Officially reported disability rates in public schools are entirely unreliable and are almost certainly inflated indicators of how many students are actually disabled. Eventually, school and government officials are going to have to acknowledge that our current procedures for identifying students as disabled are fundamentally flawed and commit themselves to improving these procedures.

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the leading association for special educators, has just released a policy on physical restraint and seclusion in school settings. In its policy, CEC states that while these procedures can be effective when dealing with children with behavioral issues, they should be implemented only as a last resort when a child or others are in immediate danger.

For parents of children with special needs, “back to school” means the start of a new IEP advocacy year.

In 2000, 188 or 0.97% of children ages 3-21 who received special education services in Montana have autism. In 2007-2008, 442 or 2.73% of children with disabilities ages 3-21 who received special education services have autism.

SAN FRANCISCO — Kara Lynn has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S., which has attacked the muscles around her mouth and throat, removing her ability to speak. A couple of years ago, she spent more than $8,000 to buy a computer, approved by Medicare, that turns typed words into speech that her family, friends and doctors can hear.

Welcome to the CDC Parent Portal! Here you will find a wealth of information from across all of CDC, covering everything from safety at home and the community to immunization schedules and developmental milestones. Let the CDC Parent Portal help you keep your child healthy and safe!

Complex Child is a monthly online magazine written primarily by parents of children with special healthcare needs and disabilities.  It is intended to provide medical information, along with personal experiences, in simple language that other parents can understand.  Articles are on a wide variety of topics ranging from basic information on medical conditions and treatments to advice on how to beat insurance company denials. 

The National Endowment for the Arts’ Office for AccessAbility is the advocacy-technical assistance arm of the Arts Endowment to make the arts accessible for people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people living in institutions.

Since 1984, the VSA arts International Young Soloists Program has been seeking to identify talented musicians who have a disability. The VSA arts International Young Soloists Award is given annually to four outstanding musicians, two from the United States and two from the international arena. The award provides an opportunity for these emerging musicians to each earn a $5,000 award and a performance in Washington, D.C.

The Disability History Museum's mission is to promote understanding about the historical experience of people with disabilities by recovering, chronicling, and interpreting their stories. Our goal is to help foster a deeper understanding of disability and to dispel lingering myths, assumptions, and stereotypes by examining these cultural legacies.

The Museum of disABILITY History is dedicated to the collection, preservation and display of artifacts pertaining to the history of people with disabilities. Located in Buffalo, New York, and on the World Wide Web, the Museum offers educational exhibits and activities that expand community awareness.

The Museum of disABILITY History is dedicated to the collection, preservation and display of artifacts pertaining to the history of people with disabilities. Located in Buffalo, New York, and on the World Wide Web, the Museum offers educational exhibits and activities that expand community awareness.

Assistive Technology Advocacy

A key question, often left unstated during assistive technology consideration, is: Who can benefit from assistive technology? Federal law is silent on this issue assuming that the local IEP team is in the best position to decide if a student’s needs can be met through technology interventions or other accommodations.

How Schools and Districts are Improving the Performance of Special Education Students

The National Center for Learning Disabilities' newest report, Challenging Change: How Schools and Districts are Improving the Performance of Special Education Students, highlights how two schools and three school districts from around the nation are working to dramatically improve the academic achievement of their special education students.

The HEATH Resource Center is an online clearinghouse on postsecondary education for individuals with disabilities. The HEATH Resource Center Clearinghouse has information for students with disabilities on educational disability support services, policies, procedures, adaptations, accessing college or university campuses, career-technical schools, and other postsecondary training entities.

Young people with disabilities are no different from other kids in their need to understand their bodies and relationships; they, too, need to undersand how their bodies work, and may have romantic longings and sexual interests.  The following resources cover the many aspects of disability, love, sex and puberty in a responsible, open and affirming manner.  Here is a good starting point and overview:

If schools must close due to swine flu, special education students will stay home just like their peers, but may qualify for extra assistance once school resumes, according to guidelines developed by the Department of Education.

A new program is providing some much needed relief to Navy families who have children with disabilities. The program provides up to 40 hours of free respite care each month to members of the Navy who have a child with special needs. The Navy Exceptional Family Member Program Respite Care launched this spring and is first program of its kind to provide for Navy members, though other branches of the military already have similar programs in place.

"Retarded" used to be a garden-variety insult, but it may be the next candidate for prime-time bleeping.

Use this 20-question research-based screening tool with your 4-year-olds. The score will show if a child's pre-reading skills are weak, strong, or somewhere in between. And activities and resources to improve those skills will be provided.

All children are at risk for being bullied or harassed, but studies show that children with LD, ADHD, and emotional/behavioral disorders are more likely than their peers to be bullied or become bullies themselves (Snyder, 2003; HRSA, 2007). Many parents and teachers of children with disabilities are well aware of the potential for in-class bullying of kids seen as different and make efforts to stop bullying before it starts; but what about bullying and harassment that teachers and parents don't see? With young people's increasing presence online, much of the inappropriate behavior, language, and material they may come in contact with is beyond the immediate view of parents, teachers, and guardians.