Teachers, school administrators, parents, disability rights advocates and attorneys gathered at Flathead Valley Community College on Thursday and Friday to move forward the discussion on special education needs in the region. The “Special Education: Kids, Families, Schools and the Law; Working Together for Success,” symposium drew roughly 100 attendees in all.

Ever find yourself at a loss for words when trying to explain to others what it really means when you say, “My child has LD”? What do you say to your own parents for whom the concept of learning disabilities might not be familiar? How about coaches? If you have other children without LD or related issues, how do you talk to them?

School can be a stressful environment for the child and a time of vulnerability. Appropriate accommodations and modifications can reduce stress and can assist in achieving and maintaining educational success. As a parent, you are your child's greatest advocate, supporter, and cheerleader. By becoming knowledgeable regarding educational laws as well as services and programs available within your community, you can ensure that your child receives a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). There are two primary laws that cover your child's rights to a public education: Individuals with Disability Education Improvement Act (IDEA) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the "Affordable Care Act," or "ACA") (P.L. 111-148) is expected to expand health care coverage to an additional 32 million individuals through a combination of new health insurance marketplaces (formerly referred to as exchanges) and a state's option to expand Medicaid. In addition, the ACA includes a number of critical protections for consumers or beneficiaries, as well as provisions to improve the quality of care while bending the curve of health care costs.

Library of Congress Braille and Talking-Book Program Releases Book Download App through Apple People who are blind, visually impaired or have a physical disability may now download audio and braille books to their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, if they are registered with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) in the Library of Congress.

Shannon Penrod Host of Autism Live answers a host of questions that any newly diagnosed parent needs to know NOW. These videos are CliffNotes for autism, offering quick tips & autism support from one parent to another. No Jargon, just frank honesty.

My name is Wilbur Hawke and I am a father of a son with a disability that is now grown, living independently, and a father himself. I have spent the last twenty years teaching other parents how to access the education system. I have also functioned in the capacity of parent liaison for our school district the last fourteen years. This gives me somewhat of a unique perspective from both sides of the table. Although those who know me would certainly agree that I am opinionated, this is my first attempt at blogging. I hope to share with you things that are useful and practically applicable based on my own personal experience. I believe that parents and professionals working together provide the best outcomes for children and informed parents make the best choices for their families.   You are not the first or the last. The best thing to do is to learn from those who have gone before you, duplicating the successes and avoiding the mistakes.  My hope by writing this blog is that you would avoid the mistakes I made and perhaps gain a resource or two that will help you achieve success. Thank you for taking the time to read, Wilbur Hawke

The numbers alone don’t tell the whole story, just the worst of it.But the organizer for a statewide suicide prevention conference held in Helena last week said the event increased people’s awareness of suicide and informed them of programs and training available to help reduce Montana’s suicide rate, which was third in the nation in 2010.“This is just one piece to help address the suicide rate in our state,” said Dr. Len Lantz, who organized the event and specializes in general psychiatry with a sub-specialization in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Here are the basics about Alex Blaszczuk: She lives in Manhattan. She's 26. She has a 20 pound cat. She's a third year law student at Columbia University. And about 18 months ago she broke her neck.

What exactly is happiness? The answer isn’t a simple cut and dry definition. I think of it as a state of mind. One that exists along a spectrum from feeling blue, to elated with neutral somewhere in the middle.  Most people move along the happiness spectrum from day to day, hour to hour or even moment to moment depending on the situation and circumstances. Special needs Mom’s tend to have overly full plates and the combination of exhaustion, challenging situations, and constant stress can leave our mood falling more toward the neutral or unhappy end of the spectrum.  However, that doesn’t mean we are stuck there.  There are several things we can do for ourselves to help us shift the balance and move closer to the happier side.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004 makes significant and controversial changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Two very significant changes in this law are provisions that (a) allow school districts to spend up to 15% of their IDEA Part B funds on early intervening services in general education settings and (b) prohibit states from requiring that school districts use discrepancy formulas to determine if students are eligible for special education services in the category of learning disabilities. Additionally, Congress recommended that school districts use a response to intervention procedure in both early intervening services and for the identification of students with learning disabilities. In this article we first describe two significant reports that recommended that Congress abandon the current eligibility system in special education for students with high-incidence disabilities. Second we explain how Congress and the U.S. Department of Education changed the special education eligibility system for learning disabilities in the IDEIA and the regulations that implemented the IDEIA. Third we review due process hearings and court cases that have addressed response to intervention. Fourth we offer recommendations to teachers, administrators, and teacher trainers to ensure that they meet the letter and spirit of these new requirements of the IDEIA.

The individual education program (IEP) is of critical importance to educators, parents, and students. Through the IEP process school-based teams (a) assess the educational needs of a student, (b) develop meaningful and measurable goals that direct the student’s program, (c) develop and implement a program of special education and related services, and (d) monitor the student’s progress toward his or her goals. Our purpose in this article is to review the legal requirements in developing, implementing, and evaluating the IEP; examine the research that has been conducted on IEPs; and discuss the implications of the law and research for school-based teams in developing IEPs.

Transportation is one of the most important services a school district is required to provide to students with disabilities under federal and state special education laws. The article will focus on the federal requirements regarding transportation and whether or not your school district is in compliance with those laws. Individual state laws are not discussed as the laws vary and are beyond the scope of this article.

As e-readers grow in popularity as convenient alternatives to traditional books, researchers at the Smithsonian have found that convenience may not be their only benefit. The team discovered that when e-readers are set up to display only a few words per line, some people with dyslexia can read more easily, quickly and with greater comprehension. Their findings are published in the Sept. 18 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.

I know what you’re thinking when you read the title of this podcast. You’re thinking what the **** — economists? What can economists possibly have to say about something as emotional, as nuanced, as humane, as parenting? Well, let me say this: because economists aren’t necessarily emotional (or, for that matter, all that nuanced or humane), maybe they’re exactly the people we need to sort this through. Maybe. You may remember that we wrote a bit about parenting in Freakonomics; now we’ve put together an entire roundtable of economists to talk about a great many elements of child-rearing, with one essential question in mind: how much do parents really matter, and in what dimensions? So you’ll hear about parents’ effect on everything from education and culture cramming to smoking and drinking.