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September 2010 - AT Assessments: The Right Device Is the Best Device

According to Leonard Trujillo Ph.D., an occupational therapist and AT assessment expert who chairs the occupational therapy department at East Carolina University and heads the university’s graduate OT assistive technology certification program, the best assistive technology device for a child is the device that enables a child to achieve at least some degree of independence.

What: Montana Families Speak of Missoula is hosting a meeting for Parents of Children with Emotional or Behavioral Challenges. Please join us in creating a group for families and caregivers to share  information and resources Together our voices will be heard. When: Thursday, October 28 from 6:00–8:00pm Where: Christ the King 1400 Gerald Ave., Missoula (Side entrance on Keith Ave. Lower Level)        Dinner will be provided. On-site childcare provided by University of Montana School Psychology graduate students. If you have questions, please contact Marry Hall at 888-406-1914 or mary.hall@pluk.org

Thirty-one states, including Alaska, Colorado, South Dakota, Washington and Oregon, have laws requiring teens to stay in school till age 17 or 18. Montana is among the minority of states that allow students to legally drop out at 16.

Joanna Dumas is a graduate student at MSU and is asking for your participation in a survey titled “The Utilization and Satisfaction Rates of Community Services Available to Children with Disabilities as Reported by Parents in Bozeman, Montana.”  This is part of her thesis project.  The purpose of this survey is to gain a better understanding of the knowledge of community services available to children with disabilities and the satisfaction with those services and stress related to those experiences.  The final project may result in a resource guide for parents or a report to service providers to suggest ways in which their services may become more widely utilized. 

The survey can be found at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q95JXQ3 .  If you prefer a hard copy of the survey, please contact Joanna Dumas dumas@montana.edu or 994-4832.  The survey is open until Friday, December 10.

ASHLAND — About 20 students demonstrated Thursday at Southern Oregon University to protest an administrative decision to withdraw a student with Down syndrome.Eliza Schaaf, 20, a graduate of Ashland High School, was auditing a ceramics class as a way to share the college experience with her friends from high school, her parents said.

She already had completed two-thirds of the class when she received a letter Nov. 8 notifying her she would be withdrawn because she was not qualified to meet academic standards, even with accommodations, and disrupted instruction in the class. The letter also said the family would be given a full refund of tuition and fees.

Members of Schaaf's class and the university's Student Senate have formally opposed the administration's decision through petitions and a resolution.

In a school with profound academic failures and a graduation rate of only 44 percent, Raymond is one of Manual's best students. It's a success story many might consider unlikely because of Raymond's disability. He has autism.

When Reed was an undergraduate at Montana State University, he was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition known as retinitis pigmentosa. But it took a few years — and a number of frightening vehicle accidents — before he was able to accept that he was losing his eyesight. Since starting graduate school at Montana State University Billings, he has embraced the reality that he needs to learn how to travel through life without vision.

These scholarship opportunities are listed in chronological order, based on their application deadlines. The list includes scholarships that are specifically aimed at Latinos and students with disabilities. The scholarships listed here include scholarships for undergraduate and graduate studies. Most of them are available nationwide. If the deadline for a scholarship has already passed, but the scholarship is a good fit for you, follow the link to its website and get more information about it. These scholarships are awarded annually, and you may be able to apply for it next year.

Google Lime Scholarship for Students with Disabilities

Recipients of the Google Lime Scholarship will receive a scholarship for the 2010–2011 academic year. Selected students will also be invited to attend the all-expenses-paid retreat at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA, in 2011. Scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic background, leadership and passion for computer science - $10,000USD for those studying in the US and $5,000CAD for those studying in Canada (based on average tuition costs).

Candidates must be: A current junior or senior year of undergraduate study or enrolled in a graduate program at a university in the United States or Canada (in addition to US and Canada citizens, international students with disabilities studying at universities in the US or Canada are also encouraged to apply) Enrolled in a Computer Science or Computer Engineering program, or a closely related technical feld, as a full-time student for the 2010–2011 academic year A person with a disability (dened as someone who has, or considers themselves to have , a long-term, or recurring, issue that impacts one or more activities that others may consider a daily function); this denition also includes the perception among others that a disability exists

I used to envy my friends who had children with learning disabilities and Asperger Syndrome. I watched their sons and daughters move from special education classes to regular classes--some even landed in our school district's gifted and talented program. My understanding at the time was that since these kids were on the "graduation track", they would likely go to college, enter the work force and go on to live independently. I would later learn that academics alone are not enough.

After winning his fight to live on campus, Micah Fialka-Feldman moved into the Oakland University dorms in January. The Oakland Post talked to Micah about the first half of his semester  and what he expects after graduation.

As we enter the second half of the school year, many parents hear the clock ticking louder and louder as graduation nears. We hope you have been working closely with your child’s IEP team through high school to ensure that appropriate transition goals have been established and your child's progress toward these goals has been measured and documented.

The Obama administration's blueprint to overhaul the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) will support state and local efforts to help ensure that all students graduate prepared for college and a career. Following the lead of the nation's governors and state education leaders, the plan will ask states to ensure that their academic standards prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace, and to create accountability systems that recognize student growth and school progress toward meeting that goal. This will be a key priority in the reform of NCLB, which was signed into law in 2002 and is the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).

Tony Rodriguez, now 32, recently graduated from the world’s largest piano technology school in half the time it takes others. And if that weren’t in and of itself something spectacular, consider this: Tony Rodriguez has battled his whole life with autism.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan feels that the old standard, No Child Left Behind "was, frankly, broken." He explains, "it was far too punitive -- everybody was going to be labeled a failure, eventually." He hopes, with Race For The Top, to raise the bar, to "reward excellence in growth, how much schools are improving each year," and how much graduation rates increase.

In accordance with the requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),  the state must report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency located in the state on the targets in the State's Performance Plan. Because baseline data and/or performance targets have not been established for all of the performance indicators, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), has informed states that they are only required to report district performance for students with disabilities on indicators 1-5 and 8-12 this year. These performance indicators address the following: Graduation, Dropout, Assessment, Suspension/Expulsion, Least Restrictive Environment (ages 6-21), Parent Involvement, Disproportionality As A Result Of Inappropriate Identification, Child Find Timelines, and Early Childhood Transition (transition from Part C to Part B). The district's performance data is 2008-2009 data that was submitted by the district to the OPI as a part of its child count, exiting, student discipline collections and/or collected during a compliance monitoring record review. Performance data for performance indicator #8, Parent Involvement, is based on parent survey data. The Parent Involvement Survey was distributed to districts that were compliance monitored in school year 2008-2009. Districts were asked to provide a copy of the survey to all parents of IDEA-eligible students receiving special education and related services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The District Public Reports can be found on the OPI Web site at:  http://data.opi.mt.gov/SPEDReporting/ .

To learn more and to access the online survey, go to http://ehhs.kent.edu/link/ What: Steve Bagnato, John Neisworth, and Kristie Pretti-Frontczak are inviting those who work with young children from birth to age eight to participate in a consumer rating of early childhood assessment measures. Results will expand upon LINKing Authentic Assessment & Early Childhood Interventio, by Stephen Bagnato, John T. Neisworth, & Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, 2010. The survey takes about 10 minutes per assessment. The website will be open until March 18th.  Input is being sought from teachers, family members, paraprofessionals, administrators, related service providers, therapists, consultants, social workers, school psychologists, child care providers, nurses, or others who have familiarity with early childhood assessment measures to participate. For questions or concerns: Contact Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak at 330-672-0597 or kprettif@kent.edu. Information about Kent State University's rules for research can be obtained from Dr. John West, Vice President and Dean, Division of Research and Graduate Studies 330-672-2851.

This month, Dorfman, now 22, will graduate from St. Joseph's University. He's a film major, a former NBC intern, and a paid mentor at the school's Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support.

He's also part of the newest wave of diversity to reach college campuses. As a generation of young adults - the first to be diagnosed with Asperger's as children - comes of age, it is demolishing stereotypes about its condition and prompting universities to respond to its needs.

McKenzie Tavary is on a mission to prove to the world that people with disabilities are smart. Although she doesn’t speak, “Mokn,” which she calls herself, communicates by typing on a computer and once wrote, “God put me on this Earth to be an Angel to show people how smart I am and other people with disabilities.” The world may soon find out. Tavary, 19, has been working for the past year since graduating from Capital High School to learn life skills. This fall she is set to start college at University of Montana–Helena, where she’ll be the first nonverbal student with autism to attend the two-year school.