $50Your purchase includes one web access and one toll-free phone line for live 90-minute event, materials and unlimited access to Webinar archive. Gather a group in one location so many can participate for one low price!Click here for secure online purchasing!When:Wednesday, February 8, 2012 12:00 pm - 1:30 PM MT Contact:The Advocacy InstitutePhone: 540-364-0051Email: info@advocacyinstitute.org

This video series was developed through a partnership with the Hunt Institute as part of National PTA’s ongoing effort to provide accurate information about the Common Core State Standards and to assist PTA membership with developing grassroots advocacy skills.

The Advocacy Institute is pleased to offer unlimited access to a selection of our Advocate Academy Webinar archives during Summer 2010. Each archive will be available for 2 weeks. Archives are 90 minutes in length. You can start, stop, pause, fast forward or rewind the recording using the controls on the ReadyTalk player. Be sure to have Adobe FLASH Player installed on your computer to view the archives!

Click here to register for this event What: Linda James Myers, Ph.D. will present "The Challenges of Cultural Congruence: What Every Advocate Should Know" on Thursday, June 16, from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Dr. Myers is a professor at The Ohio State University, past president of the Association of Black Psychologists, and chair of the Board of Trustees for the National Association for the Education of African American Children with Learning Disabilities (AACLD). This webinar will focus on the importance of cultural congruence, one of the most challenging and often least discussed issues central to the success of Black families as they seek to provide a quality education for their children. As a member of a cultural group whose ethnic and racial heritage is congruent with and supported by that dominant in this society, Euro-western white, one may assume that this prevailing cultural worldview and the subsequent educational and other social institutions created by it are universally suitable and acceptable. The assumption is often made that the prevailing cultural worldview is universally adopted and held by all Americans, particularly those who have been in this country for generations and for whom English is believed to be their first language. This webinar will explore how these assumptions have hurt non-immigrant African Americans and their progeny, particularly in terms of education, their potential for educational achievement, and the current disproportionality we see in special education. Emphasis will be placed on how advocating for a culturally congruent educational experience on behalf of Black students and their families has the potential to transform the negative educational outcomes that have plagued this population for decades. This is the first in an Equity and Ethnicity in Special Education four-part series of webinars hosted by COPAA, a non-profit organization that works to protect special education rights and secure excellence in education on behalf of the 7.1 million children with disabilities in America. When: Thursday, June 16, 2011 - 12:00 pm Mountain If you would like to register for this event or any of the four-part series, please click here. COPAA non-member registration is $65.00 for one session or $195.00 for all four sessions. The full four-part series includes: Thursday, June 16, 2011 - 2:00 pm Eastern The Challenges of Cultural Congruence: What Every Advocate for Black Students Should Know Presenter: Linda James Myers, Ph.D. Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - 2:00 pm Eastern Addressing Legal Issues of Disability and Race Discrimination Presenters: Matthew Engel, Esq., Ron Lospennato Esq. Wednesday, June 29, 2011 - 2:00 pm Eastern Representing Parents Whose Dominant Language is Other Than English Presenter: Gabriela Ruiz, Esq., Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. Thursday, July 14, 2011 - 2:00 pm Eastern Disproportionality: What are we doing about it? Presenters: Sonja Kerr, Esq. Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (PILCOP)

Please take part in the IDEA National Survey, a survey of whether the rights of students with disabilities and their parents are protected.  The IDEA National Survey Project is sponsored by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), Autism Society of America (ASA), Autism National Committee (AutCom), and The Advocacy Institute (AI). The survey is at http://www.ideasurvey.org The survey looks at whether parents are treated as equal partners in their children’s education. Topics include whether the rights of students with disabilities and their parents protected throughout the special education process, including IEP meetings and IEP issues, eligibility (Child Find), Due Process hearings (impartial hearings), and other education issues.  All members of the community are welcome: parents; attorneys, advocates, other professionals; and self-advocates (people with disabilities).  We also welcome all disabilities, not just those our organizations focus on.  You can take the survey and read more about it at http://www.ideasurvey.org The survey will run March-May 2011.  The results will be compiled into a report about experiences under the IDEA that will be published this summer.   For more information, contact Jessica Butler, Coordinator, IDEA National Survey Project, at jessica@jnba.net

Autism research efforts are getting a leg up with a new public-private partnership designed to make data on thousands with the developmental disability more available for study. The National Institutes of Health said Monday that a new collaboration with Autism Speaks will create what’s believed to be the largest single source of research data on people with autism to date. Under the partnership, scientists will be able to access information from the advocacy organization’s Autism Genetic Resource Exchange when they search the government’s National Database for Autism Research.

The film BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY chronicles the life of two of the country’s most remarkable advocates for people with disabilities. Diana Braun, who has Down syndrome, and Kathy Conour, who has cerebral palsy, met three decades ago and vowed to fight to live independent lives. Fearful of being shut away in a nursing home or forced into a state-run institution, Diana and Kathy broke the rules, escaped the system, and modeled a grand experiment in independent living.