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 Josie Thomas Receives McPherson Award
Congratulations to our executive director Josie Thomas on receiving the 2014 Merle McPherson Award for exemplary contributions to further family and professional collaboration within state Title V Programs and the Association of Maternal and Child Health Care Programs (AMCHP).
Presented for the first time in 2008, this award is developed to honor Dr. Merle McPherson. Dr. McPherson retired from MCHB in January 2007. She has left a legacy of leadership and vision for how to create a new model of family-centered health care delivery for children and youth with special health care needs.
Josie has been Executive Director of The Parents' Place of Maryland since 1997. The five years prior to that she served as Director of Family Issues at the Institute for Family Centered Care. Josie has co-written numerous publications focused on families of children with disabilities and special health care need serving as advisors to committees and policymakers.
The Family and Youth Leadership Committee and AMCHP Board recognized Josie's service to the maternal and child healh care field and her tireless efforts on behalf of families. Congratulations Josie!
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Let Your Voice Be Heard!
WE NEED YOUR INPUT! The Parents' Place of Maryland and Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) Office for Genetics and People with Special Health Care Needs (OGPSHCN) are conducting a survey to find out about your child's health care needs. We want to ensure that parents/caregivers of children with special needs have access to support services, especially as it relates to health. This includes children with conditions like asthma, sickle cell disease, autism, attention deficit disorder, depression, allergies, and many others. Your input is critical to improving health and services for children and youth in your community.
We know how valuable your time is. Please take some time (about 20 minutes) to complete the survey if you are a Maryland parent or caregiver of a child with special needs, aged birth to 21 years. Please send the survey to other parents or caregivers with children with special needs. Thank you so much.
Here is the link to the survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MDCYSHCN
*Survey Quick Facts*: - It takes about 20 minutes to complete.
- Survey respondents are not asked to give any identifying information; it's completely anonymous.
- This survey was developed by OGPSHCN and PPMD in partnership with Maryland families of CYSHCN and representatives from the Maryland State Department of Education, the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities, Pathfinders for Autism, Abilities Network/Epilepsy Foundation of the Chesapeake Region, the Maryland Community of Care Consortium for CYSHCN, the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and other community partners
- OGPSHCN and PPMD use the survey data to better target and tailor our resources to help families, CYSHCN, and our partners to try to improve systems of health and related services for Maryland CYSHCN.
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IEP Team Process Videos Available Online
 | | The IEP Team Process: Chapter 1 - IDEA and IEPs |
The IEP Team Process: A Framework for Success is a five part video series created and produced by ECAC, the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center, NC's Parent Training and Information Center. Chapter 1 of this 5 part series will introduce Individualized Education Programs, IEPs, and IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004.
Other topics include preparing for the IEP meeting, who are the members of the IEP team, and the team process. The videos are between four and seven minutes long, perfect for busy parents.
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2014 Youth Leadership Forum 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 Forum is for students entering their final two years of high school. MD-YLF provides 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. It encourages 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.
Learn 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 find out more and complete an application visit the Independence Now website. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2014.
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Parents Needed for Autism Transition Project
Do you have a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) between the ages of 14 and 23 who attends public school in Maryland or who completed public high school in Maryland within the last two years? Have you and your child worked with his/her school to plan for transition to college or career?
The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools at the School for Public Health and Health Services at the George Washington University is looking for parents of adolescents or young adults with an ASD who are or have attended public school in Maryland, and are willing to give an hour of their time to participate in a phone interview to share their experiences on ASD transition as part of the "Autism Transition Project," funded by the Nelson and Michelle Carbonell Family Foundation.
All participants will receive a $10 Target gift card.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Stephanie David at sddavid@gwu.edu.
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Voice of the Military Child
Are you a military family? Do you work with military families? Check out the new edition of Voice for the Military Child, the e-newsletter of the Military Child Education Coalition.
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Behavior 101: Safety
This workshop explores how to keep children with disabilities safe in the community, home, and school. With challenges ranging anywhere from aggression, emotional outbursts, social anxiety, to hyperactivity, persons with disabilities are at risk for many dangers and need instruction on how to interact with societal members.
February 26th 2014
Registration 6:15pm
Presentation 6:30pm--8:30pm
John Carroll Elementary School,
1400 Nalley Terrace
Hyattsville, MD 20785
$10/child for childcare services
ALL MUST RSVP to Behaviorseries101@gmail.com
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Upcoming Events
February 8, 2014
Teen Epilepsy Empowerment Now (TEEN)Winter Blues Buster
11:00am - 3:00pm
Towson, MD
February 18, 2014
Developmental Disabilities Day in Annapolis
8:30am - 1:00pm
Annapolis, MD
February 22, 2014
12:00pm - 3:00pm
Rockville, MD
February 23, 2014
Free Family Fun Event
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Reisterstown, MD
March 5, 2014
6 pm to 8 pm
The Arc Baltimore
March 6 - 9, 2014
Baltimore, MD
March 8, 2014
8:30am - 4:00pm
Fairfax, VA
March 26, 2014
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Baltimore, 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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Free Toolkit for Doctors Serving Youth and Adults with Developmental Disabilities
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities has published Health Care for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
This toolkit for primary care providers can help when young people transition to adult providers. The hope is that this toolkit will give virtually every U.S. primary care provider electronic access to best practice tools, and thus will enable each physician to more readily serve adults with intellectual or other developmental disabilities.
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Towson University Basketball Coach Leads First NCAA Autism Awareness Day
Towson University head basketball coach, Pat Skerry and Marshall Universit Coach Robert Herrion worked together to recruit over 100 NCAA coaches who wore autism awareness pins at their games on February 1, 2014.
Both Skerry and Herrion have sons with autism. The Towson Tigers home game included the university's 2nd Annual Autism Awareness Day.
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Free Travel Training
Free travel training for freedom and independence from The IMAGE Center and MTA.
Travel training is a step-by-step individually customized process designed to help people with disabilities and senior citizens to use the MTA fixed-route Local Bus, Light Rail and Subway.
Travel training will not affect eligibility for MTA Mobility. The IMAGE Center also offers group and classroom travel trainings.
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Connecting Kids to Coverage Campaign
Connecting Kids to Coverage Campaign is a national outreach and enrollment initiative, funded under the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The program reaches out to families with children and teens eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to enroll all eligible children.
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