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MPACT ENews

April 18, 2013

 Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence

Serving Missouri Families!

Greetings!


Did you miss an issue of the MPACT ENews? Delete it by mistake? Wish you could find a past article? Well you can! To view current and past issues of the MPACT ENews visit our website at http://ptimpact.org/News.aspx

Wrightslaw - Special Education Law Training 

MPACT presents 

Wrightslaw Special Education Law

 featuring Pete Wright 

Tuesday, May 14th - 9:00am - 4:30pm

J. C. Penney Auditorium 

University of Missouri - St. Louis

 

Some of the topics to be covered include: 

  • IDEA
  • Understanding Tests and Measurements
  • Evaluations and IEPS
  • No Child Left Behind
  • Tactics and Strategies

REGISTER ONLINE TODAY!  

For more information CLICK HERE.   

Join Our Mailing List!
In This Issue
Wrightslaw Conference
MPACT Trivia Night
How to Close the Disabilities Gap
Bookshare
Assistive Technology Video Series
Rehabilitation Services for the Blind Public Forum
MPACTs First Steps Webpage
Prior Written Notice Webinar
Parent Mentor Program
MPACT Online Trainings
Upcoming Trainings
Give the Gift of Knowledge
Quick Links
Surveys- Let us know how we're doing.
Contact Us!
MPACT Trivia Night - April 20th

MPACT's First Trivia Night

Saturday, April 20th at 7 pm

Our Savior Lutheran Church

Fenton, MO

Doors open at 6 pm - Walk-Ins Welcome! 

  • Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place
  • Rams' Cheerleaders Appearance!
  • Softdrinks and bottled water provided
  • 50/50 drawing

Registration is $96 for a table of up to eight people. 
Individuals may register for $12.00 each.
Get three Mulligans for an additional $10 per table at the door.  

Silent Auction Items include, but not limited to: 

  • 4 One-day Disney Park Hopper Passes (valid for two years)
  • One-night Deluxe King Suite at Camden on the Lake Resort, Spa & Yacht Club at Lake of the Ozarks
  • St. Louis Cardinals David Freese Autographed Baseball
  • St. Louis Rams Marc Bulger Autographed Jersey
  • 4 Missouri Botanical Garden Tickets
  • 4 $10 Gift Certificates to The Old Spaghetti Factory
  • 2 $10 Gift Certificates to Fitz's
For more information CLICK HERE.  
How To Close The Achievement Gap For Students With Disabilities

Adopting higher expectations for students with disabilities is a key way to help close the achievement gap, special-education teacher Elizabeth Stein writes in this blog post. Stein provides a list of strategies for closing the achievement gap, including developing meaningful individualized education programs for students and increasing the use of differentiated learning practices in the classroom.  MiddleWeb/Two Teachers in a Room blog (4/3)   

 

Did you Know: Bookshare

Bookshare.org, a place to find accessible eBooks, has recently released a new option for reading their books called Bookshare Web Reader, as well as a new tool for organizing books called Bookshelf. Now qualifying students can read their eBooks from Bookshare with text to speech support on any computer that has internet access, without the need to download any software or files.

The Chrome web browser can provide synchronized highlighting with the text to speech. With the new organization tool called Bookshelf, educators can assign Bookshare books to qualifying individual students or classes of qualifying students and directly send the book file to the student's individual account for the student to download on their chosen reading device.

Learn more about these new tools and visit Bookshare to learn more about membership options and requirements.

The article originally appeared in PACER's Simon Technology Center's TechNotes 
 
Assistive Technology in Action Video Series

FCTD and PACER Center are pleased to announce the release of our new assistive technology awareness series, AT in Action. This fully-captioned video series is designed to strengthen awareness of AT devices that help individuals with disabilities participate fully in school, at home, and in the community. In the first video, Meet Sam, we meet a young man with cerebral palsy who, with the help of AT, is a successful college student, blogger, and sportsman. Our second video, Meet Elle, introduces a young woman with cerebral palsy is able to communicate with family, friends, and teachers with the help of AT. In our third video, engaging first grader Mason introduces us to technology that assists those with blindness/visual impairments. We invite you to view and share this video with your colleagues and the families you serve.   

Rehabilitation Services for the Blind Public Forum on Services

The Rehabilitation Services for the Blind and the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind are holding a public forum to get input on stakeholder concerns and comments regarding the services they provide for Missourians who are blind or visually impaired.  This information is needed to help them plan for services in the future, as well as to help them better serve the people of Missouri today.

Public Forum
Friday, May 3, 2013
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
3418 Knipp Drive, Rooms 102-103
Jefferson City, MO

For additional information, call 800-592-6004.  

Does Your Child Receive First Steps Services? Visit MPACT's First Steps Page

For more information regarding First Steps services, how to qualify, First Steps online training, or MPACT First Steps resources follow this link:  

http://ptimpact.org/PartC/PartC.aspx  

 

To share your story regarding First Steps services that your child has received click this link: http://ptimpact.org/PartC/OurStory.aspx

DESE Offers Webinar on Prior Written Notice

Prior Written Notice: The Why, When, and How of Notices of Action will be held on May 15, 2013, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. presented by Jennifer McKenzie, Compliance Consultant at the Heart of Missouri Regional Professional Development Center, and Nancy Thomas, Assistant Director for Special Education Compliance at the Department.  This webinar will focus on the legal basis for why and when prior written notice is required and the required content of the notice of action.  In addition, the webinar will provide examples of common prior written notices.  A new training video will be shared detailing topics including the difference between a signature of consent and a signature of waiver; examples of when prior written notice is and is not required; and, timelines associated with providing prior written notice.  In addition, a new Guidance Document will be introduced.  The training video will be followed by a live question and answer session.  

To participate in this webinar, go to http://dese.mo.gov/webinar/Webinar05-15-13SE.htm
The webinar will be recorded and posted under the Webinars - Recorded button at http://dese.mo.gov/webinar/

 

 MPACT Parent Mentor Program

MPACT Parent Mentors are available to offer support and guidance to parents of children with disabilities throughout the IEP process.  Parent Mentors are volunteers who receive 24 hours of initial training, ongoing monthly training, and technical assistance from MPACT staff with regard to special education law, the IEP process, conflict resolution, and effective communication.  Their goal is to help parents build a collaborative partnership with the school district so their child may receive an appropriate education.  To view the list of current MPACT Parent Mentors, go to
http://ptimpact.org/Volunteer/MentorList.aspx.

 

If your school district has had a MPACT Parent Mentor in attendance at an IEP meeting, please take a moment to complete a brief online survey located at http://ptimpact.org/Surveys.aspx if you have not already done so.  A separate survey should be completed for each mentor who has provided services to parents in your district.  These surveys assist MPACT and DESE with identifying and addressing areas of success and improvement with the Parent Mentor Program.

For more information about MPACT or if you have questions regarding the status of a Parent Mentor, please contact MPACT by telephone at (800) 743-7634 or by e-mail at [email protected].    You can also view the MPACT website at http://www.ptimpact.org.

FREE Online Trainings offered through MPACT

This issue's featured online training is:
Extended School Year
This free online training will help parents  to understand Extended School Year guidelines for the state of Missouri. You can access Extended School Year or any of the other MPACT online trainings listed below by going to our Training page and clicking on Online Training, or CLICK HERE. 
  • Extended School Year
  • Special Education: What I Need to Know
  • IDEA Transition Requirements
  • Transition to Post Secondary Experiences (Part 1 & 2)
  • Connecting Goals to Coordinated Activities and Services for Transition
  • Transition Resources - Disability Disclosure
  • Soft Skills
 Free MPACT Trainings
MPACT trainings are provided free of charge to parents of children with disabilities. To sign up for an upcoming training, follow the links below, then click on the 'SIGNUP' button located next to the training name. Fill in your name, email address, phone number, the name of the training you wish to attend and the date it is being offered.

 

While registering for a training is not mandatory it does ensure that the trainer has an adequate amount of handouts. This also allows MPACT to contact you should a training need to be cancelled or rescheduled. To view a comprehensive list of all trainings provided by MPACT go to http://ptimpact.org/Training/Training.aspx

 

Please be sure to double check the website training pages for any updates or changes to trainings offered.

 

Steps to Success Series:  

Effectively Communicating Your Children's Needs

  

Updated - IDEA Boot Camp (Understanding the IEP Process, Special Education Law, and Disagreement Resolution)

Updated - Special Education Law

Understanding the IEP Process  

The Art of Effective Advocacy

 

NEW - Bullying Prevention: What Parents Can Do

04/27/13   Macon 

 

Positive Behavior Interventions  

  
NEW - Student-Led IEPs 
Journey to Adulthood

 Give the Gift of Knowledge - Donate to MPACT

MPACT welcomes donations in any amount and will acknowledge all donors in our Annual Report and on our MPACT Facebook page. Agency, organization and business donors making a contribution of $200.00 or more will be recognized by placing their name and logo in our monthly e-news letter and on our website's donation page. Individual donations of $50.00 or more will be added to our Friends of MPACT list which will appear in an edition of our monthly e-news letter and on our website. Donations may be made by credit card through PayPal on our website - http://ptimpact.org/Store/Donations/Donations.aspx; or by sending a check to the state office: MPACT, 8301 State Line Rd., Ste. 204, Kansas City MO, 64114. Every donation will receive a receipt for tax purposes.

 

Please help us to continue to provide the support that families of Missouri's children with disabilities are requesting by making a donation to MPACT. MPACT is a 501(c)3 organization. All donations are tax deductible.   

 

2012 MPACT Donation Letter

 

Question? Comments? Suggestions? Send them to [email protected] or 

contact the MPACT State Office at 1-800-743-7634.