Parent to Parent of Washington State Newsletter

January, 2012
A Program of the Arc of Washington State 

 

1-800-821-5927

 

"At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies."  
-Lawrence Bossidy, CEO
Honeywell International

 

Things to know about P2P programs:
 
* 17 Programs across the state with 39 trained parent Coordinators and Ethnic Outreach specialists
* 1 Program also at Seattle Children's
* 524 trained "volunteer" peer mentor parents, many who speak Spanish
* we assisted on more than 8,000 family member's calls and 6,000 professionals.
* we facilitated one to one matches for 485 families and have more than 15,000 families on our e-news/mailing lists as well as 4,000 professionals. 
* we had 245 information/education trainings and hosted many monthly support, social and recreational groups.
 
As you can see amazing work is being done across the state. Please let people know and come with me to Olympia on Wednesdays starting January 18th so legislators can hear your family stories directly. Visit The Arc of WA website for dates and times.
 
Onwards in 2012- 
Susan
 

P.S. Take a look at the new Arc/ Parent to Parent website and the stories on our YouTube channel. Please share and post on your Facebook pages.

 

Calendar of Events

 
NEW RESOURCES:

According to a study published in Pediatrics online, "Parents who report having an increased involvement in making decisions about their children's medical treatment are more likely to see lower risks of their kids going to the emergency room or being hospitalized..." Read more at a link to an article about this here.
 
The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a new rule to require federal contractors and subcontractors to set a hiring goal of having 7% of their workforces be people with disabilities, among other requirements. Read more about the new rule here.

 

Washington Sensory Disabilities Services (WSDS) has several trainings coming in 2012. Contact Nancy Hatfield at (425) 917-7827 for more information.

 

The WA Department of Health has been reorganized. The MCHB/Children With Special Health Care Needs Programs are now under the Office of Healthy Communities/Practice Improvement section. Contact Susan Ray, Family Involvement Coordinator at (360) 236-3504 for more information. 

 

According to data from the Office of the Education Ombudsman (OEO) about school districts in our state, the top complaint issues in 2010 were Special Education, suspensions & expulsions, student-to-student bullying/harassment
/intimidation, and parent involvement in schools. OEO worked most frequently with school districts in Seattle, Northshore, Edmonds, Renton, Lake Washington, Bellevue, Clover Park, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Yakima, & Spokane.

 

New at the WA DOH Health Education Resource Exchange (H.E.R.E.) online: Four separate "notebooks" on Adolescent Health Transition - "Going from Tween 2 Teen", "Your Life, Your Health, Your Way", "Young Adults Transition Plan: Your Future: Your Life", "Planning For a Healthy Transition: A Family Transition Plan"
  
Janice Fitzgerald, Director of Parent to Parent of New York State recommends TechSoup: "Techsoup.org Techsoup is an organization dedicated to helping nonprofits with their technology needs, including substantially discounted software.  You can get software for next to nothing!   All you need is to show your 501c3.  Check out their latest newsletter. I have heard that their refurbished computers are not worth it. As they do not last very long."

 

Advocacy Days (The Arc of Washington State) offer a chance for you to learn about the legislative process and help make a difference starting January 18th and ending March 7th. Click here for more information.

USA Today Opinion Article: "Cutting SSI Would Only Hurt Children"

  

DisabilityScoop.com: Article: "Census: 1 in 20 Kids Have a Disability.

January 2012

  

1/12 & 2/9: Free webinar on ASL/English Bilingual Bimodal Education, 7 - 8pm EST presented by Susanne Scott, cochlear implant bilingual specialist at the Clerc Center & Dr. Laurene Simms, professor of education at Gallaudet University. Click here to register.

  

1/18: 32nd Annual Legislative Reception - 5:30pm to 7:30pm in Olympia. People with disabilities and the organizations that represent them meet with Legislators to discuss issues critical to them. For reasonable accommodations and Interpreters contact Debbie Hines at (360) 486-5894. Contact David Maltman at 1-800-634-4473 with any other questions.
  
March 2012

  

3/6 - 3/7: Autism Works National Conference - St. Louis, MO. The only national conference focused on autism employment. Agendas, articles and registration on Facebook at Autism Works National Conference.

  

3/7 to 3/9: Special Education Conference: Improving Special Education & Related Services to Students of All Ages - A Professional Continuing Education Conference in Seattle. Click here for more info.
 
3/13 - 14: From Spectrum Training Systems, Inc. - Special Needs Workshop in Seattle "Critical Strategies for Education in Autism Spectrum Disorders". Click here for more info.

3/30: Family Support Conference - Spokane. Contact Helen Black, Spokane P2P at (509) 328-6326, ext. 220.

  

April 2012
 
4/4 - 5: From Spectrum Training Systems, Inc. - Special Needs Workshop in Seattle "Behavioral Interventions for Challenging Students". Click here for more info.
 
4/16 - 17: "Addressing the Behavior, Social, Sensory, and Self-Regulation Needs of Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders" workshop, a training opportunity through the Autism Outreach Project. Click here for more information.

 

May 2012

 

5-2 to 5/4: Infant and Early Childhood Conference.  Click here for more info.

Resource Links

Resource Links now on the Arc website in the Resource Library.
 
Click here to access the links.
 
Click here to find a local P2P Coordinator.
 
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Our Sponsors:
Arc of Washington State

 
Dept. of Health/CSHCN Program

  

Division of Developmental Disabilities

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"Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors."

 

-Louisa May Alcott

American writer

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