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July 1, 2013
Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence
Serving Missouri Families!
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Greetings!
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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
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Fireworks Safety
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With warm weather and family events, the Fourth of July can be a fun time with great memories. But before your family celebrates, make sure everyone knows about fireworks safety.
Lighting fireworks at home isn't even legal in many areas, so if you still want to use them, be sure to check with your local police department first. If they're legal where you live, keep these KidsHealth.org safety tips in mind.
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Does Your Child With a Learning Disability Have Trouble Making Friends?
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Summer often means camp, time at the pool and other special events. If your child with a learning disability has trouble making friends, you'll want to check out this video with helpful advice from the parents of 2013 Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Thomas Scholars.
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| Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support |
Families are important members of the school communities. When schools and families work together toward their common goal of helping all children to be successful, it is much more likely to happen. Families have valuable insights and information about how their children learn best and what types of environmental supports are helpful to them.
For resources that can help you work with your school's SW PBS team check out the PBIS Missouri website.
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Missouri Connections - Connect to Your Future
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Missouri Connections is an online resource sponsored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Division of Workforce Development that takes career planning to a higher level. Designed to guide students and adults through the career planning process, the system opens the door for career awareness, eases users into college and career exploration, and directs preparation for transition into post secondary education and the world of work. Students, grades 6-16, parents, guidance counselors, educators, and adults can use the online system at no charge.
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Guidance on Braille Instruction
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The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services with the U. S. Department of Education have issued guidance reminding school districts of the importance of Braille instruction. The guidance letter clarifies existing law and notes that IEP teams for blind and visually impaired students should consider each child's need for appropriate Braille instruction on an individual, case by case basis and without undue delay. IEP teams must ensure that the instructional time allotted for Braille instruction must be sufficient to provide the level of instruction appropriate for the child. Consideration must be given to both current and future need for Braille instruction. A child's current vision status should not necessarily determine whether it would be inappropriate for that child to receive Braille instruction while in school, especially if they have a degenerative vision condition. Districts are reminded that the evaluation of vision status and the need for Braille instruction should be thorough and vigorous and include certain components. Factors such as the shortage of trained personnel, the availability of alternative reading media, and the amount of time needed to provide a child with sufficient and regular instruction may not be used to deny Braille instruction to a child.
Review the full guidance letter for more details.
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| Are You Interested in Serving as an Educational Surrogate? | |
This is a reminder that Educational Surrogates are needed in Missouri. Responsible public agencies in the state are required to identify children with disabilities within their jurisdiction who might be in need of an Educational Surrogate and to apply to the state for appointment of a surrogate in a timely manner. Children with disabilities eligible for an Educational Surrogate are those who:
- have no identified parent;
- have parents who, after reasonable efforts, cannot be located by a public agency;
- are wards of the state and are living in a facility or group home (and not with a person acting as a parent); or,
- are unaccompanied homeless youth.
It is also the responsibility of the local education agency to assist the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in recruiting surrogate parent volunteers and submitting the names and addresses of those volunteers to the Department.
Find more information or complete an application to serve as an educational surrogate at the Educational Surrogate website.
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| Provide Public Comments to MO's Special Education Advisory Panel | |
As stakeholders in the education of children with disabilities in Missouri, you are invited and encouraged to share comments to Missouri's Special Education Advisory Panel (SEAP). The SEAP is comprised of educators, administrators, state agency representatives, parents, and persons with disabilities. The quarterly meetings are open to the public and there is a time for public comment on every meeting's agenda.
For meeting information, please visit:
DESE Special Education Advisory Panel website or contact Lina Browner by phone:
573-751-5739 or email: lina.browner@dese.mo.gov.
The public may also submit comments to the panel via email at
seapcomments@gmail.com or through the DESE Webpage.
We welcome and encourage comments regarding concerns or issues faced by students with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who work with them. For example, the SEAP has addressed such issues as transitioning to adult services, positive behavior supports, seclusion and restraint, and due process hearings related to special education.
This is a private SEAP committee email address and is not accessed or monitored by DESE. It will be viewed by the SEAP's public comment committee members only. The comments will be shared with the full SEAP Panel at quarterly meetings. The Sunshine Law requires that records of the SEAP be available for public review. While we will not publicly identify you when discussing your comment, if a Sunshine law request is made, the record with your name would be produced. When you submit comments to the Advisory Panel you should not include any personally identifiable information regarding a child or other individual parties. While responses cannot be made to your individual comments, public comments received will be shared with the Panel as examples of issues concerning the special education community.
By working together, we can positively impact special education in Missouri. Thank you!
SEAP Public Comment subcommittee members: Patricia Kopetz, higher education representative
Diana Taylor-Soole, parent representative
Julie Boos, parent representative
Reta Richmond, parent representative
John Monroe, teacher representative
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| 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
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MPACT Parent Mentor Program
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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 info@ptimpact.org. You can also view the MPACT website at http://www.ptimpact.org.
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FREE Online Trainings offered through MPACT
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Our free online trainings will help parents to understand the special education process in the state of Missouri. You can access the MPACT online trainings listed below by going to the Training page on our website and clicking on Online Training.
- 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
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Free MPACT Trainings
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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.
Updated - Special Education Law
Understanding the IEP Process
Student-Led IEPs
Journey to Adulthood
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How Are We Doing?
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Have you ever received phone support by MPACT? Attended any of our trainings? We'd LOVE to hear from you!! Please complete one (or both!) surveys to help us do continuous improvement and recognize those staff that have made a difference!
Satisfaction Survey
Workshop Follow Up Survey
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Give the Gift of Knowledge - Donate to MPACT
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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
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Question? Comments? Suggestions? Send them to info@ptimpact.org or
contact the MPACT State Office at 1-800-743-7634. |
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