Group items tagged

IDEA 2004 requires that students with disabilities be provided with physical education. If your child has a disability and an IEP, the school must provide physical education as part of your child's special education program. Many children benefit from adapted physical education. Because physical education is a required component of special education, your child's physical education teacher should be included as a member of the IEP team.

"In the middle and high schools, for high-functioning students, they have an elective class where they work on their organizational and social skills, speech therapists and disability awareness, like what is autism and how does this affect me to give them some vocabulary to work with," she said. "There have certainly been mistakes made with Eric at school, but I can't be too harsh because I've made them too. However, the school system has processes in place that help figure out interventions and solutions. My son is on track to get a regular high school diploma but, without the support of this program, without someone to intervene if he was having a moment, he would crash and burn."

Farming is not only a way of living, but it is many peoples' passion. When individuals who have had an amputation wish to return to work on the farm, there are a variety of adaptations that can be made to assist in their return to work. It is important to return famers to their desired functional level so they can reach their goals of independence. It is also imperative to consider their safety and to protect them from getting injured. Use of electronics and technology, such as centralized controls, hydraulics, monitoring systems, and computerization, on modern farms is making it easier to apply assistive technology to help those that have been faced with an amputation.[1]

What: This webinar will demonstrate an assortment of tools and materials that can be used to adapt toys or play activities for young children with disabilities.  Examples will include: making a momentary switch in one minute;  adapting pushbutton items; creating tactile images on-the-fly; creative uses of PVC pipe; mounting and stabilizing toys; cool fidget apps; and much more. When: Monday, April 12, 2010 - 8:00 am-9:00am (MDT)

A new survey tool that school districts and parent-teacher organizations can use to measure the quality of parent-school relationships has been created by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and released by SurveyMonkey, a Palo Alto, Calif., company, for widespread use by schools, districts, and parent groups. The 71-item "question bank" covers seven areas of family engagement—from how much help students receive at home to how confident parents are in supporting their child's schooling. Districts can adapt the survey to suit their individual needs, and parents responding to it can do so online or on paper.

Do you know someone who isn’t sure whether or not to pursue a medical diagnosis for a developmentally delayed son or daughter? According to the Centers for Disease Control, most children with autism are diagnosed after age 4.  Certain other developmental and learning disabilities are usually not diagnosed until a child enters elementary school.  These facts are puzzling, since it is well-established that early intervention leads to better outcomes for children with special needs. But there are many reasons why parents and physicians choose to delay diagnosis, even when a young child is delayed and has difficulty adapting to everyday life:

The Freedom Stick is a system, it can be downloaded and installed on a 4gb Flash Drive and carried everywhere by the student, plugged into and used on school computers or public library computers, or even employer computers – anywhere any version of Microsoft Windows is installed (including on Apple Macintosh computers which can have Windows installed as a second operating system). Or it can be installed directly onto your own computer. It is safe in all computing environments, tested globally since development began in Scotland with EduApps. This version was developed with US Department of Education and Michigan Department of Education grants through Michigan’s Integrated Technology Supports (MITS) in order to bring Universal Design Technology to American schools. The Freedom Stick is a collection of free, open-source programs which provide the widest range of supports for differing student needs. It is also a system supported by a range of learning tools – including a full set of “how to use” videos and presentations. It is easy to adapt to the students own needs, and it works with the supports included in Windows to create a true Universal Solution Set.

USTA Serves awards program grants twice a year to programs that support at-risk youth and people with disabilities through tennis and education programs designed to improve health, build character and strive for academic excellence.   To date USTA Serves has granted more than $11 million to fund 226 programs in 173 cities in 43 states, including more than $600,000 to adaptive tennis programs for people with special needs. For additional information about submitting a grant proposal, please email us at foundation@usta.com.

Students with learning disabilities (LD) may struggle with schoolwork in many different areas. While most are likely to have trouble with reading, others may have issues with math, memory, organization, or writing. Assistive technology (AT) can be a great way to minimize the extent to which they need to ask for help and to enable them to be more independent learners. Assistive technology (sometimes referred to as "adaptive technology") is a general term that describes the types of tools and devices that assist people to achieve greater independence. For individuals with LD, assistive technology can include such things as scanners and screen reading software, voice recognition software, calculators, highlighting and note-taking programs, electronic/digital organizers, and much more.

The TA Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports has been established by the Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education to give schools capacity-building information and technical assistance for identifying, adapting, and sustaining effective school-wide disciplinary practices.

Click here to register!Whats and Whens:Pre sessions, Wednesday, January 18, 1-4 pm include workshops on: Proposed Montana Common Core Standards Math Proposed Montana Common Core Standards in English Language Arts Instructional Uses of English Language Proficiency (ELP), WIDA assessment results ACT Plus Writing training Thursday, January 19, 8:30-4:25 pm 8:30 am, Keynote: Tony Alpert, CEO of the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, will provide updates and insights on the adaptive online assessment implementation in 2014-15. Friday, January 20, 8:30-11:30 am 8:30 am, Keynote: Montana GEMS data warehouse project. Conference presentations include sessions on assessment and data training for the 2012 MontCAS CRT test administration. Regularly updated information about the conference offerings and a call for proposals can be found at http://www.opi.mt.gov/curriculum/MontCAS/#p7GPc1_ Where:Red Lion Colonial InnHelena, MontanaContact:Judy SnowPhone: 406- 444-3656.

For registration and more information click here! (PDF)What:Going Mental Over Math (a.m.)Participants will develop strategies for doing and teaching mental math, learn and apply mental math strategies, as well as plan for classroom implementation of mental math strategies.“Mental math provides both tools for solving problems and filters for evaluating answers. When a student has strong mental math skills, he or she can quickly test different approaches to a problem to determine whether the resulting path will lead toward a viable solution.”(NCTM President, 2005)Model Drawing (aka Bar Modeling) 101 (p.m.)Participants will learn how to adapt a Singapore approach to meet the needs of your American classroom, practice a strategy that appeals to diverse learners by encouraging students to reach the same answer in different ways,  learn how to develop the critical sense of number and number relationships , and learn how to help your students (and quite possibly you) conquer their fear of word problems.When and Where:February 28, 2012, Great Falls, MTHampton Inn February 29, 2012, Havre, MTFifth Avenue Christian ChurchContact:Region II CSPDPhone: (406) 265-4356 ext. 322

Every week we feature some of the best blog posts that provide resources to families of children with special needs. This week we have great posts about winter break activities, adaptive bikes, making therapy sessions better, resources for women with disabilities and much more. Check them out and share some of your own resources in the comment section.

Not long ago, most blind and visually impaired people grew up without ever playing sports; they sat on the sidelines, and kept score during gym-protected rather than included. In the 1980s, few people had ever heard of the Paralympic Games or accessible recreation. Today, promising blind athletes can receive residency at the US Olympic Training Center; runners compete for prize money and national championships, and most ski resorts offer adaptive programs throughout the year where blind people can ski, cycle, and kayak-often for free. The Paralympic movement, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and ever-increasing expectation for inclusion among the disabled have inspired an explosion of accessible sports, fitness, and recreation programs that accommodate the blind. The Encyclopedia of Sports & Recreation for People with Visual Impairments is the first consumer- focused, action-oriented guide to this new world of accessible activity, profiling the people, programs, and products that are helping move blind and visually impaired people from the sidelines into the game. This groundbreaking guide profiles every accessible blind sport and recreation activity with entries that outline how athletes (both novice and elite) got involved in the sport and how participation has shaped their life. The book also profiles major blind sports organizations and includes chapter and resource listings on camps and accessible recreation providers. Through this book, blind people will be inspired to embrace sports as the rest of society does-as a vital component of personal expression and human interaction that opens paths to adventure, confidence, and lifelong health and fitness

The nation's premier special-needs theme park, Morgan's Wonderland opened four years ago based on the vision of philanthropist Gordon Hartman. "I was at a hotel pool with my daughter, Morgan, who was 11 or 12 at the time, when she kept looking over at two other kids in the pool who were tossing around a ball," he recalls. "I knew she wanted to play with them, but because she has special needs she didn't have the communication skills to ask, so she hit the ball. They grabbed it from her and got out of the water." That's the moment the retired homebuilder decided that he wanted to create a place where kids with special needs and those without could have fun together. He traveled around the country, seeking input from pediatricians, families, therapists, and engineers. The result: a 25-acre oasis on the city's northeast side, where every ride and attraction -- from the carousel to the train to the off-road adventure -- can accommodate all children and adults.

Smugglers' Notch Jeffersonville, Vermont Although it's known for its skiing, this resort area offers amazing summertime adaptive programs for kids ages 3 and up. Depending on the need, children may be given a trained camp counselor and can be incorporated into the kids' program to swim, hike, climb the rock wall, and do arts and crafts, or be part of a special-needs group. If they're 6 or older, they can take part in an Autism Mountain Camp that includes horseback riding and sailing. Private swim lessons, which focus on fulfilling a child's sensory needs, are also available.

Morgan's Wonderland San Antonio, Texas

Neurotypical is an unprecedented exploration of autism from the point of view of autistic people themselves. Four-year-old Violet, teenaged Nicholas and adult Paula occupy different positions on the autism spectrum, but they are all at pivotal moments in their lives. How they and the people around them work out their perceptual and behavioral differences becomes a remarkable reflection of the "neurotypical" world — the world of the non-autistic — revealing inventive adaptations on each side and an emerging critique of both what it means to be normal and what it means to be human.

Young children with Autism respond well  to structured routines and familiar surroundings. But life has a way of throwing unexpected curve balls, and people need to adapt. Psychologists call this resiliency; the ability to “go with the flow” when things don’t go your way. Resiliency is honed in neurotypical children through their development of play and self regulation skills, as well as a sense of humor.

This video illustrates how essential early childhood inclusion is for all children, including those who cannot be in close proximity to other children because of health concerns. In this video, Kate Mathany describes how her daughter Getty virtually attends a typical preschool classroom every day using a VGo. In the first part, Kate introduces us to Getty and describes how the idea to use the VGo came about. In the second part, Kate is joined by Eileen Sedilko, Getty's preschool teacher, as they illustrate how Getty's school day works from both home and classroom perspectives. They discuss a range of topics including preschool inclusion, parent leadership, the use of adaptations, collaboration, teamwork, the benefits of inclusion for all children, families, and teachers. This video has important messages for families with children who cannot attend a preschool because of health reasons who are looking for solutions, for all those interested in early childhood inclusion, and for current and future early childhood educators. A presentation of the Desired Results Access Project, Napa County Office of Education, funded by the California Department of Education, Special Education Division. Produced by Larry Edelman.