Your opportunity to comment on how things are working for you in the IEP process. Beginning in April 2011, the Survey will be available to  parents of children aged 3 through 21 who are receiving special education services through their local school system for the current school year.   

Parents will have the option of completing the paper Survey they receive or completing the Survey on the Internet. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has conducted this same Survey previously. Parents can respond for the remainder of the school year, but please do so early!  To learn more or receive a link to the online survey, parents can also email ICF Macro at:

IEP-ParentSurvey@mmail.macrointernational.com

National Parks: Accessible to Everyone has information about trails, campgrounds, ranger programs and other opportunities for visitors with disabilities.

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

The Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities will be holding community forums to hear from the public about services for people with developmental disabilities.  People with disabilities, family members and friends, advocates, providers, and professionals are encouraged to attend.

The forums will be held:

Eastern Shore:      June 1st and 2nd

Western MD:         June 8th and June 9th

Central MD:          June 20th and June 21st

Southern MD:        June 28th and June 29th

For more information including times and location contact Aisha Mason at 443-923-9555 or masona@kennedykrieger.org