What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?

from the National Council on Disability:

A series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal government spending totaling $1.2 trillion over the course of 10 years are set to take effect this Friday, March 1. Dubbed “sequestration” these cuts, if implemented, will be split between defense and domestic discretionary spending. 

The National Council on Disability (NCD) urges the Executive Branch and Congress to find a responsible alternative to sequestration to prevent potential harm to Americans with disabilities and their families.

Background

Originally passed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 on the heels of the debt ceiling compromise, the sequester was intended to pressure the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “Supercommittee”) to agree on a budget of $1.5 trillion by way of spending cuts and revenue increases over the next decade.

Congress stopped mandatory budget cuts from taking effect by passing the American Taxpayer Relief Act January 2 when the deadline was pushed back to March 1, 2013.  If Congress fails to agree on a budget to reduce the federal deficit by then $85 billion in spending cuts – split evenly between domestic and defense discretionary programs – will go into effect.

For Americans with disabilities, this means everything from special education to transportation, to housing and health care programs will “feel the pinch” due to the precarious collision of across-the-board cuts and unforeseen circumstances. 

Spending reductions break down into three broad categories:

1. Defense spending. Amounts to half the sequester cuts.
2. Non-defense. Includes housing, education, and employment programs.
3. Medicare. Limited to a 2% cut in payments to Medicare providers, specifically hospitals and doctors.

Mandatory programs

• Assistance to individuals with low-incomes and their families like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, or welfare), the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), unemployment benefits and provider payments made through Medicare will not be cut, although staff time and resources are likely to be compromised. 

Medicare

• While other non-defense programs are facing a 8.4 percent cut, Medicare cuts are limited to 2 percent per fiscal year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that in 2013 a 2 percent cut totals $123 billion dollars.

Social Security

Could Using An Advocate Help You Get What Your Child Needs In School?

from ParentAdvocates.org by Reed Martin, J.D.:
LINK
(Written for Autism/Asperger's Digest. Check out this great magazine from Future Horizons)

When a parent learns that their child has been diagnosed on the Autism spectrum they are introduced into what many have aptly called "the special education maze." We all know that parenting by itself is difficult enough but are you now expected to become a special education law expert? Federal studies have shown that most parents of children with special needs spend their energy and emotions on other problems related to their child and accept whatever they are offered by their public school system.

Our experience consulting with thousands of families in all 50 states over thirty-plus years shows that parents will eventually realize that important gains for their child are being delayed or even permanently lost by simply accepting what their public school chooses to offer and by not advocating for more.

What might be lost for the child? The Congress established four educational goals for our children in 1990 in the Americans with Disabilities Act, which were repeated in the IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504): (1) to get as close as possible to being able to live independently by the time they exit high school, (2) to learn work skills that make them as employable as possible, (3) to learn how to acquire further education and training beyond high school if possible, and (4) to learn how to gain access to recreation and leisure in the community in which they live.

Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have recognized that the system works only if there is effective advocacy for the individual child. In several sections of the IDEA, discussed below, Congress recognized that parents need the assistance of advocates. The Supreme Court ruled in their first special education decision that "Congress sought to protect individual children by providing for parental involvement.. " and by emphasizing "the process of parent and child involvement... to assure that appropriate services are provided." Board of Education v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, at 208-09 (1982).

We regularly consult with parents in telephone conferences, over the internet, and through internet-based video conferences. We interact with very hard working parents, who care a great deal about their child, and have invested a lot of energy -- but who have hit a "dead end" and often do not know "the next step" to take to make their advocacy effective. Parents often report to us that they have been discouraged by being told "You are the only parent who is not satisfied with our program" or "The law will not allow us to do what you are asking."

For that very reason, whatever step in the process the parent is in, we urge that they consult someone who has been through it before. Join a disability group. Consult an advocate. Learn from others. Share strategies. Keep from burning out. Celebrate each others' victories. You will undoubtedly find someone who has wrestled with a school district on the same issue you are now pursuing. You can learn invaluable information from them and they might join you as an advocate for your child. You will learn that you are not the only parent who is not satisfied and that the law might require the school to do precisely what the school is refusing to do.

Who can be a parent Advocate? There are no real standards at this time. The IDEA statute refers to "individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child." You need someone you can trust. Someone who truly cares, but who can give you an objective view of your situation. Parents will tell us they want to go to court immediately because a teacher said their child was "a waste of their time and that they did not go to college to teach children like that." An objective advocate will probably suggest that the parent spend their time instead on nailing down a really good evaluation of the child so that they can get an IEP that will direct that teacher in writing to do exactly what they need to do for your child.

A first step is, with the advocate's help, to get the written statements of the parent's and child's rights under the procedures that govern the IDEA, Section 504 and the ADA. Once you get those statements, an advocate who has been through this before can help interpret them. If your school district and State education agency fail to get you the required statements, an advocate can help you write a letter of complaint which lets the school know that you will not accept violations of the law.

Call-In Day Wednesday, December 19th!

Call-In Day Wednesday, December 19th!

 

from the NDSC:

The negotiations that are currently taking place between President Obama and Speaker of the House Boehner are critical to the future of individuals with Down syndrome and other disabilities. We rely on important programs, from education to supports to live in the community, that are directly affected by these negotiations. These programs are at risk.

  

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, a national consortium of over 100 disability organizations, is holding a call-in day on Wednesday, December 19th. NDSC is an active member of this Consortium. Please take a few minutes and call your Senators and Congressional Representatives with the message below.

"I want to make sure you know the importance of programs such as special education, early intervention and preschool services, employment supports, health insurance, community living supports, and housing for children and adults with Down syndrome and other disabilities. Many of these programs are funded by Medicaid and Medicare, and other sources that are at risk during the "fiscal cliff" negotiations. Please make sure that funding is protected and programs remain strong in the coming deficit reduction debate.

I urge you to preserve critical funding for the life-changing programs that support families with disabilities, and ask that you respond to my message when it's received."

It is easy to find your elected representatives by visiting this website: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Parents and self-advocates showed their strength at the NDSC's Day on the Hill in July, 2012. Let's keep that going!

Apple Puts Spotlight On Disability Offerings In App Store

By Shaun Heasley from Disabiltiy Scoop:

Apple is highlighting a growing number of apps catering to individuals with special needs with a featured special education section in its App Store.

The section titled “Special Education” launched in 2010 and includes many applications for the iPhone and iPad in 10 categories ranging from communication to emotional development and life skills, according to Trudy Muller, an Apple spokeswoman.

The special education category is currently showcased as one of four editorial features n the App Store.

Apps, which can be used on Apple’s iPhone, iPad or iPod devices, have become increasingly popular in the special needs community in recent years, serving as everything from assistive technology devices to organizational tools and teaching aids.

Evaluating special education teachers

from Fox News:
Since the first day of class this school year, Bev Campbell has been teaching her students how to say their names.
Some of the children in her class have autism. Others have Down syndrome or other disabilities. "People don't understand where they've come from," she says. "It's slow."
Just one has learned how to say his name. Still, the South Florida teacher sees signs of growth in the nine kindergarten to second-grade students in her class.
Those little steps are what teachers like Campbell consider major leaps for students with the most significant physical and cognitive disabilities — and what are the most challenging to capture on a test. Yet that will be a significant part of the way school districts in Florida and in many other states will evaluate teachers.
Spurred by the U.S. Department of Education's $4.35 billion Race to the Top grant competition, more than a dozen states have passed laws to reform how teachers are evaluated and include student growth as a component. For most students, that growth will be measured on standardized tests. But for special education students that is considerably more complicated.
"I don't know how they would ever do that for my students," said Campbell, who has 28 years of experience teaching special ed.
In its guidance to states applying for the funds, the Department of Education set as a priority increasing the number of effective teachers in special education, language services, and hard-to-staff subjects such as science and math. Effectiveness would be determined, in part, by whether students reached "acceptable rates" of academic growth. Federal officials provided some criteria for what should be included in teacher evaluations, but left states to decide how student growth should be measured.
The result is that in Illinois, Florida, New York and other states, education leaders and teachers unions are trying to create evaluations that take into account factors such as a student's prior performance, socio-economic background and English language skills. Creating those measurements for general education teachers has proven challenging enough, but for special education teachers, it is even more trying, as officials try to find a way to evaluate growth that often can't be measured on a test.
"The great concern right now in many states is they're using the same criteria for the general education teachers that they're going to use for the special education teachers and there's real resistance to that," said George Giuliani, director of the special education program at Hofstra University's Graduate School and executive director of the National Association of Special Education Teachers.
In a survey by the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, 63 percent of special education teachers said they believed student achievement gains should be a component of their evaluations, but only 21 percent thought standardized test scores were an appropriate measure.
Seventy-eight percent said their state hadn't determined how to measure the growth of students with the most profound disabilities. Complicating matters is the very limited research available on special education assessments and evaluations. That means states will have to study and modify their systems as they go along.
"It's a very complex process and it's kind of trial and error," said study co-author Lynn Holdheide, a research associate at Vanderbilt University.
In New York and Illinois, recently passed laws require districts to base a significant percentage of each teacher's evaluation on student growth. Both are still working to determine how that will be done for special education students, a category that encompasses a vast range of conditions, not all of which negatively affect academic performance. In Florida, the process has already begun, with a committee examining a broad range of conditions, from dyslexia to traumatic brain injuries, and analyzing the effect on test scores.
"The performance varied quite a bit based on disability," said Kathy Hebda, Florida's deputy education chancellor.
Because of that, the committee decided students with similar disabilities who can take Florida's statewide math and reading assessment should be compared to one another. The student's prior academic achievement will also be factored in. Teachers will then be evaluated based on how much above or below the average their students performed.
That, however, won't work for students such as those in Campbell's class. For now, most of them are too young to take Florida's statewide assessment, but when they are older, they'd likely take an alternate test. Officials are still deciding how that exam could be used to measure student growth.
"A large number of special education students are able to make learning gains," said Will Gordillo, administrative director for the division of special education at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the nation's fourth-largest school district.
Those with the most significant cognitive disabilities, however, may not.
"There's concern with this group," he said.
All three states are running up against deadlines: In New York, districts will use a growth component in this year's evaluation, and transition to a "value-added" measure like the one being used in Florida and other states next school year. Chicago will also begin implementing a new teacher evaluation system in the fall.
Some have already expressed concern that the process is moving too quickly, and that it could have negative repercussions for disabled students.
Kevin Kumashiro, a professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, was one of 88 professors who recently signed a letter raising questions about Chicago's plans. In an interview, Kumashiro said there has been a trend when high stakes are placed on standardized test scores: students who require special services are either turned away or not tested.
"And neither situation is really good," Kumashiro said.
In Florida, the stakes have already been set: 50 percent of teacher evaluations this school year will be based on student growth. For Campbell, that will consist of the school-wide average of students who do take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test — students she has no involvement in teaching.
"We're trying to implement something that wasn't well thought out and now the clock is ticking," said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for Florida's statewide teachers union. "It's a real problem."
On a recent morning, Campbell took her students at Amelia Earhart Elementary School in Hialeah, Fla., through their exercises. She put on a song and spent time with each student, saying their name, and encouraging them to look into a mirror and repeat it. Next she read from a giant book, about a third her size, about farm animals causing a ruckus in a house.
She went around the room with a small board that had images of a cow, horse and duck. She asked them to point to the cow. Some of the students chose the right image, but others didn't. Some looked off in another direction, delighted by the attention, but unable to respond to the question.
For others she helped guide their hand to the right answer.
"It's taken them a long time, and they're just starting to get these three," she said.
Campbell marvels at what others might see as tiny, insignificant improvements. She likes teaching students others might give up on, sometimes even their parents. One autistic student in her class came in unable to say his name and hardly spoke any words. Now he's reciting many letters of the alphabet and words such as window and couch. Another child, confined to a wheelchair, used to scream and cry all day. Now she stays calm and follows the activities. A child with Down syndrome has begun correctly identifying pictures.
"These are little things," she said, "but it's a lot."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/24/struggle-over-how-to-evaluate-special-ed-teachers/#ixzz1tX1ZTX8u

Feds Allocate Millions To Train Special Educators

from Disability Scoop:

Federal education officials are doling out over $19 million across the country in an effort to better prepare teachers to work with students who have disabilities.

The majority of the funds — $11.5 million — will go to universities in 24 states to train educators to address everything from early intervention to speech and language needs as well as transition.

Meanwhile, $7.7 million is headed to state officials in Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon and Wyoming in order to enhance professional development for special educators.

“The quality of education our students with disabilities receive is dependent on how well the workforce is prepared to address their needs,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said.

“These grants will support states’ efforts to improve their training systems for staff, and better serve students with disabilities as a result.”

Special Educator To Appear On ‘The Amazing Race’

from disability scoop:

A special education teacher will be jetting around the world this fall on CBS’s “The Amazing Race” and she says that teaching students with disabilities has prepared her for the challenge.
Jennifer Young, 26, is among the 22 contestants announced this week who will participate on season 19 of “The Amazing Race.”

The special educator from Stone Mountain, Ga. will compete alongside her brother, Justin Young, 31, against 10 other teams to be the first to make it through a number of mental and physical challenges across four continents. The winning team gets $1 million.

In an interview on the reality show’s website, Jennifer Young said that her work teaching students with disabilities is her biggest accomplishment and that it has given her the skills to take on “The Amazing Race.”

“Teaching special education has taught me that the sky is the limit and the only stumbling block is you,” she said. “It takes a special person to teach and an extra special person to teach special education.”

The Youngs will have their work cut out for them as they attempt to travel 40,000 miles around the globe. Other contestants on the show include a pair of “Survivor” winners, two Olympians, a former NFL player and the youngest person to ever sail around the world alone.

“The Amazing Race” premieres Sept. 25 on CBS.

from CBS:

Jennifer Young
Age: 26
Hometown: Stone Mountain, Ga.
Connection to your teammate: Sister
Current occupation: Special Education Teacher

Describe what you do: I teach kids to reach beyond the limits of their labels.

How will these skills help you win The Race? Teaching special education has taught me that the sky is the limit and the only stumbling block is you. Patience, caring and understanding come with this job too.

Self-advocate pushing for change in law

from The Herald News:

When he’s not taking classes at MassBay, working at one of his three jobs or volunteering, Brian Heffernan is making sure that other young people with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities get the same opportunities he’s had.

Most recently, Heffernan, 20, of Newton, has been advocating for a bill at the State House that would change the special education licensing requirements to provide optional advanced training for teachers who want to focus on transitioning children with intellectual disabilities into the competitive work force.

Newton resident Julia Landau, senior project manager for the advocacy group Massachusetts Advocates for Children, said the bill would allow more children with intellectual disabilities like Down syndrome and autism to become productive members in their communities.

“Right now three-quarters of the youth with disabilities in our state ages 16-26 end up in sheltered workshops or [day habilitation] programs or unemployed and we know that youth with disabilities when provided the appropriate transition planning and services can measure up with their potential and can live and work competitively,” she said. “That’s the difference between the tapped and untapped potential.”

Heffernan has been taking classes in courses like criminology, mass media and career and life planning at MassBay for the past two years through the school’s partnership with the Newton Public Schools. The Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment grant program allows public high school students with severe intellectual disabilities who are between 18 and 22 and have not yet passed the MCAS test the opportunity to take inclusive college courses aligned with a career goal.

“I’m really proud of the career and life planning class,” Heffernan said. “It made me think a lot about my career.”

During the school year, Heffernan takes public transportation from his house in Newton to the Wellesley Hills MassBay campus, takes general college classes with his peers and works out after school in the school gym. Last summer, Heffernan was looking for activities to join on campus and noticed that the college didn’t have a glee club like his favorite TV show, “Glee,” so he researched and sought out the required number of signatures to form his own glee club.

Heffernan said his classes at MassBay have helped him decide that one day he wants to have a career in the film or television industry. He’s already written a 52-page TV script, “The Heffernan Show,” loosely based on “The Cosby Show.”

“One day I got on my computer and just started writing,” he said, while walking around MassBay last week.

In between his busy class schedule at MassBay and camp during the summer Heffernan finds time to work as a host at Wally’s World in Fenway Park, as a bagger at Shaw’s Supermarket in Auburndale and as a guest speaker in the “Understanding Our Differences” curriculum in the Newton Public Schools. He speaks to graduate students about his disability at Brandeis, Harvard and Boston universities and during the summer he volunteers at City Hall delivering mail and stacking books at the Newton Free Library.

“He’s really remarkable,” said Landau of the Massachusetts Advocates for Children, in a phone interview.

Heffernan’s mother, Julie Hefferman, said that her son wants to continue to take classes at the college after he passes his English MCAS test. She said that once he passes the English MCAS test he will place out of the special education program in the Newton Public Schools, but will still be able to receive special education services at the college.

“We’ve had a partnership for the past five years with the [Newton schools] to give students with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to take college courses,” said Jayme Finstein, inclusive concurrent enrollment grand coordinator at MassBay. “The goal is to have the courses connect with future career goals. You spend your whole day on campus doing anything that any other student would do.”

Julie Heffernan said her son has flourished through his classes and the new friends he has made at MassBay.

“On Facebook, he has all these friends we’ve never met because he has this whole college life now,” she said.

Landau said she is hopeful that the bill will soon be voted out of the Joint Committee on Education.

Camp Buddy bridges the gap between school years

from effinghamherald.net:

Brenna Heape’s tiny 7-year-old frame balanced atop two scooter boards as she glided across the floor, pushing and pulling a rope. After a few successful reps her face lit up, and she knew that she’d done well.

As Heape completed the set of therapy during the “motor labs” portion Camp Buddy, her smile was contagious, caught by occupational therapist Melinda Hawkins. Hawkins was holding one end of the rope and encouraging Heape through the exercise, and the two shared a few excited high fives when they finished.

Camp Buddy ended Thursday, after three days last week and three this week at the First Baptist Church of Springfield. The camp, sponsored by the Lowcountry Down Syndrome Society, offers a therapy-based curriculum designed especially for children with Down syndrome.

“It’s amazing,” said Molly Marchese, a founding member of LDSS and proud mother of Ella, 5, who has Down syndrome. “You watch them do something that they couldn’t do last year, and you work hard on it, and then they come back to camp and they’re doing it. So it’s really gratifying for the therapists to see their hard work pay off and for the parents.”

This is the third year that Camp Buddy has been available locally. The camp is intended to bridge the gap between school years so that these children can retain what they’ve learned in school and prepare for the next year.

Marchese said that the camp is also a way to offer essential physical, speech and occupational therapy to children whose parents may not be able to afford such specialized treatment, especially in adverse economic times.

Yet, Ella and the rest of the children continue to make strides. Wednesday morning, Marchese couldn’t contain her emotions at the thought of her husband, Joe, seeing their daughter ride her bike for the first time, a skill she conquered at camp.

“I can’t wait for him to see her ride her bike,” she said. “He’s going to be floored. But you take it for granted, you know; you think all kids know how to ride a bike.… You’re so proud of them. You love all your children; you’re so proud of all of their accomplishments, but to watch them reach a milestone, it’s just overwhelming this joy. They bring so much joy in to your life. To watch them realize they’re accomplishing something, it’s awesome, as a mom.”

Each day the children follow a regimen of therapy with special education teachers, therapists and volunteers. They work their fine, oral and large motor skills while having fun, singing along to music, working on the computer and riding bicycles, something new this year. They practice counting, reading and writing through programs designed specifically for people with delayed learning.

“They can do all of these things,” said Marchese. “It just takes a little extra effort, a little extra work, a little extra patience and time, but they can do the same things that their typical peers can do.”

The LDSS was founded in 2006 by Candy and John Bogardus, who have a 6-year-old daughter, Lainey, with Down syndrome. Candy Bogardus said that she and her husband went looking for a local support system and found the closest groups in Jacksonville and Atlanta.

In addition to Camp Buddy, which accommodates Effingham and Chatham counties, the group provides new parent packets for new parents of children with Down syndrome with information about the genetic chromosomal disease and early intervention therapy.

“When Kristen (Fears) was born, I didn’t know anything about Down syndrome,” LDSS member Wendy Fears said of her daughter. “What you did know was all negative things.”

Fears said that her mother never thought Kristen would be able to read, and that through early intervention and therapy, Kristen is able to play ball and dance at recitals like other children. She said that the expectations of this generation are far beyond those with Down syndrome before them.

“Their quality of life is going to be phenomenal because of things like (Camp Buddy),” said Marchese. “They’re going to be productive members of the community and they already are.”
The group also sponsors a Night of Champions award banquet, honoring businesses that employ people with disabilities and those employees.

“Our whole goal with that is to recognize that these people are making a difference,” said Bogardus, also secretary of LDSS, “and we invite other businesses to show them how they could become a part of that difference.”

Marchese said that the LDSS, while still only able to offer Camp Buddy to school age children, hopes that as the Buddy Walk grows, more people will offer to run camps for teenagers and adults with Down syndrome, catering to those needs.

Bogardus said: “We just want to, at this stage, help (our children) to be as successful as possible as they get older and to realize that they don’t have to place any limits on themselves. By doing that, we help the community to not want to place limits on them, because that’s another goal of ours is the community awareness that our children are just children and people with Down syndrome are just people.”

200 iPad, iPhone, and iPod Apps for Special Ed

Learning via iPad, iPhone, and iPod is gaining popularity among parents and children. It is not only effective but a relatively less expensive way to promote learning in hours and locations where your child learns best. A popular app in our home is Monkey Preschool Lunchbox, and we highly recommend it. Another popular app is Little Speller.

Click here for a resource of 200 apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod to help you find the perfect apps for your child from community.babycenter.com. 

iPad for kids with Down syndrome

From wfmj.com:

Marina Donadio isn't even in kindergarten yet, but the five-year-old is already learning to spell and read. Her mom, Kelly Donadio, says it's all because of apps on an iPad. "It's mind blowing to me that she's able to do that."

And since children with Down Syndrome often face challenges with fine motor skills, the iPad's touch screen makes activities more accessible.

Donadio says, "Holding a pencil is a chore sometimes for children with Down Syndrome because of the low tone in their hands. Eventually they do that, but this is a great way to help it not be such a challenge."

Now, other children like Marina will have the same opportunities to improve their education and communication skills. Recently, the Down Syndrome Association of the Valley gave away 21 iPads to member families.

DSAV Board Member, Chris Donadio says, "The iPad is a pretty big deal. It's being used in a lot of special education settings around the country, and right here in the Valley, we're on the cutting edge."

Parents say they expect the teaching tool will be useful both at home and at school.

The iPads were purchased with grant money from Ronald McDonald charities, as well as money raised from DSAV's annual Buddy Walk.

Apps for kids with special needs

There are some amazing apps out there for iPad, iPhone, and iPod to help our kids learn and possibly improve quality of life.  The following links are attached to give some suggestions on where to find some apps to test out.

• Best iPad apps for kids
• iPad apps for kids with special needs
• Apps for SPED
• Apps for childern with special needs
• iPhone and iPod touch apps for special education
• Proloquo2Go

Lastly, see the Down Syndrome Daily Apps Page!