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In This Issue
Advocacy Alert Update
March Parent Connections Meetings
Resilient Learners
How to Succeed in College
Transition Planning
"Life, Animated" Film
Quick Links


  

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LogoEvanston Citizens for Appropriate Special Education (CASE) provides Community, Advocacy, Support and Education for families of students with special needs.


 

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On the CASE 

 March 2016



Don't Miss This Event -- Save the Date! 

Evanston CASE Presents
Dyslexia: Evaluations, Best-Practices, Advocacy Strategies and the Law

Panel Presentation by Dr. Sharon Johnson, Neuropsychologist, Cari Levin, LCSW and Special Education Advocate, Jill Calian and Rachael Gross, Special Education Attorneys at Law

Thursday, April 14, 2016 - 7:00 - 8:30pm 
Evanston Public Library Downtown Branch, 1703 Orrington Ave.
FREE
To register, contact us at info@evanstoncase.org or (847)566-8676


I hope you find the information in this newsletter informative and interesting.  If you have ideas for content you would like to see, let me know at mail@evanstoncase.org.
  
Warm regards,
 
Cari Levin, LCSW
Founding Director
Evanston CASE 

Advocacy Alert Update
Protecting Special Education Funding
As of February 29th, we have 298 signatures on the Change.org petition. If you haven't had a chance to sign, click on the link HERE

Also, see the Evanston Roundtable Guest Essay written by Cari Levin, Director of Evanston CASE, and Julie DeLara, Evanston CASE Board member.
Click HERE

Please forward this newsletter and the Change.org petition to your Evanston friends.  We'd like to reach our goal of 500 signatures.
March Parent Connections Meetings
Please join us for our March Parent Connections Support Group meetings: 
 
Evening Parent Connections Support Group Meeting
March 9th 7:00-9:00 pm at 1940 Sherman,
Suite A. in Evanston.  
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
Special topic: 
"Self Care: Not Just Another Thing on Your List"
Group moderated by Cari Levin, LCSW
Focus on yourself for an evening.  Join us for fun activity.
 
Brown Bag Lunch Parent Connections Support Group Meeting
March 16th 11:30-1:00 at 1940 Sherman Ave. Suite A in Evanston.
Bring your lunch and join us!

Let us know you are coming by calling (847) 556-8676.   Drop-in's are welcome.

How to Encourage Resilience when Emotions and Learning Get Tough
In this article from ChildMind.org, the author suggests teaching "metacognition" skills to support resilience when our children/teens experience emotional and learning challenges.

"When kids hit difficult problems - the seemingly insurmountable English essay, a math test that takes on epic proportions, social struggles that leave them feeling frustrated - it can be tempting to give up and resort to four words no parent ever wants to hear: 'I can't do it'."
"In order to thrive, kids need to be able to make the transition from the negative "I can't" to the proactive "How can I?"

To learn more, click HERE
How to Succeed in College with a Learning Disability
From Grown and Flown 

If your teen has a learning disability and you are concerned about their readiness for success in college, read this helpful essay.

Dr. Roger Martin, former professor and college president, reflects on his own struggles with a learning disability as a college student. He offers four pieces of helpful advice.

Click HERE
IEP Transition Planning Requirements
Local Program at Orchard Academy
Spring is the time to convene annual review meetings.  Use this opportunity to discuss your student's needs beyond high school regardless of what grade they are in.

Orchard Academy in Skokie provides comprehensive services to assist your student.  Their services can be paid for by the high school when placement in their program is deemed appropriate to serve their needs.

Orchard Academy Summer Program details HERE

If you feel your student needs ongoing support to transition to independence up until they are 22, make sure that the high school has written a comprehensive and appropriate transition plan into their IEP.  

For information about what a good transition plan looks like, click HERE

Ensure that the IEP continues to have goals relating to transitioning into adult life in the areas of daily living, vocation, community and social interaction.


"Life, Animated" Coming to Theatres This Year
 
LIFE, ANIMATED is the real-life story of Owen Suskind, the son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind and his wife, Cornelia. An autistic boy who couldn't speak for years, Owen memorized dozens of Disney movies, turned them into a language to express love and loss, kinship, brotherhood. The family enacted animated characters, communicating with him in Disney dialogue and song.
 
LIFE, ANIMATED, the documentary, is based on Ron Suskind's best-selling book, "Life Animated: a story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism."

Directed by Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams, and produced by the acclaimed Julie Goldman, the documentary premiered January 23rd, 2016, at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won director Roger Ross Williams the Sundance Directing Award: U.S. Documentary.
 
LIFE, ANIMATED will be released in North American theaters later in 2016 by The Orchard.

Learn more HERE