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Your support will help to defray operating costs. |
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 Evanston Citizens for Appropriate Special Education (CASE) provides Community, Advocacy, Support and Education for families of students with special needs.
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Thursday, April 14th, 7-9 p.m.
Evanston CASE Will Present
"Dyslexia: Evaluations, Best Practices, Advocacy Strategies and the Law"
Panel Presentation by
Dr. Sharon Johnson, Neuropsychologist
Cari Levin, LCSW Special Education Advocate
Jill Calian and Rachael Gross, Special Education Attorneys at Law
Location: Evanston Public Library Downtown Branch, 1703 Orrington Ave.
To register, contact us at info@evanstoncase.org or (847)566-8676
April is Autism Awareness Month. Look for ways to spread the word and educate the community. There are some suggestions in this newsletter below.
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
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Advocacy Alert Update:
Help Us Advocate for Inclusion of Students with IEP's in the D202 Board Goals
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The D202 School Board discussed their goals on April 6th. Although they didn't vote on a final draft, there was some debate as to whether explicitly mentioning students with IEP's, students from low-income families and English language learners would "dilute" the district's focus on race. To view the meeting, click HERE.
CASE has shared two letters and has had several conversations with D202 Board members regarding the need for inclusion of students with IEP's in the Board Goals and Measures.
The fact that the community has so little data with which to evaluate the performance of students with special needs is evidence the district needs to increase the focus given to those students. The district Achievement Report and the Illinois School Report Card are the only sources at this point for the community to refer to.
The most recently available Achievement Report on the ETHS website lists data for students with IEP's only in the category of four year graduation rate (66.3% in 2015) and five year graduation rate (51.9% 2015 down from 70.8% in 2014). The source of this data is the ISBE Report Card. There is no college readiness benchmarking reported for students with IEP's. This is central to our concern. Single data points do not tell the whole story. Hence the need for more.
Write an email to the board if you'd like to see them adopt the language we have proposed for goal #1:
"Increase each student's academic and functional trajectory, while eliminating the predictability of achievement based on race, disability, income, and English language proficiency, so that all students complete high school equipped with a post-secondary plan for college or career and independence and the skills to realize that plan."
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April Parent Connections Meetings
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Please join us for our April Parent Connections Support Group meetings:
Evening Parent Connections Support Group Meeting
April 13th 7:00-9:00 pm at 1940 Sherman, Suite A. in Evanston.
Brown Bag Lunch Parent Connections Support Group Meeting
April 20th 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 or email at mail@evanstoncase.org. Drop-in's are welcome.
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April is National Autism Awareness Month
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Increase autism awareness this month in a variety of ways. Here are just a few: Make a donation to the Autism Society HERE. Read or donate an age appropriate book about autism to your child's classroom. Download some neat craft ideas and informative posters from Pinterest HERE. Check out the Puzzle Piece Project and Autism Awareness Month Tool Kit from Autism Speaks HERE.
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49 Phrases to Calm an Anxious Child
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From The Mighty blog:
Anxiety can be debilitating. It can make it hard to impossible to go to school, to take an exam or to deal with social situations. The list in this article is comprehensive and there is something appropriate for every age. The basic premise is to distract the brain. Beside the benefit of coping with a single episode of anxiety, these techniques can build a sense of mastery and control over something that feels terribly out of a child's control.
Click HERE to read the article.
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P.A.C.E. Program:
Post-Secondary Transition | |
The P.A.C.E. program (Path to Academics, Community and Employment) at National Louis University is a three-year post-secondary certificate program which is designed to meet the transitional needs for young adults with multiple intellectual, learning and developmental disabilities.
P.A.C.E. at NLU Students will:
"Learn, work and play in the vibrant city of Chicago. Live in an integrated 21st Century student housing apartment facility. Gain real life work experience during their community based internships. Successfully travel independently using public transportation. Are involved in a variety of clubs and student life activities. Make meaningful connections with the Chicagoland community by participating in service learning projects."
For more information, click HERE |
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Entrepreneurs Design Backpack for Kids on the Spectrum
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From Disability Scoop.com
The Nesel Pack (a play on the word "nestle") has thick straps and weighted pouches to mimic a compression vest and help with body awareness. There are clips on the front to attach sensory toys like chewies and fidgets.
Margaret Semrud-Clikeman, director of the Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience division in the University of Minnesota's Department of Pediatrics, said she thinks the pack would be an excellent tool - not only for children with autism, but also for kids with anxiety disorders, ADHD and dyslexia - by reinforcing routine and predictability.
To learn more, click HERE |
Flying with a Disability
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I was traveling recently and a young man who is blind was being helped onto the plane by an attendant. He happened to be very tall. It was going fine until he went to sit down and banged his head REALLY hard on the overhead compartment. The same thing happened when they assisted him to exit the plane. He seemed to take it in stride, but it made me think about the obstacles that people with disabilities encounter when navigating something that is routine for most of us.
"Handicap This!" posted the following story about their recent experience navigating all kinds of obstacles on an airplane. Their mantra is "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome!" And boy did they have a lot to overcome.
Click here to read about their experience.
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"Fight or Flight"
How Anxiety Leads to Disruptive or Aggressive Behavior
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From Child Mind.org
"A 10-year-old boy named James has an outburst in school. Upset by something a classmate says to him, he pushes the other boy, and a shoving-match ensues. When the teacher steps in to break it up, James goes ballistic, throwing papers and books around the classroom and bolting out of the room and down the hall. He is finally contained in the vice principal's office, where staff members try to calm him down. Instead, he kicks the vice principal in a frenzied effort to escape. The staff calls 911, and James ends up in the Emergency Room."
"James's story illustrates something that parents and teachers may not realize -- that disruptive behavior is often generated by unrecognized anxiety. A child who appears to be oppositional or aggressive may be reacting to anxiety -- anxiety he may. . .not be able to articulate effectively, or not even fully recognize that he's feeling."
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