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Pete Wright is Coming to Maryland!
 Pete Wright, Esq., will present a day-long Special Education Law and Advocacy Conference at the Civic Center in Silver Spring, MD on October 18, 2012. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from Pete.
Wrightslaw programs are designed to meet the needs of parents, educators, health care providers, advocates and attorneys who represent children with disabilities regarding special education. The program is not disability specific.
One-day special education law and advocacy programs focus on four areas:
- special education law, rights and responsibilities
- tests and measurements to measure progress & regression
- SMART IEPs
- introduction to tactics & strategies for effective advocacy
To view the day long agenda, get directions, and to register visit the Parents' Place of Maryland website. To find out more about Wrightslaw conferences visit www.wrightslaw.com
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Maryland Statewide Independent Living Council Needs Assessment Survey
The Maryland Statewide Independent Living Council (MSILC) is conducting a survey to collect information about disability related programs and services that provide opportunities for people with disabilities to live independently in their community. The information collected will assess how those programs and services are meeting the needs of people with disabilities living in Maryland. The results will provide MSILC with statistical and other information necessary to work with advocates and policy makers to create new programs as well as to revise and enhance those already in place.
Please take the time to complete the survey here. The survey closes on September 14, 2012.
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AWAARE Collaboration Offers Free and Low Cost Safety Materials and Supplies
The Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response and Education (AWAARE) Collaboration is a working group of six national non-profit autism organizations whose mission is to prevent autism-related wandering incidents and deaths.
The AWAARE Collaboration works to prevent wandering incidents and wandering-related deaths within the autism community through the use of collective organizational resources, and by establishing and monitoring objectives, guidelines, policies, and tools that will promote awareness, education, prevention and safety. The website offers brochures and guides for safety at home, school and the community.
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Parent Connections Fall Festival Throughout MD
Maryland Parent Connections is a new program for families of young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The free program works to support these families by offering resource referrals and connections to other families with experience raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing.
Fall Family Fun Festivals will include face painting, light refreshments, games, raffles and pumpkin decorating. Most important will be the opportunity to network and meet other families. The festivals will be held:
Eastern Shore
Saturday September 22, 2010
3:00pm - 5:00pm
Deaf Independent Living Association
Salisbury, MD
RSVP to Maria Meyers at meyers.connections@gmail.com
Baltimore County
Sunday October 7th 3:00 - 5:00pm
Meadowood Park
Lutherville, MD
RSVP to Maria Meyers at meyers.connections@gmail.com
Baltimore City
Wednesday October 24 6:30 - 8:00pm
YMCA
900 East 33rd Street
RSVP by October 21st to Michelle Smith 410-808-3833
To be connected to a Parent Mentor contact Cheri Dowling at 443-277-8899 or cad800@aol.com.
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Maryland Health Benefit Exchange Begins Enrollment in October 2013
Maryland is making great strides to build a new marketplace for individuals, families and small businesses to learn about their insurance options, compare different plans and enroll for health coverage. This new marketplace, Maryland Health Connection, is scheduled to open in October 2013. You can come back to this site to determine if you qualify for federal tax credits to help pay for your health insurance or if you or a member of your family is eligible for Medicaid or another program such as the Children's Health Insurance Program. Small businesses will utilize Maryland Health Connection to find plans that best meet the needs of employees and qualify for tax credits. Maryland Health Connection will be supported by a call center and in-person assistance will be available statewide by individuals known as "navigators."
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Communication Development: A Parent's Guide
Welcome to the online guide to communication development for parents. The purpose of this guide is to provide current information about topics related children's speech, language, and communication development that may be helpful to parents. In this guide, you'll find information on commonly asked questions.
This guide was developed by graduate students in the Communications Disorders Program at San Francisco State University in partnership with Support for Families of Children with Disabilities with funding from San Francisco State University's Institure for Civic and Community Engagement. The online guide is available in English, Spanish and Chinese.
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Parents' Place Offers Trainings by Phone
Parents' Place of Maryland will be offering a series of teleconference workshops. This is a great opportunity for families who find it difficult to attend meetings in person.
The first will be on October 11, 2012 from 7:00pm - 8:00pm. "Is My Child's IEP Complete?" This workshop will go through each component of an IEP and use a check list to assist parents in ensuring that their child's IEP is ready for the school year. Registration is open statewide. Materials and call-in number will be provided prior to the workshop.
December 13, 2012 - "How Will I Know If My Child Is Making Progress?" - This workshop helps parents answer that question as they learn how to gather information from special education and general education sources.
February 21, 2013 - "School Discipline and Positive Behavior Intervention"- This workshop will cover school disciplinary practices and trends, Functional Behavior Assessments, and Positive Behavioral Interventions.
March 7, 2013 - "Help! My Child is Being Bullied" - Learn how to recognize bullying, effectively respond and build positive solutions.
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Save These Dates!
September 21, 2012
Allegany College, MD
September 24, 2012
Columbia, MD
4:00pm - 8:00pm
October 5-6, 2012
Howard County, MD
October 9 -11, 2012
Ocean City, MD
October 18, 2012
Silver Spring, MD
9:00am-4:30pm
October 24, 2012
Linthicum Heights, MD
8:00am-4:00pm
October 25-26, 2012
Baltimore, MD
October 27, 2012
8:30am - 3:30pm
November 17, 2012
Bowie, MD
8:00am - 4:00pm
Check the PPMD online calendar for time, location, and registration information for these and many other training opportunities. www.calendarwiz.com/ppmd |
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Mortgage Loan Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities and Their Families
The Homeownership for Individuals with Disabilities Program provides low-interest mortgage loans to eligible disabled homebuyers.
One of the borrowers OR a son or daughter (regardless of age; who resides with one of the borrowers and is cared for principally by one of the borrowers) of one of the borrowers must have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities (for example, hearing, seeing, speaking, sitting, standing, walking, concentrating, or performing manual tasks).
For more information visit the Department of Housing and Community Development. |
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U. S. Census Releases Americans with Disabilities 2010
The Census Bureau has released a new report looking at demographic data of people with disabilities in the US in 2020. The report finds that 56 million people had some kind of disability in 2010, and provides data breakdowns on disability types, prevalence rates, and employment rates. The full report is availableonline. |
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MCPS to Expand Services to Students with Autism
Montgomery County schools will expand autism services this fall, bringing new resources to high school students as the school system works to increase the range of programs available to an exceedingly diverse and fast-growing part of the special-education population.
The number of students diagnosed with autism in the county has risen dramatically in the past decade, from about 400 in the 2001-02 school year to just more than 1,900 by June 2012.
Read the entire Washington Post article.
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Family Voices Welcomes New Executive Director
Family Voices is pleased to announce Lynn Pedraza, Ph.D. of Albuquerque as the organization's new Executive Director, beginning the week of August 20. As Lynn joins the staff, the Family Voices Board would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Sophie Arao-Nguyen for her dedicated work with Family Voices over the last five and a half years, including as interim Executive Director from July 1 to the present following her notice of resignation.
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