MI
Michigan Alliance PTI Now Offering Free Webinars
Join Michigan Alliance for Families
as they present a series of webinars focusing on
specific parts of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process.
For
more information or to register, click here.
NC
School Offers Special
Curriculum for Students
with Asperger's
The Asperger Connection School, reportedly the first school in the
country designed for students with Asperger's syndrome, opened in August
2011 in Pikeville, N.C. The school offers a computer-based approach to
learning with students working on laptops who are allowed to progress at
their own pace. The screen time is supplemented with three outdoor breaks
each day and weekly horseback-riding therapy to help develop students'
balance and gross-motor skills. A second location for the school is set to
open in Durham, N.C., on Jan. 9, and organizers say plans for a third
location are in the works.
Humble
and Hopeful
Welcoming First-Generation Poor and Working-class
Students to College
Students who are the first in their family to enter
higher education join a rarified and often mystifying culture of rules,
rites, and rituals. A first-generation working-class college student who
became a faculty member offers his insights and recommendations after forty
years in the academy.
When
An Adult Took Standardized Tests Forced on Kids
A longtime friend on the school board of one of the largest school
systems in America did something that few public servants are willing to do.
He took versions of his state's high-stakes standardized math and reading
tests for 10th graders, and said he'd make his scores public.
MI
Medicaid:
$7 Billion Hidden in Small Type
So much commentary on government focuses on headline issues, the ones
easily chewed and spun into bumper stickers and soundbites. Let us consider
something else, something that those who know the newspaper industry know
might be stuck in the agate columns. If one massed
about 220,000 people in Michigan into one spot, it would be a pretty
sizeable fondue of flesh. It would, in fact, qualify as the second largest
city in the state...
Autism
Speaks Guide Explains IEP Process
A new guide created by lawyers for the Autism Speaks advocacy group leads
parents through the process of obtaining individualized education programs
for their children. The guide, which reviews the legal rights of students
and parents, offers information useful for children with a range of
disabilities. (Source: Disability Scoop)
Supreme
Court Ruling, Rising Police Presence in Schools
Spur Miranda Questions
A few weeks before summer break, an eighth-grader in Fairfax County
was pulled from his civics class and led into an office. An assistant
principal told him that classmates had reported hearing him say he’d smoked
marijuana with five other boys — days earlier, after school hours, off
campus. A uniformed police officer joined the interview.
How
Apps, Touch Screens are Helping Children with Special Needs
Apps created for tablet devices by education-software companies,
parents and individual programmers are changing the way children with
disabilities communicate. The apps, available on Apple, Hewlett-Packard and
Google Android devices, are leading to communication breakthroughs, many
parents and educators say. One software designer developed a series of apps
that use intuitive pictures to assist children after watching his son with
developmental disabilities struggle with a speech-therapy device.
MI
Legislation on Autism Coverage Introduced
in MI Senate
(MIRS June 1, 2011)
Autism spectrum disorders would be covered by health insurance plans
in Michigan under legislation introduced on Wednesday by state Sen. Mike
GREEN (R-Mayville). Then-Rep. Brian CALLEY worked with then-House Minority
Floor Leader Kathy ANGERER (D-Dundee) during last year's lame duck session
to pass a similar bill. They were not successful in the
Republican-controlled Senate. "Autism disorders are more commonly diagnosed
in children than cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined," Green said. "One in
every 110 kids is diagnosed with autism, yet 80 percent of them don't get
adequate treatment because it's excluded from coverage." According to
research advanced by advocates, the early diagnosis and treatment of
autistic disorders results in 50 percent of patients recovering typical
functions, helping them to have full lives. Other states have demonstrated
that early intervention also reduces the need for K-12 special education
services, saving an estimated $200,000 per child.
iPhone
and iPad Apps for Special Education
Facebook
Rolls Out Anti-bullying Tools with White House Support
Facebook announced two new safety features Thursday in conjunction with a
White House summit on bullying. A new reporting
tool will let users, including teens and younger
users, to privately report troubling content not just to the site itself but
to parents, teachers and others in their support system.
And an improved Safety Center, due out in the next few weeks, will
provide educational videos, articles and other content created by bullying
experts to help adults address the problem.
One
Person is a Fruitcake, 50 People are a Powerful Organization!
Millions of children attend under performing schools. Millions of
parents struggle to get appropriate educational services for their children.
What can you do to help these parents and children? What can you do
to improve the lives and educational outcomes for children in your
community? To boost your creative thought
processes, we’ll tell you what others are doing…
Persuading
Kids to Put a Lid on the Potty Talk
Your child thinks toilet humor is hilarious, and nothing you've tried can
convince him otherwise. Here are some tips.
MI
Are the Students in Your Local High
School College-Ready?
At more than half of Michigan’s high schools, fewer than 10% of the
students who will graduate this spring were considered college-ready.
“College readiness” is defined as the percentage of students that meet the
following four minimum scores on the ACT: 18 on English, 22 on math, 21 on
reading and 24 on science.
Check your local high school here.
