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Special Education LEADers Training Starts in February
Historically the perspective of family members has played a powerful role in creating change in the way children and youth with disabilities receive educational services. The LEADers Program provides parents with the information they need to be informed and active in special education advocacy at the state and local levels. This program offers parents the tools they need
to be an active voice for not only their own child, but also for other children with disabilities in their communities.
Participants will:
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Gain knowledge and understanding about special education law
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Increase communication and advocacy skills
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Enhance leadership skills
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Expand their network of colleagues with a similar focus
Topics covered during the training include:
Who Should Apply?
Applicants must be family members of children with disabilities who want to develop a better understanding of special education advocacy and make a difference in the lives of children with disabilities. Priority for this training will be given to applicants from Frederick, Carroll, Washington, Allegany, Garrett and Montgomery Counties.
Requirements:
The program requires full participation in all sessions. You must attend five all-day meetings. If you miss a training session, you are expected to make arrangements with the training coordinator to make up the work and information missed. Missing two sessions will cause the training team to reconsider your continued participation in the program. Participants are required to provide 20 volunteer hours within 9 months of finishing the course. You are committing to promote change using your newly
learned skills after the completion of the project. Follow-up sessions will be offered after the program ends.
Dates:
February 8, 2014
March 1, 2014
March 22, 2014
April 12, 2014
May 17, 2014
Time:
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Location:
Maryland School for the Deaf, Frederick Campus 101 Clarke Place, Frederick Md. 21705
Applications due January 15, 2014!
Apply online
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Taxes and Families of Children with Special Health Care Needs
Families of children with special health care needs are eligible to deduct many of their medical expenses. Some of these, like medications and doctor fees are apparent. Other expenses like parking and mileage for doctor visits, special diets supervised by a physician, and some exercise programs may also be deductible.
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New Videos for Transitioning Youth
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Becoming an Adult: Taking Responsibility for Your Medical Care
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Well before they reach the age of 21, families and caregivers must help emerging adults with special needs build skills in health literacy, self-management and self-advocacy - in short, the skills required to manage their own conditions and lives. As the videos demonstrate, all young people, regardless of diagnosis, need to be as involved as possible in their transition plans, which are often complicated by the need for multiple providers and changes in service systems.
To help patients, families and caregivers understand the many important issues they face prior to and during this period of transition, Nemours has developed a series of videos now available on YouTube. The videos, made possible by a grant from NYMAC (New York/Mid-Atlantic Consortium for Genetics and Newborn Screening Services), cover four main areas: legal/financial, residential, vocational, and medical self-management. Find out more about these videos by visiting the Nemours website.
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Affordable Care Act and Dental Services For Children
Pediatric dental coverage is an ACA Essential Health Benefit that must be offered to families buying health insurance in the new state- and federally-facilitated marketplaces ("exchanges") in the individual and small-group insurance markets. Depending on the state, pediatric dental benefits may be offered in up to three ways:
- Through a qualified health plan (QHP) that includes dental coverage (embedded)
- Through a stand-alone dental plan purchased in conjunction with a QHP
- Through a contracted/bundled plan (one premium for separate medical and dental policies)[i]
A recent article in the Cecil Daily discussed some of the concerns advocates have about how the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange website is not providing enough information about how to choose a dental plan. Customer assistance is available through the Maryland Health Connection website and by phone 1-855-642-8572. It is important to know what benefits are available for children, many of which do not require co-pays.
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Federal Department of Education Calls on Schools to Address Discipline Disparities
The Obama administration is issuing new guidance to schools in an effort to reduce the number of minorities and kids with disabilities who needlessly wind up in the hands of law enforcement.
Students with disabilities and those from minority groups are disproportionately suspended or expelled, often for petty violations of school rules, federal officials say. The new guidance developed by the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice is designed to ensure that discipline policies are fair, effective and do not violate students' civil rights. The complete Disabilityscoop article is available here.
Documents available on the Department of Education website:
Dear Colleague Letter
Directory of Resources
State Laws and Regulations
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Upcoming Events
January 13, 2014
Get the Scoop on Social Security Benefits
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Baltimore, MD
January 15, 2014 7:00pm - 8:30pm Silver Spring, MD
January 21, 2014 6:30pm - 8:00pm Largo, MD
January 25, 2014 Sandy Point State Park
February 5, 2014 8:45am - 1:00pm Annapolis, MD
February 18, 2014 8:30am - 1:00pm Annapolis, MD |
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Workshops
There are a lot of new workshops and training events on our calendar! Be sure to 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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Friends: Connecting People with Disabilities and Community Members
This free manual provides concrete, "how-to" strategies for supporting relationships between people with disabilities and other community members. It describes why such friendships are important to people with disabilities and why it is important to promote community belonging and membership. The manual includes specific activities to guide users in creating a plan for connecting people. This manual is designed for agency staff, but can also be used by parents, support coordinators, teachers, staff, and people with disabilities to support community relationships. Additional Activity Worksheets are available. The manual can be downloaded from the University of Minnesota website.
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Free Webinar: Affordable Care Act and Children with Vision and Eye Health Needs
The Catalyst Center: Improving Financing of Care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs, and the National Center for Children's Vision and Eye Health invite you to participate in this webinar: the Affordable Care Act and Children with Vision and Eye Health Needs.
Tuesday, January 14
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET
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University of Maryland Research Study Looking for Volunteers
Faculty in the departments of Hearing & Speech Sciences and Psychology at the University of Maryland are conducting a research study on children with autism. We are looking to investigate the effect of background noise on speech perception in children with autism (2-5 years of age). Our studies take place in a comfortable, home-like setting in which we observe how your child responds to auditory and visual stimuli. For example, your child may be shown images on a video monitor and be played sounds of people talking, and we will record how long he or she pays attention to these different images. For more information, please call Tess Wood at the Infant Studies Lab, at 301-405-4233, or email AutismStudy@umd.edu
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Project Access High School Transition Program
The purpose of Project Access is to improve the delivery and outcomes of postsecondary education for individuals with disabilities. Project Access is designed to significantly facilitate the transition of high school students with disabilities into postsecondary education, to increase the success rate and retention of freshman students with disabilities at Howard Community College, and to improve career counseling and job placement services for students with disabilities.
Project Access will hold a parent student information meeting on Saturday January 25th from 1:00pm - 3:00pm. You can find out more by visiting their website here.
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