Early Childhood Family Support

Thinking of you all, and special thoughts for the ...

2009-02-14T15:09:00.000-06:00

Thinking of you all, and special thoughts for the Turnbull family.

Drug Intervention Virginia

2009-01-17T00:58:00.000-06:00

Drug Intervention Virginia

Thanks for passing the word on Lori. I think the e...

2008-12-26T19:09:00.000-06:00

Thanks for passing the word on Lori. I think the email address for Heather is now correct (hope so at least).

Hi,Thanks for this heads up!I just wanted to let o...

2008-12-24T10:21:00.000-06:00

Hi,

Thanks for this heads up!

I just wanted to let others know that I followed up on this request and also asked friends, family and interested parties to also follow up.

Please note that Heather Higgenbothem's email address is
incorrect and bounced back to me.

Any suggestions as to who else to email to... would be appreciated.

Lori Guidos
Executive Director
DisabledCommunity.Org

admin@disabledcommunity.org
www.disabledcommunity.org

You make an interesting point. In the case of chi...

2008-11-23T19:53:00.000-06:00

You make an interesting point. In the case of children who have special communication needs, involvement in the activities and lessons is often increased when everyone in the classroom--students, assistants, and instructors--all communicate in a mode that the child can easily understand. Other environments are, in some ways, less inclusive because they are not as accessible.

So the term "natural" is subjective from this perspective. Some would even say that disability itself is a subjective term--that a child who is in an all signing environment does not have a disability because the child's ability to do things is not impaired (where a child who can hear but does not sign would be).

But, IDEA does use an objective definition of natural--natural environment means an environment that is typical for children without any disabilities. So with respect to the law and legal requirements, what is "natural" is not a subjective question but a question of comparison to what is typical for the general population.

The issue I think you really want to raise (from the legal perspective) is whether the child sufficiently benefits from the inclusive classroom or whether one that provides greater access to (or inclusion) in the curriculum through signing--even if less inclusive with regard to participation with children without disabilities--would be a better choice.

What I find interesting about this topic is that "...

2008-11-23T18:08:00.000-06:00

What I find interesting about this topic is that "natural" is totally subjective, depending upon the disability.

My son is deaf. He requires a sign language environment in order to grow and develop academically and socially, yet that would not be considered natural to most people. What most would consider "natural" is to him the *most* restrictive environment. That may change as he ages and is able to use an interpreter (he is only 3), but even then I'd argue that in order to have access to everything in the classroom he needs to be in a signing environment.

So who makes the final call on what's natural?

Sure. You can find IDEA at:http://idea.ed.gov/dow...

2008-11-23T15:31:00.000-06:00

Sure. You can find IDEA at:

http://idea.ed.gov/download/statute.html

Could you please mention where I can find this law...

2008-11-20T14:23:00.000-06:00

Could you please mention where I can find this law?

Informative, thanks.

2008-11-16T01:43:00.000-06:00

Informative, thanks.

That's interesting--I've heard others say pretty g...

2008-08-05T14:18:00.000-05:00

That's interesting--I've heard others say pretty good things about the education system (generally) in your neck of the woods. So what do you see as the problems with teaching resources over there?

Special Education Teaching Resources is dealt with...

2008-07-30T15:06:00.000-05:00

Special Education Teaching Resources is dealt with so well over your way = I just wish it was the same way over here!

Sorry, I probably should have warned you--we are u...

2008-07-13T17:32:00.000-05:00

Sorry, I probably should have warned you--we are updating the community of practice software this week and there have been a few glitches and we've had to take it down for changes a few times.

I'll let the CoP administrator know you are having difficulties; I'm sure he can get the problem worked out pretty quickly. Sorry again for the problem.

I'll also be sure to write a post when the transition to the new software is complete (I expect that to happen this week).

Hi again Matt!I found it and it was - IS - indee...

2008-07-12T13:36:00.000-05:00

Hi again Matt!
I found it and it was - IS - indeed very useful. I tried to register but couldn't ... I was wondering if I was doing something really dumb here ... is there something I'm missing??
Keep up the good work !!
Speak soon
Alison

The link for our Community of Practice is at the t...

2008-07-12T08:40:00.000-05:00

The link for our Community of Practice is at the top of the left sidebar (I may not have added it back in by the time you checked the site before)

No I didn't see the Community of Practice on Early...

2008-07-12T06:28:00.000-05:00

No I didn't see the Community of Practice on Early Childhood Family Support but I'll take a look. The Bernard Bunch has hyperlinked you to our site and we hope this helps a little. There are so few sites like yours and yet they are so useful. Good job Matt and co!
Alison
(The Bernard Bunch)

Thanks Alison. We didn't get started on the blog ...

2008-07-11T10:46:00.000-05:00

Thanks Alison. We didn't get started on the blog until last November, but I think it is coming along pretty well. We still need to get the word out and more links to our site, but that too is coming along.

Did you check out our Community of Practice on Early Childhood Family Support? This blog originated as an offshoot of that community.

Thank you! This is a great initiative, and such a...

2008-07-11T01:33:00.000-05:00

Thank you! This is a great initiative, and such a useful reference place for parents like us. Thanks so much for taking this initiative.
Alison
(The Bernard Bunch)

I also recommend the National Dissemination Center...

2008-06-25T15:12:00.000-05:00

I also recommend the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities -- also know as NICHCY -- at www.nichcy.org.

Matt,This is a good article on an area which is so...

2008-06-09T10:19:00.000-05:00

Matt,
This is a good article on an area which is so new that there is limited knowledege and experience.

I would suggest that readers look at the Technical Assistance Alliance. It has a scientific-based research section at www.taalliance.org/resources/Research.asp. Also the Access Center at www.k8accesscenter.org/index.php has information on this topic for special education staff.

Hmm. It plays for me, so the link hasn't gone bad...

2008-05-29T02:52:00.000-05:00

Hmm. It plays for me, so the link hasn't gone bad. Perhaps it is a compatibility issue between the format and the video player you use. Or I suppose it might be a security setting.

You should also be able to find the video here:http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=dennis+mcandrews&sitesearch=#q=special%20education%20law&sitesearch=&start=10

Hopefully, it will work for you.

I was unable to view video...is there a secret?

2008-05-28T14:39:00.000-05:00

I was unable to view video...is there a secret?

These regulations are a good idea, but there still...

2008-05-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

These regulations are a good idea, but there still seems to be some holes in the new laws. For instance, health information is not the only thing you can get from your DNA:

http://dnatestingguides.com/2008/05/what-is-dna-testing/

For example with the wholesale collection of DNA the government, or any company that so wished, could compile a DNA fingerprint database or trace your ancestry.
It's not clear how the new regulations would apply to this. Perhaps the best way to stop companies/governments abusing genetic information, is to not only protect the information, but not let them have it in the first place.

Thanks Ali--for both the compliment and the new re...

2008-03-01T19:41:00.000-06:00

Thanks Ali--for both the compliment and the new resource. I will add Oregon to the post! We're getting a nice list of state resources together.

Gentle readers, we've added a link to Ali's blog--Early Intervention Insight--under our recommended blogs. So be sure and check it out.

This is a truely helpful resource, Beach Center! ...

2008-03-01T15:21:00.000-06:00

This is a truely helpful resource, Beach Center! Thanks for your wonderful advocacy for children and a friendly resource for families. It's a blog to boast about! :) -ali

Here is my addition for a site explaining EI/ECSE programs in Oregon as the Oregon Department of Education is the primary funding for out EI/ECSE programs.

http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=252

Since I'm relatively new to blogging and it takes ...

2008-02-29T12:26:00.000-06:00

Since I'm relatively new to blogging and it takes alot of time to read through past posts to find the nuggets of gold that may exist in their lengthy content, the Redux idea sounds great to me. Thanks for making the extra effort to make this blog easier to use.