Liz Ditz http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/ http://lizditz.typepad.com/academic_remediation/ I know we said a break, but… Today, Gary Brannigan PhD and Howard Margolis PhD (the authors of a great book, Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds) published a blog post Stonewalling the IEP. While Brannigan and Margolis are writing about specifically reading issues, their advice can be generalized to all kinds of issues. The blog post is particularly about “Present Levels of Performance” and how many IEP teams skimp this section. Brannigan and Margolis suggest there are four reasons: The school members of the IEP Team don’t know how to develop a Present Levels section that’s complete, meaningful, and functional. The district’s evaluations failed to supplement norm-referenced data from standardized tests with instructionally-relevant functional information. School members of your child’s IEP Team have overwhelming caseloads. (Rarely): To wear parents out and send a message to other parents: “Be satisfied with what we give you.” Brannigan and…
Tag: PTA
Jennifer Byde Myers and Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.SEPTAR.org Community is critical for parents of children with special needs. Community gives us emotional support and provides information about our kids’ therapeutic, medical, and educational choices. Our communities have the experience and knowledge to weigh in on our decisions; its members empathize and help us keep going when times are hard, and they rejoice with us in our children’s accomplishments. It’s not always easy to connect with parents like us. These kids we love so much are vulnerable, they need us – and the demands of our extra-intense parenting can leave us feeling drained and isolated. But if you can muster a burst of energy and round up a few like-minded individuals, then you can create your own community: by forming a Special Education Parent Teacher Association, or SEPTA. That is what we did when we helped found SEPTAR, the Special…