|
Town Hall Meeting with Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary Josh Sharfstein
On December 11, the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Coalition is hosting a Town Hall Meeting with DHMH Secretary Josh Sharfstein to hear how last year's unspent funds were addressed, and the actions DHMH is taking moving forward.
At 6:00pm there will be a "briefing" before the Town Hall. You must register to attend briefing. Email: RSVP@md-council.org
From 7:15 to 8:45pm there will an open Town Hall. Everyone is invited to attend the Town Hall with DHMH Secretary Josh Sharfstein. Attendees will be able to ask questions or state concerns to the Secretary. (Note: NO RSVP required for the Town Hall.)
The meeting will be held at:
The Meeting House
Oakland Mills Interfaith Center
5885 Robert Oliver Place
Columbia, Maryland 21045-3786
|
|
Maryland Youth Leadership Forum is Accepting Applications
The Youth Leadership Forum was initiated in 1992 by the California Governor's Committee on the Employment of Disabled Persons. This popular program spread across the country and is now conducted annually in more than 30 states. Maryland conducted it's first Youth Leadership Forum (MD-YLF) in August 2000.
The purposes of the Youth Leadership Forum are:
- provide an opportunity, unlike any currently existing in Maryland, for young people with disabilities to attend an intensive forum emphasizing leadership, independence & personal and career goal setting.
- encourage youth to pursue their academic and career goals by exposing them to successful role models, i.e., adults with disabilities who have a variety of achievements.
- give youth the knowledge of resources that can help enable them to develop and achieve their goals.
- teach youth with disabilities about the cultural history of their predecessors with disabilities, including the long struggle for Civil Rights, which resulted in legislation such as The Americans with Disabilities Act.
To learn more and complete and application visit
The application deadline is February 28, 2013.
|
|
15 Holiday Survival Tips from the National Center for Learning Disabilities
Have a second helping of stuffing, stay up past bedtime, shop 'til you drop and eat cookie dough right out of the bowl - it's the holiday season! For many of us, this is a time to focus on fun, friends, and family, flipping our schedules upside-down and filling our days with excitement. But for some children, including those with learning disabilities (LD), who depend upon daily routines and careful planning of activities, times of fun and excitement can dissolve into moments of anxiety and stress before the holiday decorations are even out of the box.
Sometimes we all think about throwing in the towel and just avoiding the things that make life harder. However, with careful planning and a little creativity, it can be "easy as pie" to help children with LD make the most of holiday traditions and cherished family events. Read the 15 Tips here.
|
|
|
PPMD: Free IEP & 504 Clinics & Trainings by Phone
Don't forget to take advantage of the assistance that Parents' Place of Maryland can give you. Register for our upcoming clinics and trainings by phone.
See the schedule below. Bring your questions, documents and good ideas to the Special Education Clinic where our Parent Educators can talk with you and be that "other set of eyes" to look over your child's records. You will have the opportunity to ask specific questions regarding your child's IEP or 504 plan. Registration is required. See instructions at the end of this article.
December 6, 2012 - 5pm-8pm
January 3, 2013 - 5pm-8pm
February 7, 2013 - 5pm-8pm
Training by phone dates:
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.
Advance Registration is Required for Clinics and Phone Trainings
To register email Rochelle Howell at rochelle@ppmd.org and provide your email and your phone number.
You will not be confirmed for your appointment until you receive a return email. For additional questions, contact Rochelle or call 410-768-9100 x104. Be sure to bring a copy of your child's IEP or 504 and a list of your questions for the IEP/504 Clinic.
|
|
Toys "R" Us Differently Abled Toy Guide Available
For nearly two decades, Toys "R" Us has published the annual Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids, an easy-to-use resource featuring specially selected toys that encourage play for children with physical, cognitive or developmental disabilities.
During the past several years, Toys"R"Us has worked with various personalities who have served as the "face" of the Guide. Among the many celebrities are Eva Longoria, Holly Robinson Peete, Whoopi Goldberg, Meredith Vieira, Maria Shriver, Marlee Matlin and John Ritter. This year's cover features mom, TV host and philanthropist Nancy O'Dell.
This complimentary, one-of-a-kind resource speaks to a child's individual needs and offers qualified toy recommendations based on research from the National Lekotek Center, a nonprofit organization that evaluates all of the toys featured in the Guide. En espanol tambien.
|
|
Help Test a New Family-Centered Care Assessment from Family Voices
We need your help with a very special project - testing the REVISED Family Voices Family-Centered Care Assessment for Families (FCCA) questionnaire. This questionnaire allows families to evaluate the quality of the family-centered care they receive from their health care providers. It's very important to be able to measure the quality of family-centered care in a particular situation in order to know how it could possibly be better.For this review process, we need at least 600 parents and caregivers from around the country to complete the questionnaire, which takes about 15 - 20 minutes. This will help us know which questions work best to measure family-centered care, and what adjustments may be needed. The result will be a shorter, more powerful questionnaire that can be used to measure how effectively family-centered care is being implemented in particular health care situations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Save These Dates!
December 3 -7, 2012
December 7, 2012
Linthicum Heights, MD
11:30am - 2:00pm
December 8, 2012
All Spanish Parent Conference
Silver Spring, MD
8:30-3:30pm
December 16, 2012
Free Sensory Play
2:00pm-4:00pm
Ellicott City, MD
January 16, 2013
Timonium, MD
9:00am - 3:00pm
February 13 - 16, 2013
San Antonio, TX
February 19, 2013
Developmental Disabilities Day in Annapolis
Check the PPMD online calendar for time, location, and registration information for these and many other training opportunities. www.calendarwiz.com/ppmd
|
|
MD Developmental Disabilities Council Releases LISS Report
The Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities (MCDD) received a grant from the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council (DD Council) to provide "An Assessment of DDA's Low Intensity Support Services" in Maryland. The intent of this work was to investigate some questions related to LISS through stakeholder input using a variety of methods. Due to time constraints for this project, the DD Council and MCDD agreed that the
overall assessment goal was to obtain information through a widely disseminated on-line survey;
through facilitated interviews to obtain representative samples of perspectives from limited but
critical groups of stakeholders (i.e., 2-3 people for each stakeholder group interviewed); and
through public forums targeting families and persons with developmental disabilities.
The DD Council has released the full LISS report.
|
Tube Feeding Guide Available
Danielle's Foundation has just released a new informational guide "Tube Feeding Your Child with Cerebral Palsy." This FREE guide contains information on making the decision to tube feed your child and offers a brief overview of the types of feeding tubes and ways to administer feedings. It also contains a listing of helpful resources. To request a copy, or inquire about the other resources Danielle's Foundation offers, call 1-800-511-2283! |
|
Possibilities: A Financial Resource for Parents of Children with Disabilities
This publication was created for parents of children under the age of 18 who have disabilities. It is a simple, straightforward resource to help you manage your money, and plan for your and your child's financial future and overall well-being. The financial management techniques presented here can help you, not just in times of crisis, but for the rest of your life.
There is an overwhelming amount of information available on caring for children with disabilities. Making your way through it all consumes too much of your precious time. That is why the Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER) Center and the National Endowment for Financial EducationŽ (NEFEŽ) collaborated on this publication. Through it you will find ways to create a sense of order in your life and maintain control over your finances as you care for your child and prepare him or her for adulthood.
|
|
 |
|
MD Department of Education Releases Special Education Publications Directory
In October, the MSDE Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services published a 10 page guide listing all of their publications and web resources. You can access the guide on the MSDE website.
|
|
