Evanston Citizens for Appropriate Special Education (CASE) is a community advocacy organization working to improve the range, quality and accessibility of special education services in Evanston/Skokie District 65 and ETHS District 202.

We provide information and support for parents of children with special needs through Parent Connections meetings and our CASEline number.
We are commited to advancing disability awareness in the Evanston community.

Hello Evanston CASE members,

Back to School?!  Don't think about it quite yet.  Enjoy these beautiful August days while they last.

EBSA Buddy Baseball is continuing this month.  The program is building momentum and new kids are encouraged to join.

Does your child become anxious about returning to school?  Is anxiety a problem for them while in school?  Could anxiety be the trigger for behavior problems?  Read the article by Jessica Minahan entitled, "Anxiety: The Hidden Disability that Effects One in Eight Children."

You will be receiving an email survey regarding our services in the next couple of days.  Please take a few moments to complete it.  We want to improve attendance at Parent Connections meetings, and we want to advocate for what is most important to you.  Your feedback is very important to us.

Also, it came to my attention that the "donate" button was broken on the July newsletter. If you haven't had a chance to support us to cover our 2012-13 operating expenses, we would really appreciate it.

Save the Date: The next D65 School Board meeting will be held on Monday, August 20th at 7 pm.

Warm regards,

Cari Levin, LCSW

Founding Director

Evanston CASE

Evanston Buddy BasebALL

(Image copied from EBSA website)

EBSA reports, "It has been an amazing first few weeks for Evanston Buddy BasebALL. The program is gaining so much momentum and support, we plan to play every Sunday into August! Kids with special needs will be paired with a different volunteer travel team from EBSA each week. The EBSA Travel teams join in the fun as teammates, base coaches, umpires and supportive fans."

"Additional players with special needs are welcome and encouraged to attend game four, Sunday, August 5th at 3pm on James Park Field 3."

For more information, contact Mike Hamann (hamann@ameritech.net).

"We hope to see all of you there to cheer the players on!

Please help spread the word, the more people that hear about it the better. Thank you to all the players, coaches, and especially the Sorensen family, who have pitched in to make this program a success. We could not do it without you!"

"Buddy BasebALL is a nationwide program with a simple goal: to bring youth baseball to ALL players. In just one game it was easy to see that Buddy BaseBALL is far more than just a sporting event. Each game provides a meaningful experience that resonates with all participants. Buddy BasebALL helps promote teamwork and self-esteem, and most of all it's fun for players and buddies alike!"

Ms.Jessica Minahan, M.Ed, BCBA wrote an article entitled, "Anxiety: The Hidden Disability that Effects One in Eight Children", is an informative look at the way some children exhibit anxiety, and how it impacts them at school. 

She writes, "Anxiety impacts a student's working memory, making it difficult to learn and retain information. The anxious student works and thinks less efficiently, which significantly affects the student's learning capability."   To read the entire article, click here

In the next couple of days you will receive our email survey.  We would appreciate your feedback in order to help us improve our services and advocacy efforts.  We are especially interested in your thoughts about our Parent Connections program.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 We need your support to keep making a difference

In order for us to continue our work, we need some financial support.  If every CASE member contributes at least $10, it would cover a year's worth of our services to the Evanston community.

Our overhead costs are minimal.  They include phone bills, website hosting, Constant Contact for newsletter creation and distribution, printing costs for materials like flyers, brochures and minimal advertising.  Our Parent Connections program costs us approximately $90 a month to offer for free to parents.

We are currently working on a Disability Awareness program that we hope to offer to all the schools this coming year.  To bring this to fruition requires time and money.

CASE is an all volunteer organization.  Our advocacy work and programs are only limited by our available time and financial constraints.  If you are interested in volunteering, you would be most welcome.  Just email us at mail@evanstoncase.org.

If you value what CASE does for families of children with disabilities, please support us with a $10 contribution.  You can donate by clicking the button on this newsletter, or by visiting our website at www.evanstoncase.org.

Thank you.