There’s a vast difference between goals and outcomes: a goal (whether it’s a written goal in a “program” or an unwritten goal of therapy, an activity, or service) is something we hope will occur, and an outcome is what really does occur. And while no one has an infallible crystal ball, it seems we can be more thoughtful and question, wonder, and/or do whatever it takes to anticipate outcomes before going too far down a path. And, as an old Turkish proverb advises, “No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back.”

Special education used to be a place—sometimes a separate school, more often a classroom down the hall where students labeled as such disappeared for hours at a time, out of sight and out of mind for the typical classroom teacher. That’s still sometimes the case, but increasingly, special education is front and center in the regular education classroom, and the population of students with individualized education plans has shifted away from those considered learning disabled.

Fewer students have been diagnosed with learning disabilities, but more students are being diagnosed with autism. “You’re not sending a child somewhere when you provide special ed. You’re providing them a service,” says Mary Watson, director of the Exceptional Child Division in the North Carolina Department of Education. “Special education is not a place; special education is individualized instruction with supports and services.”

Click here to register for this webinar What: Outdoor play activities designed for children with and without disabilities can help all children experience and value play together. Explore how to foster friendships, break down barriers, promote disability awareness, while supporting character education initiatives utilizing outdoor play environments in new and fun ways! Participants will receive the 2Play Together program, developed in partnership with Lekotek and PlayCore. When: September 28, 2011 1:00pm - 2:00pm Mountain

Reece Barnes meets with his speech therapist every week. He walks down the hallway at his rural Burney, Calif., school and chats with her one-on-one, even though she is four hours away in another part of the state.

DENVER - Chase was just 18 months old when he started speaking his first words and sentences to a stunned mom and dad.

"It started with him just loving books, picking up books and playing with them," Brett Perry, Chase's father, said. "Then he went into this fascination with numbers and letters." Before they knew it, Chase was doing more than just looking at the letters. He was reading full words out loud, and then full sentences out loud. Mind you he wasn't even 2 years old.

Mooney, who has written two books about the world of so-called “special education” students, told the audience of more than 100 parents, students and educators who had gathered at the Cowlitz PUD building in Longview that the education system broke him down. He simply couldn’t fit in. And before long he was convinced he was “stupid, crazy and lazy.”

Project Lifesaver helps to locate adults and children who wander off due to autism, Alzheimer’s, Down syndrome, stroke, dementia and other related short-term memory issues, thereby reducing their risk for serious injury and death when they are alone.

New York, NY — Eleigha Love, who describes her brain as a computer, and Jared Schmidt, a teenage sky diver, are the recipients of this year's $10,000 Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Scholarships given to two graduating high school seniors with documented learning disabilities (LD) who are pursuing undergraduate degrees. Anne Ford, Chairman Emerita of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), is a well-known philanthropist and author, who has been a long-time parent advocate for children with learning disabilities, starting with her own daughter, Allegra. The scholarship was created in 2001 by the NCLD board when Ms. Ford stepped down as chairman in honor of her service. In 2008, Allegra agreed to match the existing award, creating a second scholarship. Anne Ford and Today Show Host Al Roker presented the scholarships at this year's NCLD 34th Annual Benefit Dinner, emceed by Paula Zahn in New York City. Jared and Eleigha are two of more than 2.5 million students who are wrestling with learning disabilities. They are among the mere 64 percent of students with LD who graduate high school, and only 10 percent with LD that go on to a four-year college. "We received over 300 applications, and let me tell you everyone of them came from students deserving a scholarship," said Anne, handing out the awards to this year’s winners. “We hear so much about the challenges and struggles of students with LD, and it is so inspiring to see that so many are able to meet and surpass those challenges." "Our goal is to see every child with LD graduate from high school," said James Wendorf, Executive Director of NCLD. "We are still failing about 1 million children. We've seen graduation rates and classroom inclusion rise more than 15 percent over the past 10 years. But we need to continue to empower parents and teachers, reduce stigma among kids, and keep education funding on the top of the education agenda if we are going to see those numbers increase, not decrease." One of the biggest problems with learning disabilities is diagnosing them in time, before children get frustrated with the system. "To a child with learning disabilities, school can be a very isolating place, it can be a very frustrating place and frankly overwhelming," relayed CNN's Anderson Cooper at a recent NCLD lunch. "Too many kids with LD struggle to try and keep up with their peers and suffer from low confidence and self-esteem and lose their love of learning at a young age. It's hard to rekindle that once it's gone, which is why the work of this organization is so important."

Pharmacy Consults for Montana Residents

This part of SB324 is for all Montana citizens that will benefit from a no cost in depth consultation with licensed and credentialed participating pharmacists.  The MT PharmAssist program is open to all Montana citizens, regardless of age or income. The State of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services has partnered with the University of Montana Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Mountain-Pacific Quality Health to create this program whereby citizens can sit down with a  participating pharmacist to review and discuss their total pharmaceutical regimen.

A top official at a state facility that caters to people with developmental disabilities and behavioral problems has stepped down following a letter by an advocacy group that contends the facility has a pattern of abuse, neglect and mismanagement. Montana Developmental Center Superintendent Kathy Zeeck on Friday asked to be reassigned following the letter by Helena-based Disability Rights Montana.

Please take part in the IDEA National Survey, a survey of whether the rights of students with disabilities and their parents are protected.  The IDEA National Survey Project is sponsored by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), Autism Society of America (ASA), Autism National Committee (AutCom), and The Advocacy Institute (AI). The survey is at http://www.ideasurvey.org The survey looks at whether parents are treated as equal partners in their children’s education. Topics include whether the rights of students with disabilities and their parents protected throughout the special education process, including IEP meetings and IEP issues, eligibility (Child Find), Due Process hearings (impartial hearings), and other education issues.  All members of the community are welcome: parents; attorneys, advocates, other professionals; and self-advocates (people with disabilities).  We also welcome all disabilities, not just those our organizations focus on.  You can take the survey and read more about it at http://www.ideasurvey.org The survey will run March-May 2011.  The results will be compiled into a report about experiences under the IDEA that will be published this summer.   For more information, contact Jessica Butler, Coordinator, IDEA National Survey Project, at jessica@jnba.net

Navigating College is an introduction to the college experience from those of us who’ve been there. The writers and contributors are Autistic adults, and we’re giving you the advice that we wish someone could have given us when we headed off to college. We wish we could sit down and have a chat with each of you, to share our experiences and answer your questions. But since we can’t teleport, and some of us have trouble meeting new people, this book is the next best thing.

A technology originally developed to locate stolen vehicles will now help Flathead County law enforcement agencies locate missing Alzheimer’s and dementia patients as well as children with autism and Down syndrome. In a press conference Friday at the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Search and Rescue Coordinator Brian Heino unveiled the local introduction of Project Lifesaver. The project, established in 1999 by the 43rd Search and Rescue Company of the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office, uses radio transmitter bracelets manufactured by LoJack to locate those at-risk individuals who have wandered off from families or caregivers.