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MPACT ENews
June 30, 2012 |
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Greetings!
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Did you miss an issue of the MPACT ENews? Delete it by mistake? Wish you could find a past article? Well you can! To view current and past issues of the MPACT ENews visit our website at http://ptimpact.org/News.aspx |
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Online Trainings offered through MPACT
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MPACT has just added another online training to our resources, Extended School Year is now available along with:
- Special Education: What I Need to Know
- IDEA Transition Requirements
- Transition to Post Secondary Experiences (Part 1 & 2)
- Connecting Goals to Coordinated Activities and Services for Transition
- Transition Resources - Disability Disclosure
- Soft Skills
You can access them by going to our Training page and clicking on Online Training, or CLICK HERE .
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MPACT Parent Mentor Program
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MPACT Parent Mentors are available to offer support and guidance to parents of children with disabilities throughout the IEP process. Parent Mentors are volunteers who receive 24 hours of initial training, ongoing monthly training, and technical assistance from MPACT staff with regard to special education law, the IEP process, conflict resolution, and effective communication. Their goal is to help parents build a collaborative partnership with the school district so their child may receive an appropriate education. To view the list of current MPACT Parent Mentors, go to http://ptimpact.org/Volunteer/MentorList.aspx.
If your school district has had a MPACT Parent Mentor in attendance at an IEP meeting, please take a moment to complete a brief online survey located at http://ptimpact.org/Surveys.aspx if you have not already done so. A separate survey should be completed for each mentor who has provided services to parents in your district. These surveys assist MPACT and DESE with identifying and addressing areas of success and improvement with the Parent Mentor Program.
For more information about MPACT or if you have questions regarding the status of a Parent Mentor, please contact MPACT by telephone at (800) 743-7634 or by e-mail at info@ptimpact.org. You can also view the MPACT website at http://www.ptimpact.org.
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Check out What's New!
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Save the Date! 4th Annual MPACT Transition Summit
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October 9, 2012 at the Truman Office Building in Jefferson City, MO.
Registration will begin at 9am, Session and Keynote Speaker 10am-4pm. Lunch will be provided.
The Summit is a one-day learning experience designed for students who have disabilities, special education transition personnel and student teams, family members, case managers, VR counselors, and Centers for Independent Living personnel. Summit sessions are focused on the preparation of youth for transition to post-secondary education, employment, independent living and community experiences.
Cost:
- School teams of educator and student (each educator must be accompanied by at least one student) - FREE
- Family member with student - FREE
- Family member without student - $25.00 (limited to first 50 registered
- Professional only - $50.00 (limited to first 50 registered)
- Exhibitors - $75.00 (display table, lunch on your own or available for additional $10.00)
- Sponsorship: $125.00 (includes logo on t-shirt given to students, display table, and lunch)
- Organization logo on t-shirt: $75.00
Sessions presented will cover: Career soft skills development, self-determination, youth leadership, planning for college, as well as information about VR and CIL services, understanding ADA, Social Security and more...
Detailed agenda and registration information will be posted to our website soon.
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Health-Care Ruling Affects Students, Adults With Disabilities | |
In particular for families of children with disabilities, Thursday's Supreme Court ruling upholding most of the Affordable Care Act may come as a huge relief.
Other government health insurance programs, including Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, have filled some of the gaps in health insurance coverage for people with disabilities before the health care law, but they didn't go far enough.
Dr. Paul Lipkin, who works with children who have developmental disorders, and has also worked closely with children with cerebral palsy and premature infants, said these families may be especially grateful for some of the law's provisions.
For one thing, the law removes lifetime limits on coverage that many insurance companies now pose.
"For a person with chronic health issues, lifetime caps have always been something that have been feared," Lipkin said. A child with cerebral palsy may have run up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses by the time they are an adult.
For some people, the caps could be worked around by switching insurers, but for children with disabilities and their families, that wasn't much of an option: The disability was considered a preexisting condition and grounds for a company to deny coverage.
"These families will have continuous coverage and not have to worry about being left out," he said.
And the provision that children can stay on their parents health insurance coverage through age 26 is especially important for children with disabilities, he said. Children with disabilities may make their way more slowly from high school to a career, and some of their employment options may not include health insurance coverage.
"This provides a greater buffer and more time to get their health care figured out," he said.
There was one setback in the ruling, as Disability Scoop reports. The justices ruled against a provision requiring states to expand Medicaid to include people earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or the states would lose federal funds. The court struck down that requirement.
If the ruling leads states to decide against expanding Medicaid, many people with disabilities could be shortchanged if they earn too much, said Marty Ford, director of public policy at The Arc, told Disability Scoop.
You'll find other information about the healthcare law and how it will impact people with disabilities here.
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Wrightslaw: The Power of Getting Organized | |
Creating a Document Management System
Use Wrightslaw's parent-tested system for tracking your child's educational history and quickly locating any document in your child's file.
Learn how to Organize Your Child's Special Education File.
Advocacy Supplies You Will Need
You will organize and file all information about your child in three-ring notebooks.
Time to gather your supplies. Use the Advocacy 101: Supply Listto make sure you have everything you need to get started.
Gather Information about your Child
Make a list of all individuals and agencies that may have information or records about your child.
Start your provider list today. Or, update a previous list.
This page has a link to download the format for a Master Provider List.
What Documents are Keepers?
Even the oldest documents in your child's history can sometimes help you make a case. Get the guidelines for understanding the importance of different documents and how to organize them sensibly. The Paper Chase: Managing Your Child's Documents by Robert K. Crabtree, Esq.
Summer School Session 1: Homework Checklist
1. Learn how to create a Document Management System.
2. Get a 3-ring binder and all other supplies you will need.
3. Begin (or update) your Master Provider List.
4. Learn the guidelines for keeping important documents.
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Executive Function: Skills for Life and Learning | |
Executive functioning skills help us to focus on multiple streams of information at the same time and revise plans as necessary. Acquiring the early building blocks of these skills is an important and challenging task in early childhood. A new 5-minute video, Executive Function: Skills for Life and Learning(2012), looks at how these skills develop, what can disrupt their development, and how supporting them pays off in school and life.The video provides an overview of Building the Brain's "Air Traffic Control" System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function(2011), the joint Working Paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs. |
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Fact Sheet on Schedule A for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities | |
FindYouthInfo.gov Offers Fact Sheet on Schedule A for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities
The Schedule A hiring authority is one of the paths that can greatly benefit youth and young adults with disabilities who have an interest in a career with the Federal government. It can also be a fast track way for Federal agencies to bring in talented individuals with disabilities. This fact sheet provides tips on understanding and utilizing Schedule A.
View the fact sheet |
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GAO Report on Charter Schools & Students with Disabilities | |
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Charter Schools: Additional Federal Attention Needed to Help Protect Access for Students with Disabilities, was released June 20, 2012. While the number of charter schools is growing rapidly, questions have been raised about whether charter schools are appropriately serving students with disabilities. GAO analyzed federal data on the number and characteristics of students with disabilities; visited charter schools and school districts in three states; and interviewed representatives of federal, state, and other agencies that oversee charter schools to create this report. GAO recommends that the Secretary of Education take measures to help charter schools recognize practices that may affect enrollment of students with disabilities by updating existing guidanceand conducting additional fact finding and research. |
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Free MPACT Trainings |
MPACT trainings are provided free of charge to parents of children with disabilities. To sign up for an upcoming training, follow the links below, then click on the 'SIGNUP' button located next to the training name. Fill in your name, email address, phone number, the name ofthe training you wish to attend and the date it is being offered.
While registering for a training is not mandatory it does ensure that the trainer has an adequate amount of handouts. This also allows MPACT to contact you should a training need to be cancelled or rescheduled. To view a comprehensive list of all trainings provided by MPACT go to http://ptimpact.org/Training/Training.aspx.
Please be sure to double check the website training pages for any updates or changes to trainings offered.
Understanding the IEP Process for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
08/03/12 Joplin
Special Education Law
Parents Facilitate, Youth Take Action
Disagreement Resolution
The Art of Effective Advocacy
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Question? Comments? Suggestions? Send them to info@ptimpact.org or
contact the MPACT State Office at 1-800-743-7634. |
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