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As we see the first early signs of spring, we know summer can't be far away. Start planning now for summertime activities to help middle and high school students continue their journey toward adulthood. This web conference will touch on ideas such as: Completing the Transition Workbook as a family activity Volunteering Summer jobs Exploring new assistive technology Establishing new connections in the community Continuing and documenting the Discovery process Testing out new leisure activities Learning about support needs...while having fun! The web conference will be held on Monday, March 15th, from 1:00 - 2:30 Mountain Time. 

As we see the first early signs of spring, we know summer can't be far away. Start planning now for summertime activities to help middle and high school students continue their journey toward adulthood. This web conference will touch on ideas such as: Completing the Transition Workbook as a family activity Volunteering Summer jobs Exploring new assistive technology Establishing new connections in the community Continuing and documenting the Discovery process Testing out new leisure activities Learning about support needs...while having fun! The web conference will be held on Monday, March 15th, from 1:00 - 2:30 Mountain Time. 

Meet new friends and learn with others at an AAC Summer Camp! Improve your literacy skills and participate in language-building activities. The following camps provide unique learning experiences for AAC device users and families.

Decide early in the process what type of program you want for your child. Camp should be fun, relaxing, and healthy. Camp should offer positive and rewarding experiences that foster independence and self-esteem. Some camps are for military children. Some camps are free. Some camps offer scholarships. Some camps are specifically for children with special needs.

Electronic Registration: Opens March 1, 2010 http://www.montana.edu/cs/mbi This Year's Hot Topics: Parent/Family/Community Involvement Montana Schools – Best Practices Strand Targeted/Intensive Interventions Academic Supports Early Childhood Classroom Management Safe Schools Nutrition And much more!

Click here to download the full brochure (PDF) Topic: In this engaging workshop, national expert Dr. Douglas Gentile will discuss the scientific research on many of the ways in which the media can affect children, adolescents, and adults. Topics covered will include brain development and the media, the psychology of advertising and what educators should learn from advertisers, the multiple effects of media violence, the positive and negative effects of  video games, how the media fit into the larger picture of risk and protective factors, and how the media can influence school readiness and school success.

Ah, summer camp. The mosquitoes, the swim races, the friendships, the bug juice, the postcards home. What child wouldn't benefit from the fun and structured freedom camps provide? Kids with special needs are no exception. But the prospect can seem daunting to parents and kids alike — how can you be sure that your child will get the attention he or she needs? Will your child be able to participate fully? What about the other kids? Will your child make friends? Will they understand your child's special needs?

Who: For youth (grades 8‐12; ages 13‐17) diagnosed with mental illness; and for parents that have a child with mental illness What: Training/workshop to develop leadership and advocacy skills in the System of Care for Mental Illness and in the community When: Friday, June 11th‐ Saturday, June 12th 2010 Where: Fairmont Hot Springs Resort; Anaconda, MT

Click here to download the full flyer (PDF)

What: Do you need to know more about how to promote successful outcomes for your students in the area of math skills? Come to the MASP Summer Institute to discover how to apply recent research findings in your classroom. Learn the essentials of math preparation that we now know underlie proficiency in mathematics, including the importance of effective instruction. Find out the implications for identifying mathematics disabilities and for planning intervention. This is an important conference because there is a great deal of new evidence about how to foster the acquisition of good math skills, information that is not widely known yet. This will be one of the first opportunities that most people in our audience will have to learn about current knowledge on how children learn mathematics and how that learning can go wrong.

Dates and Times: June 12, 13, and 14, 2011 Registration opens at 5 o'clock on Sunday evening, June 12, 2011. The conference begins at 6:30 on Sunday evening and concludes for the evening at 9:30. On the following days, June 13 and 14, the conference continues from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. The doors open at 8 o'clock each morning. Location Where: Hilton Garden Inn Treasure State Salon A & B 2465 Grant Road, Billings, Montana, USA 59102 (near Costco and Best Buy) Tel: 406-655-8800 Fax: 406-655-8802

More Information: Please see the website for more details

Susan Mauro has supported many worthwhile causes in her life.  For many years she was involved with the March of Dimes but last summer her focused changed.  Susan’s son, Seth, (now a first grader at West Elementary) was diagnosed last summer with autism.  

Click here to complete and submit your application What: This summer adventure for teens 16 to 17 includes the opportunity to experience what it is like to live and work with a Leader Dog and sends you home with a free accessible GPS device! During the week, you'll learn how to use the GPS to enhance your ability to travel in current and new environments. Additional activities planned for the week include tandem biking, movie night and kayaking, just to name a few! Instructor to Student Ratio: GPS Camp has a 1:3 instructor-to-student ratio to ensure a personalized experience for all participants. Lodging: Campers stay in the residence facility on our beautiful campus in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Male and female students reside in separate areas of the residence and are supervised by Leader Dog staff. Camp Overview: Challenge Level: Moderate to Difficult Age requirement: 16–17 years old Dates: June 24–July 1, 2011 Now accepting applications

Click here to submit your application What: This summer adventure for teens 16 to 17 includes the opportunity to experience what it is like to live and work with a Leader Dog and sends you home with a free accessible GPS device! During the week, you'll learn how to use the GPS to enhance your ability to travel in current and new environments. Additional activities planned for the week include tandem biking, movie night and kayaking, just to name a few! Instructor to Student Ratio: GPS Camp has a 1:3 instructor-to-student ratio to ensure a personalized experience for all participants. Lodging: Campers stay in the residence facility on our beautiful campus in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Male and female students reside in separate areas of the residence and are supervised by Leader Dog staff. Camp Overview: Challenge Level: Moderate to Difficult Age requirement: 16–17 years old Dates: June 24–July 1, 2011 Now accepting applications

Some of the listings below identify camps available to all children, while some are especially for children who have disabilities. It is also very likely that your community has summer camps or recreational opportunities available that you won’t find listed here.

Under mounting pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice, one state now plans to start moving away from sheltered workshop placements for people with developmental disabilities. Just two weeks ago the Justice Department filed a motion to intervene in a class-action lawsuit against the state of Oregon alleging that the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing supported employment services. Federal officials said they sought to join the suit after unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate with the state. Now, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is taking steps to alter the employment landscape for those with disabilities. In an executive order set to take effect this summer, Kitzhaber said the state will no longer fund new placements in sheltered workshops as of July 2015.

People with learning disabilities (LD) are at the top of every field—and literature is no exception. Many of our favorite authors have overcome the adversity of LD to write books that entertain and inspire us. If you want to find out more about writers with LD or if you just want to find a quality summer read for yourself or your child, check out these books.

When Oscar Pistorius crossed the finish line in last place in the 400-meter event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, his fans were elated.Pistorius, a South African who runs on carbon fiber prosthetics, made history by becoming the first double amputee to compete. Simply finishing the race was a victory.“I didn't grow up thinking I had a disability,” he says. “I grew up thinking I had different shoes.”American farmers go to work daily in a highly hazardous occupation without attracting much fuss or fanfare. But more than 1 million individuals working in agriculture today have physical disabilities that affect their essential tasks, according to a study in the Journal of AgroMedicine.

As President Obama has so often said, change in America happens from the bottom up.  It happens when people organize, speak out, and have a seat at the table.  Recently, President Obama met with some youth with disabilities. He wanted to hear their thoughts about the future of disability policy. So, he sat down with participants from the American Association of People with Disabilities internship program. These future leaders spent their summer in DC, interning with various organizations. 

A growing number of educators are working to turn learning on its head by replacing traditional classroom lectures with video tutorials, an approach popularly called the "flipped classroom." Interest in that teaching method was in full view this summer at the International Society for Technology in Education annual conference in San Diego, where almost every session on the topic was filled to capacity.