tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46165869232540043902024-02-20T19:57:28.127-06:00Missouri Elementary and Secondary Special EducationThis blog is dedicated to the children of Missouri that are being serviced by the Special Education system. They are not receiving the services that they need because they will never make the state or their districts look good.faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.comBlogger692125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-51312650877364154352015-05-21T10:31:00.001-05:002015-05-21T10:31:27.079-05:00Do I Have to Pick Up My Child with Special Needs Every Time the School Calls?<a href="http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2014/05/27/do-i-have-to-pick-up-my-special-needs-child-early-every-time-the-school-calls/">Do I Have to Pick Up My Child with Special Needs Every Time the School Calls?</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
<div class="articleArea"> When your house telephone or cell phone rings between the <br />
hours of 8:00am-4:00pm on school days, does a feeling of panic or dread <br />
overcome you, believing that your child’s school is calling? If you <br />
answered yes, then you are not alone. That time, when our special needs <br />
children are in school, and out of our sight, makes our imaginations run<br />
rampant. Seeing the name of the school on the Caller ID, makes our <br />
heart stop, and sets our imaginations into overdrive.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
Many times the reason for the call is to come collect our child with <br />
special needs because he/she is requesting to leave, the school doesn’t <br />
feel like dealing with them, or he/she doesn’t want to do the <br />
assignments.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
Working and non-working parents alike are forced to scurry to school <br />
in the middle of the day to pick up children for issues that the school <br />
could have typically handled internally. These repeated pick-up calls <br />
beg the question as to whether the school can legally require parents to<br />
come get their special needs children before the school day concludes.<br /><br />
<br />
<h2>It Depends on the Situation</h2>The short answer to the aforementioned question is it depends on the situation. Your child has the right to attend school. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Students can only be kept away from school if they have been officially suspended.</strong></span> <br />
Further, suspension should always be a last resort. The schools should<br />
always try different interventions to help your child before resorting <br />
to a suspension.<br /><br />
<br />
<h2>Question #1: Has he or she been suspended?</h2>The first question to ask when you have been requested to pick up <br />
your child because of behavioral issues is whether he/she has been <br />
suspended. If he/she has not been officially suspended then he/she <br />
cannot be removed from the school by the administration.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
The school, when they call you for a pick-up, in essence, is <br />
requesting that you voluntarily take your child home when there is a <br />
behavioral situation that doesn’t warrant suspension. Schools are <br />
required to provide your child with the necessary supports to benefit <br />
his/her education, and schools must find a way to deal with your child’s<br />
behavior.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
If behavior is an on-going issue, then discussions must be had to <br />
find the proper placement for the child. Schools cannot give you <br />
conditions of attendance or even mention or suggest the use of <br />
medication for your child.<br /><br />
<br />
<h2>A meeting is required</h2>Again, if behavioral issues related to the disability continue to <br />
persist, the school needs to meet with the parents and IEP Team and <br />
determine the best course of action. School is challenging for special <br />
education students and some would rather be at home than school. These <br />
students quickly learn the behaviors that will get them to be picked up <br />
early and will effectuate those behaviors more frequently.<br /><br />
<br />
<h2>School is the best place</h2>The best place for a child is in a school setting with other <br />
children. Calling parents for early pick-up is a quick route for schools<br />
not wanting to deal with the underlying issues and causes. School <br />
personnel and professionals have far superior training in dealing with <br />
behavioral issues stemming from disabilities than most parents do. That<br />
is why school is the best place for your child during the school day.<br /><br />
<br />
<h2>Federal and State Law Requirements</h2>Most states have enacted laws or regulations requiring that each <br />
student’s school day be a minimum amount of hours per day, per year. <br />
Under federal and state law, disabled students must be afforded the <br />
same opportunity to participate in and benefit from instruction and <br />
other education-related services that are equal to those provided to <br />
nondisabled students. The ironic part is that the school day is being <br />
routinely shortened for students who can least afford it.<br /><br />
<br />
<h2>The 2 Big Questions to Ask</h2>There are obviously certain situations where you are glad the school <br />
called and you are happy to extricate your child that day from a very <br />
precarious position. Once in a while is fine. Daily, weekly, and/or <br />
monthly calls are not acceptable. When you get the phone call from the <br />
school requesting you pick up your child, immediately ask:<br /><br />
<br />
<ol><li><strong>Is he/she being suspended? </strong></li>
<li><strong>Has he/she been physically injured or harmed?</strong></li>
</ol>If the answer from the school to the two above questions is no, you <br />
are not required to come running to the school. You are not being <br />
callous or un-caring, you merely want your child to be educated like all<br />
the other students in the building.<br /><br />
<br />
<h2>Early Dismissal</h2>Schools in the past have been cited for the early dismissal of <br />
disabled students. “Packing up” disabled students early, before school <br />
is dismissed, deprives them of educational benefit and allows for them <br />
to be treated differently than nondisabled students.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
There is no basis for shortening the day of an entire classroom of disabled students. When I use the term “early” I<strong> do not mean five minutes, it is typically 30-60 minutes early.</strong><br />
Your child is the consumer, don’t let he/she be deprived of valuable <br />
education time because its more convenient to get them packed up early.<br /><br />
<br />
<h2>Needs still not being Met?</h2>If you have attempted to discuss these concerns with your school’s <br />
administration or IEP team, with no resolve, your next plan of action <br />
should be to file a <a href="http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2014/02/06/what-is-the-difference-between-a-state-complaint-and-due-process/" target="_blank" title="What is the Difference Between a State Complaint and Due Process?">state or federal complaint</a>.<br /><br />
<br />
</div><br /><br />
faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-31264552334846871442015-04-07T20:00:00.001-05:002015-04-07T20:00:54.124-05:00Missouri Struggles to Integrate Special Education Students | KBIA<a href="http://kbia.org/post/missouri-struggles-integrate-special-education-students">Missouri Struggles to Integrate Special Education Students | KBIA</a>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-16549211441490703952014-12-19T22:36:00.001-06:002014-12-19T22:36:08.247-06:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: I'm As Disappointed In Lee's Summit as Dr. McGehee Is About The New Commissioner<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/12/im-as-disappointed-in-lees-summit-as-dr.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: I'm As Disappointed In Lee's Summit as Dr. McGehee Is About The New Commissioner</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><i>However, Lee’s Summit Superintendent David McGehee made it known in a tweet after the board’s announcement that he wanted new leadership from outside the department.</i></span><br /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><i>“Chance to heal and regain trust is lost,” he wrote. “Shame on you @MOEducation State Board. Reality and perception collide with no surprises here.”</i></span><br /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">I feel the same every election. We have the same people on the school board, the city council, the CAC, Lee's Summit Cares, and every other organization in this town. We need new leadership in Lee's Summit. We need a chance to heal and regain trust. We will never see it, either.</span>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-29248297329671242014-10-20T09:44:00.001-05:002014-10-20T09:44:56.929-05:00Fox school administrators book $1,000 hotel rooms for Conference | FOX2now.com<a href="http://fox2now.com/2014/10/10/fox-school-administrators-book-1000-hotel-rooms-for-conference/">Fox school administrators book $1,000 hotel rooms for Conference | FOX2now.com</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 28px;">ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – Former Fox Superintendent Dianne Critchlow wasn’t the only one responsible for a costly trip to an Orlando Conference that cost taxpayers thousand of dollars more than it should have.</span><br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 24px;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 24px;">A suite for Critchlow was booked at the Hard Rock Hotel for more than $1,000 a night. The rate was dropped to $550 a night when six people and their spouses finally arrived for the conference. A Freedom of information request reveals that the current Acting Superintendent Tim Crutchley actually booked the rooms and the charges were approved by the School Board. The Board still voted to approve the charges that were well above the $110 limit for hotel rooms set by School District Policy.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 24px;">We caught up with Crutchley to explain why he took an action that violated District policy. He answered that he was acting on orders from Dianne Critchlow. Federal funds were used to pay for this trip. Funds intended to provide professional development training for teachers and administrators. Instead six top school officials and their spouses got to go to a convention on taxpayers dime.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 24px;">It seems the district has been hording the Federal Funds and had amassed $600,000. They used some of the money to send Critchlow, her husband and other administrators to Orlando.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 24px;">District’s website: <a href="http://www.fox.k12.mo.us/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #00a4e2; text-decoration: none;">http://www.fox.k12.mo.us/</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 24px;">Fox School Board: <a href="http://www.fox.k12.mo.us/board_of_education/board_members" rel="nofollow" style="color: #00a4e2; text-decoration: none;">http://www.fox.k12.mo.us/board_of_education/board_members</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 24px;">Fox Acting Superintendent: <a href="http://www.fox.k12.mo.us/departments/superintendent" rel="nofollow" style="color: #00a4e2; text-decoration: none;">http://www.fox.k12.mo.us/departments/superintendent</a></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-36295804578463538972014-10-20T09:43:00.001-05:002014-10-20T09:43:35.774-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Fox C-6 Watchdogs: Critchlow Getting Invoiced for Money She Owes the District - UPDATED: 10/03/2014<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/10/fox-c-6-watchdogs-critchlow-getting.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Fox C-6 Watchdogs: Critchlow Getting Invoiced for Money She Owes the District - UPDATED: 10/03/2014</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">This week's Arnold-Imperial Leader is reporting that former Fox C-6 superintendent Dianne Critchlow is getting invoiced by the district for money that she improperly charged the district. If the community wasn't already mad enough about the fact that she was purchasing meals and personal items using her district credit card, we now learn that she was double dipping. She was getting reimbursed for personal miles while driving a district owned Chevy Tahoe and filling the tank of the Tahoe using her district credit card while raking in more than $260,000 in salary.</span><br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">It's really hard sometimes to even come up with the words to write after uncovering or learning about all of the things that we have so far about the misdeeds and dishonest things former superintendent Dianne Critchlow did while "leading" the district. She took advantage of the system in just about every possible way she could.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">It's obvious that she used intimidation and fear to keep anyone from reporting what was going on inside the district. If you discovered things and you weren't an employee of the district, she sent you Cease and Desist letters to try and stop you from publicly exposing her misdeeds and shedding light on the problems and cover ups by the district. Her deception and obfuscation worked well in hiding the money that she was collecting both in salary and for items she was purchasing for personal use with her district credit card.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">It was also reported in the Arnold-Imperial Leader that Critchlow had the district reimburse her for eye glasses even though the district was already paying for her vision insurance. It was like a <b>FREE RIDE</b> using taxpayer dollars.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">UPDATED: 10/03/2014</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Demand Letters to Critchlow for Repayment</span></b></div></div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/6ndp9w96qhzr6j9kiwtz" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">09/24/2014 Demand Letter for Mileage</a></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://app.box.com/s/xgyknvxyuto6q4bhmqca" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">09/25/2014 Demand Letter for Eyeglasses and Traffic Ticket</a></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">What little trust anyone had for her should be completely shattered by now. Facts are being uncovered that are irrefutable and indefensible. People can't even make up some of the things she has done because so many of them are so egregious that they are just too incredible to conceive. As a person who was touting on almost every single document sent out by the district and on banners throughout the district how Fox was a National District of Character, she was far from being representative of a person of character.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">I commend all of the teachers, staff, volunteers and administrators who have had to put up with the abuse and intimidation that everyone has put up with for the past 9+ years under our former superintendent's reign of fear. I've been told so many stories in the last couple of months and I'm sure that I will hear many more in the years to come as to what went on behind closed doors was kept from being discussed in public through fear and intimidation.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">I certainly hope that morale continues to improve as new leadership gets hired and policies protecting employees are put in place. Bad behavior should result in eventual dismissals or demotions and hopefully fear won't be a factor anymore.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">In order for an organization like our school district to truly succeed and excel, there must be that feeling of trust that everyone will always do the right thing and will always take the high road no matter what. You can't have people fearing for their jobs or fearing for their safety. They must be able to trust their supervisors, administrators and coworkers to do the right thing.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">There must also be a mutual level of respect for everyone in the organization and outside the organization with the community in order to succeed. Otherwise, it will just be a job for many and students, staff and the community will suffer as a whole.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">Our district has a lot of great teachers and staff and despite the lack of respect that they have received from Central Office administrators over the years, they have still gone above and beyond expectations and do what's best for the kids. I would like to say thank you for doing what you do every day despite what you've been through for the past 9+ years. I can see that things are improving albeit not as fast as everyone would like. We know it's going to take time and that there will be many challenges ahead that we will have to overcome and we will overcome them.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">It's been very rewarding to hear from so many people who work or have worked in our district tell me that they are so glad that things have finally been exposed and brought to the public's attention. They say that many people have known for a long time but were afraid to speak for fear of retaliation.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">I've also been told by many in the district that the start of this school year has been one of the best that they've had in years and that morale has improved quite a bit and that's a good thing!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">Hearing those types of comments lets me know that all of my work was worthwhile and that I wasn't wasting my time as some may have wanted you to believe. I won't name any names but I'm sure you might know a few people who didn't want anyone to know about what was getting documented on this blog. <g></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">I'm glad I could help and I'm glad that many people are now aware of what's been going on. Societal pressure is what's needed in order to maintain a certain level of trust. Most people expect people to always do the right thing but that doesn't always happen as we've learned here at Fox.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">Going forward we need to learn by our mistakes of overly trusting those in charge to do the right thing and not listening to those that speak up and try to bring issues to everyone's attention.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">There were many times when I felt like I was working on a huge thesis on how school systems should function as demonstrated by other districts and at the same time documenting how badly a district can behave because there was no pressure or oversight to do the right thing. After several years of not getting anywhere you begin to wonder if things will every change. Now we know it can. It just takes lots of perseverance and motivation. It was a lot like running a marathon but a <b>LOT</b> longer. It was probably more like running the 90 miles to Jefferson City on the Katy Trail but over and over again as the years went by.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;">As we move forward we need to remember and document what happened so we can put measures in place to keep this sort of thing from happening again in the future. We don't want to go down this road again.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20.591999053955078px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.myleaderpaper.com/eedition/arnold-imperial_leader/page_1061065f-89f0-5092-874b-053edb199f44.html#page_01" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b>Pay It Back</b><br />Critchlow Article on the Cover of October 2, 2014<br />Arnold-Imperial Leader</a></span></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-66465256259649491832014-10-13T10:14:00.001-05:002014-10-13T10:14:19.303-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Education Law Center | Bullying<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/10/education-law-center-bullying.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Education Law Center | Bullying</a><br /><br />
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<h1 style="background-color: white; color: #0b4271; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">BULLYING</h1><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Times, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">According to national survey results, bullying affects approximately 30% of students in the United States, whether they are bullies, targets, or both. Bullying may be physical (hitting or punching), verbal (name-calling or teasing), emotional (intimidation through gestures or social exclusion), or, increasingly, cyberbullying (sending insults or threats through electronic communication). Research shows that by creating a climate of fear and disrespect in schools and adversely impacting student learning, bullying negatively impacts not only those directly involved, but also the bystanders to this behavior. Those who are bullied are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide, while those who bully are at risk of other antisocial or violent behavior.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Times, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" class="justifyleft" height="152" src="http://www.edlawcenter.org/assets/images/building_books%20on%20shelves%202.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: left; margin: 5px 15px 15px 0px; outline: none;" width="101" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Times, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">New Jersey school districts have been officially required to take measures to prevent and respond to bullying since 2002, when the State's first anti-bullying statute, N.J.S.A. 18A:37-13, was enacted. In 2007, in <a href="http://www.edlawcenter.org/assets/files/pdfs/bullying/LW%20decision.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #3399cc; font-weight: bold; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">L.W. v. Toms River Regional Schools Board of Education</a>, which ELC joined as an amicus, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a school district can be sued for damages, under the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), for not responding reasonably to bias-based student-on-student bullying and harassment that creates a hostile educational environment. Relief under the LAD is limited to students who are targeted for bullying based on a characteristic protected by the law, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Times, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Following the L.W. decision, the State created the New Jersey Commission on Bullying in Schools to study and recommend ways to strengthen New Jersey's approach to the problem. Through its active participation in the <a href="http://www.njbullying.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #3399cc; font-weight: bold; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention</a>, a coalition of advocacy organizations, government agencies, and service providers whose goal is to eliminate bullying in New Jersey's schools, ELC was invited to serve on the law committee established to advise the Commission.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Times, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The Commission issued a <a href="http://www.edlawcenter.org/assets/files/pdfs/bullying/Bullying%20Report%20December%202009%20-%20%20Final.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #3399cc; font-weight: bold; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">comprehensive report</a> in 2009, establishing a road map for the legal and policy reforms needed to combat bullying in New Jersey's schools. That report heavily influenced the drafting of New Jersey's "<a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2010/Bills/AL10/122_.PDF" style="border: 0px; color: #3399cc; font-weight: bold; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act</a>," which was signed into law on January 5, 2011 and is considered to be the strongest anti-bullying legislation in the country.</div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #0b4271; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant: small-caps; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Current Issues</h2><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Times, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Under the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, effective in the 2011-2012 school year, all New Jersey school districts must strengthen their standards and procedures for preventing, reporting, investigating and responding to incidents of harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB) of students, both in school and off school premises. In addition, school districts must comply with enhanced public reporting and training requirements, appoint an Anti-Bullying Specialist and Safety Team at every school, and appoint an Anti-Bullying Coordinator for every district. The Department of Education also has increased responsibilities under the law, including requirements to investigate HIB complaints that have not been adequately addressed at the local level and to create and administer a Bullying Prevention Fund.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Times, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">ELC priorities in this area include education about and enforcement of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, providing legal assistance in bullying and harassment cases, and expanding a pool of trained attorneys willing to handle cases pro bono on behalf of children who are bullied in school.</div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-18694714135881609322014-10-09T10:16:00.001-05:002014-10-09T10:16:27.376-05:00Legal and Appropriate Educational Programs for Children with Autism - West Palm Beach Autism & Education | Examiner.com<a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/legal-and-appropriate-educational-programs-for-children-with-autism">Legal and Appropriate Educational Programs for Children with Autism - West Palm Beach Autism & Education | Examiner.com</a><br /><br />
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<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden clearfix" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Proximo Nova', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field-item even" property="schema:articleBody content:encoded" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">More children than ever before are being diagnosed with <a class="inline_link omniture-click-processed" href="http://www.examiner.com/topic/autism" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">autism</a> spectrum disorders (<a class="inline_link omniture-click-processed" href="http://www.examiner.com/topic/asd" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">ASD</a>). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now estimates that 1 in 68 eight year-old children has an ASD. This dramatic increase in the prevalence of children with ASD over the past decade, together with the clear benefits of early intervention, have created a need for schools to identify children who may have an autism spectrum condition. It is not unusual for children with milder forms of autism to go undiagnosed until well after entering school. In fact, research indicates that only three percent of children with ASD are identified solely by non-school resources. As a result, school professionals are now more likely to be asked to participate in the screening and identification of children with ASD than at any other time in the past.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">The <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA)</a> and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) are the two major systems used to diagnose and classify children with ASD. The DSM-5 is considered the primary authority in the fields of psychiatric and psychological (clinical) diagnoses, while IDEA is the authority with regard to eligibility decisions for <a class="inline_link omniture-click-processed" href="http://www.examiner.com/topic/special-education" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">special education</a>. The DSM-IV was developed by clinicians as a diagnostic and classification system for both childhood and adult psychiatric disorders. The IDEA is not a diagnostic system per se, but rather federal legislation designed to ensure the appropriate education of children with special educational needs in our public schools. Unlike the DSM-5, IDEA specifies categories of ‘‘disabilities’’ to determine eligibility for special educational services. The definitions of these categories (there are 13), including autism, are the most widely used classification system in our schools. According to IDEA regulations, the definition of autism is as follows:</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">(c)(1)(i) Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined in this section.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">(ii) A child who manifests the characteristics of ‘‘autism’’ after age 3 could be diagnosed as having ‘‘autism’’ if the criteria in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section are satisfied.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">This educational definition is considered sufficiently broad and operationally acceptable to accommodate both the clinical and educational descriptions of autism and related disorders. While the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria are professionally helpful, they are neither legally required nor sufficient for determining educational placement. It is state and federal education codes and regulations (not DSM-5) that drive classification and eligibility decisions. Thus, school professionals must ensure that children meet the criteria for autism as outlined by IDEA and may use the DSM-5 to the extent that the diagnostic criteria include the same core behaviors (e.g., difficulties with social interaction, difficulties with communication, and the frequent exhibition of repetitive behaviors or circumscribed interests). Of course, all professionals, whether clinical or school, should have the appropriate training and background related to the diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. The identification of autism should be made by a professional team using multiple sources of information, including, but not limited to an interdisciplinary assessment of social behavior, language and communication, adaptive behavior, motor skills, sensory issues, and cognitive functioning to help with intervention planning and determining eligibility for special educational services.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">Legal and special education experts recommend the following guidelines to help school districts meet the requirements for providing legally and educationally appropriate programs and services to students with ASD.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">1. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">School districts should ensure that the <a class="inline_link omniture-click-processed" href="http://www.examiner.com/topic/iep" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">IEP</a> process follows the procedural requirements of IDEA. This includes actively involving parents in the IEP process and adhering to the time frame requirements for assessment and developing and implementing the student’s IEP. Moreover, parents must be notified of their due process rights. It’s important to recognize that parent-professional communication and collaboration are key components for making educational and program decisions</em>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">2. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">School districts should make certain that comprehensive, individualized evaluations are completed by school professionals who have knowledge, experience, and expertise in ASD. If qualified personnel are not available, school districts should provide the appropriate training or retain the services of a consultant</em>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">3. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">School districts should develop IEPs based on the child’s unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses. Goals for a child with ASD commonly include the areas of communication, social behavior, adaptive skills, challenging behavior, and academic and functional skills. The IEP must address appropriate instructional and curricular modifications, together with related services such as counseling, occupational therapy, speech/language therapy, physical therapy and transportation needs. Evidence-based instructional strategies should also be adopted to ensure that the IEP is implemented appropriately</em>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">4. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">School districts should assure that progress monitoring of students with ASD is completed at specified intervals by an interdisciplinary team of professionals who have a knowledge base and experience in autism. This includes collecting evidence-based data to document progress towards achieving IEP goals and to assess program effectiveness</em>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">5. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">School districts should make every effort to place students in integrated settings to maximize interaction with non-disabled peers. Inclusion with typically developing students is important for a child with ASD as peers provide the best models for language and social skills. However, inclusive education alone is insufficient, evidence-based intervention and training is also necessary to address specific skill deficits. Although the least restrictive environment (LRE) provision of IDEA requires that efforts be made to educate students with special needs in less restrictive settings, IDEA also recognizes that some students may require a more comprehensive program to provide FAPE</em>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">6. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">School districts should provide on-going training and education in ASD for both parents and professionals. Professionals who are trained in specific methodology and techniques will be most effective in providing the appropriate services and in modifying curriculum based upon the unique needs of the individual child</em>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">References and Further Reading</strong></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;"><a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004</a>. Pub. L. No. 108-446, 108th Congress, 2nd Session. (2004).</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">Mandlawitz, M. R. (2002). The impact of the legal system on educational programming for young children with autism spectrum disorder. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32</em>, 495-508.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">National Research Council (2001<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">). Educating children with autism</em>. Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism. C. Lord & J. P. McGee (Eds). Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/IEP-Meaningful-Measurable-Objectives-Jossey-Bass/dp/047056234X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350660776&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Twachtman-Cullen, D., & Twachtman-Bassett, J. (2011). The IEP from A to Z: How to create meaningful and measurable goals and objectives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.</a></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">Wilkinson, L. A. (2010). Best practice in special needs education. In L. A. Wilkinson, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Assessment-Intervention-Asperger-Syndrome/dp/1849058113/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326065567&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A best practice guide to assessment and intervention for autism and Asperger syndrome in schools </a>(pp. 127-146). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;"><a href="http://www.wrightslaw.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition (2007)</a>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">Yell, M. L., Katsiyannis, A, Drasgow, E, & Herbst, M. (2003). Developing legally correct and educationally appropriate programs for students with autism spectrum disorders. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 18</em>, 182-191.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;">Lee A. Wilkinson, PhD, CCBT, NCSP is author of the award-winning book, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Assessment-Intervention-Asperger-Syndrome/dp/1849058113" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A Best Practice Guide to Assessment and Intervention for Autism and Asperger Syndrome in Schools</a></em>, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. He is also editor of a new Volume in the APA School Psychology Book Series, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4317328.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children and Adolescents: Evidence-Based Assessment and Intervention in Schools</a></em>.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">If you enjoy reading my articles, you can click on "subscribe" at the top of the page to receive notice when new ones are published. You can also follow me at <a href="http://bestpracticeautism.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4489e3; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://bestpracticeautism.com</a>.</strong></div></div></div></div><section class="suggested-links" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Proximo Nova', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 30px 0px 0px;"><h2 class="headline headline--xl" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.375rem; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="highlight" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #76b700;">SUGGESTED</span> LINKS</h2><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 10px 8px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.125rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/preparing-teachers-for-students-with-autism" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Preparing Teachers for Students with Autism</a></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.125rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/school-psychologists-need-more-training-autism" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">School Psychologists Need More Training in Autism</a></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.125rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/what-do-teachers-know-about-autism-spectrum-disorder-asd" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">What Do Teachers Know About Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?</a></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.125rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/autism-and-inclusive-education" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Autism and Inclusive Education</a></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.125rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/positive-behavior-support-pbs-strategies-for-asd" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Positive Behavior Support (PBS) Strategies for ASD</a></li>
</ul></section>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-44216030506283988312014-10-08T09:37:00.001-05:002014-10-08T09:37:31.745-05:00Supreme Court Seeks Input On IDEA Case - Disability Scoop<a href="http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/10/07/supreme-court-idea/19740/">Supreme Court Seeks Input On IDEA Case - Disability Scoop</a><br /><br />
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<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">The U.S. Supreme Court is asking the Obama administration to weigh in on a case involving who should pay for private school tuition while special education disputes are litigated.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">The high court asked the U.S. solicitor general on Monday to provide an opinion on a case known as Ridley School District v. M.R. which centers on the “stay-put” provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Under the law, school districts must pay for students to remain in their existing educational placements while special education disputes between parents and schools are sorted out.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">However, the Ridley School District in suburban Philadelphia — joined by a handful of education groups — is arguing that a district’s obligation to pay for a private placement should end once a court rules in the schools’ favor, no matter if a child’s parents continue to pursue their claims.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">The issue arose in the case of a child known as E.R. in court papers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia decided earlier this year that the Ridley School District remains responsible for private school tuition for E.R. while the child’s family continues to appeal their dispute even though a lower court found in favor of the district.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Ridley School District was <a href="http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/07/30/supreme-court-clarify-idea/19560/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #3366cc; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">joined</a> this summer by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, the National School Boards Association and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association in asking the Supreme Court to take up the issue.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rather than accept or decline the case, however, the Supreme Court signaled on the first day of its new term that it will seek input from the nation’s solicitor general before determining whether or not to consider the “stay-put” provision</div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-58410929547112762472014-10-08T09:35:00.001-05:002014-10-08T09:35:38.599-05:00Families Turn To Social Media With Special Ed Complaints - Disability Scoop<a href="http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/10/06/families-social-media-sped/19732/">Families Turn To Social Media With Special Ed Complaints - Disability Scoop</a><br /><br />
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<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">TAMPA, Fla. — A chance meeting in a Sarasota restaurant put Amanda Taylor, the mother of a student with special needs, in touch with activist Jon Singer.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Taylor described the frustration she was having getting her daughter the services she needed at Robinson Elementary School in Plant City.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Singer, who works in financial services and splits his time between Sarasota and New Jersey, offered to put her story on his Facebook page. Taylor approved the scathing diatribe against the Hillsborough County School District, packaged with pictures of 8-year-old Alexis.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The day I went public, the school knew,” said Taylor, a divorced mother of four. “Within five hours, the principal, ESE (exceptional student education) specialist and teacher told me, ‘We’re on your side, Amanda.’ I just couldn’t believe what was coming out of their mouths.”</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Social media shaming increasingly is a tactic parents employ when calling, emailing or sitting through individualized education program, or IEP, meetings does not get the results they seek.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">School officials say they do what is best for children, according to the law and best practices, regardless of what parents might say on social media.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">But some parents believe otherwise. Taylor says her campaign got fast attention for Alexis, who has spina bifida, although the issues are far from resolved.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">In South Tampa, Henry Frost, who has autism, was able to attend his neighborhood school after a Facebook campaign in late 2012.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I Stand With Henry,” which featured a video that paid homage to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was Henry’s idea, said his mother, Lauri Hunt. “It’s his platform,” she said.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">In recent weeks Henry posted that Wilson Middle School took him off the rolls after he missed too many days because of medical issues. On Sept. 16, Henry posted that he’s back in Wilson.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alexis’ issue was not placement but services. Taylor said her daughter is on-level intellectually but behind academically. She says the trouble started in kindergarten, where Alexis was in a class of children with disabilities. “Every time I came in they would be painting or watching movies,” she said.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the older grades there were disagreements over whether Alexis could get out of her wheelchair and walk with her leg braces, and whether the staff was putting the braces on her properly. Taylor said Alexis was excluded from recess and did not get resources she needed to catch up academically.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">School officials are prohibited by law from discussing individual students publicly, so these accounts come entirely from the parents. The Tampa Bay Times attempted to discuss the social media shaming tactic with Hillsborough County School District’s ESE general manager Maryann Parks, but she declined “because it doesn’t have any effect,” said spokesman Stephen Hegarty.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Federal law assures children with special needs a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">But those terms are open to interpretation. School officials often consider special schools, or special classes that are in some schools but not others, both appropriate and safe.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Advocates of inclusion often push for students to be mixed in with their peers who don’t have disabilities, with aides to support them. Although the district gets federal funding for its roughly 29,000 students with special needs, officials say that funding does not cover all expenses. At the same time, district officials typically say their decisions are not affected by cost.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Singer fought his own very explosive battles with the school district of Tenafly, N.J. “I don’t even call them animals,” he said of the school officials. “It’s like an insult to dogs.”</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">He created a Facebook page. “I had 8,000 followers,” he said. “People started saying ‘I need your help.’ Others said, ‘I’d like to help.’ “</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Taylor’s story appeared on Singer’s page, Drive4Rebecca. He takes most of the credit for terms like “HELLSborough County” and MaryEllen EVILia,” for superintendent MaryEllen Elia. He called her the “Torturer in Chief.”</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">If Elia and her staff were offended, Taylor said she is fine with that. “I’m offended about the way they’re treating my child,” she said.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Immediately after the posting, she said, the school staff met with her to learn how to put Alexis’ braces on properly. They offered math materials she could use to help Alexis at home, but she said they didn’t follow through and numerous issues remain. “It’s been up and down,” she said.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Singer said he advises parents to “get people involved from day one, the minute you start emailing the superintendent about your child. That way it’s out there.”</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Too often, he said, parents assume it’s a zero-sum game, with enough money available for only some children. Or they fear retaliation.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">School districts “have lawyers on their side,” Singer said. “It’s so stacked in their favor and the majority of people don’t know their rights and they can’t afford a lawyer.”</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hegarty, of the Hillsborough County School District, said families have many avenues of recourse without resorting to public attacks.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Parents have lots of different ways to try to communicate: phone calls, emails, calling reporters, calling board members. And now social media,” he said.</div><div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The best way to affect the decision is to sit down in an IEP meeting or other meeting and work with the school district. We have dedicated, caring people who work with families every day and work hard to get to ‘yes’ on some very complicated cases.”</div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-47724109287594437722014-09-15T19:02:00.001-05:002014-09-15T19:02:35.005-05:00DESE Commissioner Nicastro to retire<a href="http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/09/15/chris-nicastro-dese-commissioner-retirement/15671523/">DESE Commissioner Nicastro to retire</a><br /><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">J</span><span style="font-weight: 700;">EFFERSON CITY, Mo.</span> – Dr. Chris Nicastro, commissioner of education, announced Monday she will retire at the end of the year. The announcement was made on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's <a href="http://dese.mo.gov/communications/news-releases/commissioner-education-chris-nicastro-announces-retirement" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://dese.mo.gov/communications/news-releases/commissioner-education-chris-nicastro-announces-retirement">website</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"This is exactly the right time both personally and professionally for a change in leadership. I will work closely with the State Board and the team to ensure a smooth transition and will be available in the coming months and years as necessary. I will always be a relentless public education advocate in whatever role the future holds," Nicastro said in the statement.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Earlier this year Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City) <a href="http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/2014/01/13/mario-chapelle-nadal-chris-nicastro-resignation/4463835/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/2014/01/13/mario-chapelle-nadal-chris-nicastro-resignation/4463835/">asked for the resignation of Nicastro</a>, citing allegations Nicastro attempted to grant a lucrative contract to CEE-Trust to develop an improvement plan for the Kansas City School District without looking for other options. Nicastro was also accused of changing the words in her department's Fiscal note Estimate.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">In July, Nicastro sat down for an <a href="http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/education/2014/07/09/missouri-education-chris-nicastro-interview/12411155/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/education/2014/07/09/missouri-education-chris-nicastro-interview/12411155/">exclusive interview</a> with NewsChannel 5's Farrah Fazal. During the interview, she said our public schools are in crisis, and spoke about a new model for the failed Normandy schools for more immediate reading, writing, and math results.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Nicastro has worked as a teacher and administrator in Missouri for nearly 40 years.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><i>Allison Sylte contributed to this report.</i></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-15326213771856253422014-09-08T20:23:00.001-05:002014-09-08T20:23:23.422-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Letter I Sent To Tony Stansbury and He and The Entire School Board and District Ignored<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/09/letter-i-sent-to-tony-stansbury-and-he.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Letter I Sent To Tony Stansbury and He and The Entire School Board and District Ignored</a><br /><br />
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-1918481428" style="line-height: 16.25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">My son is 13 years old and has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS (when he was 5), Kanner's Syndrome (from the E-3 form through the Autism Research Institute)and Asperger's Syndrome, Inattentive ADHD, and Dysgraphia (through Children's Mercy Hospital when he was 13). He had not had a private or school evaluation since he was five years old, until this year, when I requested that his school give him one. I have never had a reason to have him reevaluated until now. </span><b style="background-color: white;"><i><u>That means that he had not been evaluated for seven years.</u></i></b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">My son attended Prairie View, in Lee's Summit, from kindergarten until 6th grade. The educators at that school are amazing, caring, and wonderful people. I never had to ask for a thing for my son. They </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">knew what he needed and they did it. They did not address his autism or the issues that he has because of it. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">My son is now in middle school. In the spring of 2005 we met with the people from Prairie View and Pleasant Lea. We came up with provisions for his middle school years. </span><b style="background-color: white;"><i><u>His educators from Prairie View came up with 90% of these provisions based on their direct experience with my son.</u></i></b><br /><span style="background-color: white;">He does not like to break rules and </span><b style="background-color: white;"><i><u>his 6th grade teacher STRONGLY suggested that he leave each class a minute or two early.</u></i></b><span style="background-color: white;"> That would keep him out of the halls during the chaos and help him avoid getting a tardy. </span><b style="background-color: white;"><i><u>She stated that, "If he gets a tardy it will ruin his whole day. He will be lost to you for the rest of the day."</u></i></b><br /><b style="background-color: white;"><i><u><br />They also said that he should have a set of books in each classroom and a set at home. </u></i></b><span style="background-color: white;">This would also help him with getting to his classes on time. It would help with his organizational issues that </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">all autistic people suffer from.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">We also asked that he have</span><b style="background-color: white;"><i><u> music instead of art.</u></i></b><span style="background-color: white;"> His fine motor skills are not the best and art can be difficult. </span><br /><br /><b style="background-color: white;"><i><u>We asked that he have PE at the end of the day so that he wouldn't have to shower. According to the University of North Carolina, bullying can be at it's worse in the shower area. Autistic children are often bullied and my son has not been the exception.</u></i></b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>Pleasant Lea did not do any of these things until January when I wrote to the Department of Education, the entire school board, the superintendent, and Project Access. He did not get to leave class early. He did not get a set of books in each classroom or a set at home. He had art. He has PE 6th hour.</b></span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">He got seven tardies in a span of three weeks. He became depressed. </span><span style="background-color: white;">He came home from school one day and put the thermometer in the </span><span style="background-color: white;">microwave. Of course that didn't work out the way that he had wanted. </span><span style="background-color: white;">He had wanted to make it look like he had a fever.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">He ran to his room and put his piggy bank outside of his door. He </span><span style="background-color: white;">wanted me to take money out of it to replace what he had broken. I </span><span style="background-color: white;">went into his room and he was sobbing. He said, "I can't do anything </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">right. Your life would have been better if I had never been born."I </span><span style="background-color: white;">told him that a hole in my heart was filled on the day that he was </span><span style="background-color: white;">born. He said, "You never would have missed me if you had never known </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">me. A different child would have made your life better."</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I immediately contacted the school. This was September and I didn't </span><span style="background-color: white;">want the school year starting out like this. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;">I had a meeting with two teachers, one co-teacher, and two aides. I had talked about this with the <b>assistant principal, but she wasn't available on that day. Neither was the special education coordinator nor the autism coordinator.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I tried to explain his tardies. Five of them were directly due to his </span><span style="background-color: white;">having to go to his locker after every class. This would not have </span><span style="background-color: white;">been necessary if he had a set of books in each class. One tardy was </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">because he couldn't get his PE locker open and he waited until a </span><span style="background-color: white;">child from the next hour came in and helped him. One tardy was </span><span style="background-color: white;">because he was late to home room. His bus had came back through our </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">neighborhood, I witnessed this, twenty minutes after it had picked </span><span style="background-color: white;">him up. A student had gotten sick on the bus and the bus driver had </span><span style="background-color: white;">brought her back home. This meant that the students got to school 20 </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">minutes later than normal. He is AUTISTIC. He didn't understand that </span><span style="background-color: white;">his schedule had changed by twenty minutes.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">His co-teacher, Donetta Horkey, would not even let me finish a sentence. I didn't get to state what I just stated above. S</span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>he said that I was wrong and that </b><b>his bus had never been late. She said that he was just being stubborn and wouldn't take his book to PE. If he took his book to PE, he would be able to go straight to his class after PE instead of his locker. She said that he had not had a problem with his locker and that it </b><b>was stubbornness that made him late.</b></span><span style="background-color: white;"> The rule is that you don't take your books to PE. Once again, he WILL NOT break rules. Real or </span><span style="background-color: white;">perceived. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I told her that I would like to have a book at home, as per our </span><span style="background-color: white;">spring conversation. She said that he didn't need a book at home. The </span><span style="background-color: white;">information was available online. I told her that I would need a </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">username and password. She said that I already had it. I told her </span><span style="background-color: white;">that I did not. She said that I did. Finally, another teacher </span><span style="background-color: white;">intervened and told me that he would get me the password and </span><span style="background-color: white;">username. What if the internet was down? Why must I count on my </span><span style="background-color: white;">server when I was supposed to have a book at home?</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I explained that my son was depressed and related the incident of the </span><span style="background-color: white;">thermometer. I told them that I knew that his depression was a direct result of coming to this school. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>The co-teacher said that he would be </b><b>really stressed and want to stay home on Friday. She stated that he was going to have a test and that he was going to flunk it.</b></span><br /><br /><b style="background-color: yellow;">I asked her if he was being given tests in small groups as was stated in his IEP. She said that she would have to drag him out into the hall to do that.</b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">My son has always gone to the learning center for his tests. Not once </span><span style="background-color: white;">was dragging him out of the class required. As a matter of fact, he </span><span style="background-color: white;">has never had any discipline issues until now.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">The next day I called the autism coordinator to explain my distress </span><span style="background-color: white;">after this meeting. Never have I been treated in such a manner. I am </span><span style="background-color: white;">an adult. If the co-teacher treated me this way, how does she treat </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">children? She is in charge of children with special needs.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>The assistant principal called me that same morning to discuss my son's tardies. Because of the number of the tardies he was to be </b><b>disciplined</b></span><span style="background-color: white;">. I told her about my meeting. She said that she would talk to the co-teacher, autism coordinator, and special education </span><span style="background-color: white;">coordinator. The co-teacher is also my son's home room teacher. They </span><span style="background-color: white;">took all but two of his tardies off of his record. This will not </span><span style="background-color: white;">change the damage that has been done.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">They kept my son out of home room for two weeks and </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>the main teacher </b><b>took him out into the hall and gave him the test. He passed the test with a "B". </b></span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">One day his math teacher asked him to do an assignment. Then she </span><span style="background-color: white;">started writing the answers on the board. He thought that he should </span><span style="background-color: white;">stop. Her story is that she asked him three times and he didn't </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">comply. His story is that he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. </span><span style="background-color: white;">He shut down and just sat there. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">She wrote him up. They call it a commitment letter. To my son it was </span><span style="background-color: white;">a punitive action. He started crying. She called me to let me know what had happened and that he was crying. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>I told her that I would cry </b><b><br />too, if every day that I went to work I was afraid that I was going to get into trouble and I didn't know why. If I didn't understand the </b><b>rules and what was expected of me I would be stressed, too.</b></span><span style="background-color: white;"> When OCR investigated the district this letter was missing. Proof that the district has destroyed evidence and committed a crime.</span><br /><br /><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">His teacher told me that she felt that he needed to live up to </span><span style="background-color: white;">expectations. I told her that I agreed. But, not the expectations </span><span style="background-color: white;">of "normal" kids. I told her that I had expectations the day that he </span><span style="background-color: white;">was born. Those are gone. I will give you the results of his Vineland </span><span style="background-color: white;">testing at the conclusion of this letter.</span></u></i></b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I received a call from the autism coordinator stating that she was </span><span style="background-color: white;">concerned because Jake had become depressed and lethargic. She wanted </span><span style="background-color: white;">to have a meeting to make a plan to help Jake. <b><i><u>At this point, I had </u></i></b></span><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">spoken with all of Jake's teachers, the special education </span><span style="background-color: white;">coordinator, the assistant principal, and the autism coordinator. I </span><span style="background-color: white;">had expressed my concern over my son's depression. At no time was he </span><span style="background-color: white;">sent to the counselor's office. </span></u></i></b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I went back for another meeting. They felt that we all just needed to </span><span style="background-color: white;">be more positive and help my son to be more positive. <b><i><u>They asked if </u></i></b></span><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">my being anxious had caused my son to become anxious. I assured them </span><span style="background-color: white;">that I was not anxious until my child began talking about dying.</span></u></i></b><br /><span style="background-color: white;">It was suggested that I take my son to his pediatrician for the </span><span style="background-color: white;">depression. I did this. My pediatrician was as confused as I was as </span><span style="background-color: white;">to why the school was having such an issue trying to figure out how </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">to educate an autistic child. She asked me if they were having budget </span><span style="background-color: white;">issues.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">We both agreed that my child should not be medicated for a problem at </span><span style="background-color: white;">school. She decided that she wanted to call the school and speak with </span><span style="background-color: white;">Jake's counselor.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I called the school counselor and told her about my son. My doctor </span><span style="background-color: white;">called the counselor as well. <b><i><u>It took a week for my doctor to get a </u></i></b></span><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">call back. Still, my son has never been to the counselor. The school </span><span style="background-color: white;">blamed my doctor for the time it took for them to call her.</span></u></i></b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I researched many autism sites and tried to find information on </span><span style="background-color: white;">educating autistic children. Most sites stated that I should offer </span><span style="background-color: white;">the school any information that I found so that we could work </span><span style="background-color: white;">together on my son's education. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I contacted Jerry Keimig, Special Education Coordinator for the </span><span style="background-color: white;">Lee's Summit School District. I told him that I wanted to have my </span><span style="background-color: white;">next meeting with the staff at the school and give them a chance to </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">work this out. I told him that I would call him back after my meeting.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I emailed Mr. Keimig after the meeting where we discussed making Jake </span><span style="background-color: white;">feel more positive. I told him that I would like to meet with him one-</span><span style="background-color: white;">on-one to discuss my issues. I told him that I get easily intimidated </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">when I have to face many people at one time. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i><u>Mr. Keimig refused to meet with me one-on-one</u></i></b>. He said, "I would be </span><span style="background-color: white;">happy to meet with you at any time, but not without direct input from </span><span style="background-color: white;">PLMS staff. I will ask that Emily Miller coordinate a meeting with </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">the three of us and any additional staff that might have more </span><span style="background-color: white;">background on your son. I have none."<b><i><u> I would have thought that he </u></i></b></span><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">could have read my son's file and gotten all of the background that </span><span style="background-color: white;">he needed.</span></u></i></b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i><u>I called Mr. Keimig several time the next few days. He WOULD NOT </u></i></b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i><u>return my phone calls.</u></i></b> I wanted to let him know what my pediatrician </span><span style="background-color: white;">and I had discussed. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: white;">I met with Mr. Keimig for 15 minutes. I told him that I had read that </span><span style="background-color: white;">most autistic children only respond to positive teaching. He told me </span><span style="background-color: white;">that I couldn't believe everything that I read. I told him that I </span><span style="background-color: white;">wanted my son in a class with a more positive teacher or in a </span><span style="background-color: white;">modified curriculum. He told me that he may not be able to help my </span><span style="background-color: white;">son in the future. I told him that my son was depressed and that </span><span style="background-color: white;">being in this class was making it worse. He told me that it was a </span><span style="background-color: white;">good life lesson for my son.</span></b></span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I informed him that I would be contacting Children's Mercy to have my </span><span style="background-color: white;">son reevaluated. I told him that my doctor felt that my son's </span><span style="background-color: white;">disability was not being addressed and that we would need </span><span style="background-color: white;">professional help to draw up his IEP.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">It will take six months to get my son even started on the </span><span style="background-color: white;">evaluations. Children's Mercy suggested that I contact MPACT so that </span><span style="background-color: white;">they could help mean in the interim. </span><br /><br /><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">I contacted the superintendent to complain about Mr. Keimig's lack of </span><span style="background-color: white;">understanding about autistic children and his inability to discuss my </span><span style="background-color: white;">concerns without totally dismissing me. I was contacted by the </span><span style="background-color: white;">principal of Pleasant Lea instead of by the superintendent. I told </span><span style="background-color: white;">her everything that I have just stated. She suggested that I contact </span><span style="background-color: white;">the assistant superintendent, Dr. Ann Starlin-Horner.</span></u></i></b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I contacted Dr. Horner. I told her of my concerns. I told her that I </span><span style="background-color: white;">was having another meeting with the staff at Pleasant Lea. I told her </span><span style="background-color: white;">that I would email all of my correspondence to her. That is when I </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">found out that the public can not have access to Administration email </span><span style="background-color: white;">addresses. I had to send everything to her secretary. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Dr. Horner called me back several days later and stated that she had </span><span style="background-color: white;">found out that I was having a meeting with the Pleasant Lea staff in </span><span style="background-color: white;">two days. She went on to say that she hadn't known about that. By the </span><span style="background-color: white;">end of the message she said that I had told her about it and that she </span><span style="background-color: white;">had forgotten. She told me that she would contact me after the </span><span style="background-color: white;">meeting. She stated that she was writing it on her calendar right </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">then. She didn't call me back until I wrote a letter to the </span><span style="background-color: white;">superintendent in December. Two months after my initial phone call.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jake is very smart, but he is getting an "F" in science, language </span><span style="background-color: white;">arts, and home economics. He has missed almost 20 days of school </span><span style="background-color: white;">because he has been sick so much. I believe that the stress that he </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">has been under has affected his health. I have, of course, received </span><span style="background-color: white;">the letter threatening me because of his absences.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jake has to go to his teachers for his make up work and tests that he </span><span style="background-color: white;">missed. He never does that and that is why he is flunking. He is </span><span style="background-color: white;">supposed to be taking tests in small groups, but they say that they </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">will only do that if they "don't have to drag him out of class" to do </span><span style="background-color: white;">it. He has never had to be dragged out of class before. <b><i><u>It states in </u></i></b></span><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">his IEP that he is supposed to take tests in small groups and that </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">the tests should be read to him. His case manager didn't even know </span><span style="background-color: white;">that that was in there.</span></u></i></b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I had another meeting in December. I must stress that the special </span><span style="background-color: white;">education coordinator for his school is trying to do her best. I just </span><span style="background-color: white;">don't think that the district has a clear understanding of how to </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">educate this unique population of students. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">In our last meeting we decided that he needed a place to go when he </span><span style="background-color: white;">gets stressed. It has been working and he is no longer as depressed.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">His teachers are supposed to write in his plan book every day so that </span><span style="background-color: white;">I know what his assignments were for that day and what we need to get </span><span style="background-color: white;">done that night. Only his core classes do this. And they don't do it </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">on a consistent basis.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">He didn't get books in all of his classrooms until January. He wasn't </span><span style="background-color: white;">able to leave any classes early, with the exception of one, until </span><span style="background-color: white;">January. The staff felt that it was not necessary and dismissed it. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">My advocate tells me that he should never receive a tardy. She said </span><span style="background-color: white;">that his paras should make sure that he gets his work turned in and </span><span style="background-color: white;">that they should be responsible for getting his make up work to him. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">That is something I am going to work on for his IEP. I trusted the </span><span style="background-color: white;">school to write an IEP that would be the best for my son. I have </span><span style="background-color: white;">learned that I will have to have a great deal of input so that it </span><span style="background-color: white;">will address my son's disability and the issues that come with it.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I had a meeting with Ann Starlin-Horner in December. We discussed all </span><span style="background-color: white;">of these issues. <b><i><u>Jake has started chewing again and he has gotten in </u></i></b></span><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">trouble for chewing in class. They said that it could pose a risk. He </span><span style="background-color: white;">is chewing on his fingers.</span></u></i></b><br /><b><i><u><br /><span style="background-color: white;">At our meeting, we decided that Jake should have something </span><span style="background-color: white;">appropriate to chew on. They decided that a bracelet, such as Lance </span><span style="background-color: white;">Armstrong wears, would be a good alternative. I told them that I </span><span style="background-color: white;">didn't feel that it would be good because he would have his wrist at </span><span style="background-color: white;">his mouth all day. </span></u></i></b><br /><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">Also at this meeting, Dr. Starlin-Horner said that my son needs to be </span><span style="background-color: white;">held accountable for poor decisions. She said that his tardy in PE </span><span style="background-color: white;">was an example of him making a poor choice. I told her that I </span><span style="background-color: white;">disagreed. He was in a panic about being late and he couldn't get his </span></u></i></b><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i><u>locker open. He didn't know that he had any choices.</u></i></b> His disability </span><span style="background-color: white;">wouldn't allow him to focus on his choices. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">After Christmas break they gave him the bracelet to chew on. The first day that he wore it he got into trouble for chewing on it. His teacher told him that "bracelets are for wearing, not for chewing on."</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">I have been posting on the EFECT board. It is a board for parents of </span><span style="background-color: white;">children with disabilities. At my last meeting I noticed that the </span><span style="background-color: white;">autism coordinator had a copy of every post that I had posted. She </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">tried to hide it, but I saw it as she was searching for a paper. This </span><span style="background-color: white;">board is for parents to share concerns, thoughts, issues, etc. It has </span><span style="background-color: white;">since been changed so that teachers can not access it.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">My son has been reevaluated and a new IEP has been drawn up. At our </span><span style="background-color: white;">IEP meeting the school admitted that they had not properly prepared </span><span style="background-color: white;">for my son and it was the cause of most of his issues this year.</span><br /><br /><b><i><u><span style="background-color: white;">His co-teacher, that wouldn't let me speak in our first meeting, has </span><span style="background-color: white;">now said that he has lost the two books that were kept in the </span><span style="background-color: white;">classroom for him. He hasn't lost the books that he had to bring home </span><span style="background-color: white;">and then return or the books in other classes. Only the books in her </span><span style="background-color: white;">class. Now I have to pay a fine for that. When I asked the principal </span><span style="background-color: white;">about this on March 31st, she never responded. I'm sure that they </span><span style="background-color: white;">will wait until the day that yearbooks are handed out and then tell </span><span style="background-color: white;">him that he doesn't get one because he owes fines.</span></u></i></b><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Sincerely,</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Sherri R. Tucker</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jake's Vineland Scores</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jacob Tucker was 12 years 9 months old on the interview date of </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">3/1/06. Jacob's standard score on the Adaptive Behavior Composite is </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">64. The confidence level of 90 percent yields a confidence band of 60 </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">to 68. Jacob's percentile rank of 1 on the Adaptive Behavior </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Composite indicates that his score is higher than or equal to only 1 </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">percent of similarly aged individuals in the norm group. His adaptive </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">level is rated as Low for his age group. </span></span></div><div id="ygrps-yiv-1918481428" style="line-height: 16.25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white;">1. Jacob's level of adaptive functioning within the Communication </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">domain is Moderately Low for his age group. His standard score of 78 </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">results in a confidence band of 71-85 at the 90 percent confidence </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">level. His percentile rank is 7. Thus, his score in this area is </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">higher than or equal to only 7 percent of his peers in the normative </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">sample. He has an adaptive level of Low for REceptive Communication, </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Adequate for Expressive Communication, and Adequate for Written </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Communication. The lower adaptive level for the Receptive subdomain </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">indicates that Jacob has particular trouble with tasks such as </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">accurately identifying some of the major body parts, following </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">instructions that require and action and an object, or understanding </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">an "if-then" statement. Be aware, however, that 17 percent of Jacob's </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Communication score was based on estimated performance. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jacob's standard score for the Daily Living Skills domain is 62 which </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">results in a confidence band of 57-67 at the 90 percent confidence </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">level. This score represents a Low level of adaptive functioning for </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">an individual of his age. His percentile rank for the Daily Living </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Skills domain is 1. His adaptive level is Low for all three </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">subdomains. </span></span></div><div id="ygrps-yiv-1918481428" style="line-height: 16.25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jacob's level of adaptive functioning within the Socialization domain </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">is Low for his age group. His standard score is 60 which results in a </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">confidence band of 54-66 at the 90 percent confidence level. His </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">percentile rank is 0.4. A look at the subdomain scores within the </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Socialization domain indicates that Jacob's adaptive level is Low for </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">all three subdomains (Interpersonal Relationships, Play and Leisure </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Time and Coping Skills). Be aware, however, that 45 percent of </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jacob's Socialization score was based on estimated performance. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jacob's standard score for the Motor Skills domain is 87. Jacob is </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">over 6 years old and therefore the standard score of 87 is an </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">estimated score. This score represents an Adequate level of adaptive </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">functioning for his age group. His percentile rank for this domain is </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">19. Jacob's adaptive level is Moderately Low for the Gross Motor </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Skills subdomain and Adequate for the Fine Motor Skills subdomain. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jacob's standard score for the Communication domain is significantly </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">different from the average for all of the domains. This large a </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">difference was also very rarely seen in the normative sample. Such a </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">difference indicates that his communication abilities are a strength </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">that he may use to compensate for skills in other areas. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Although Jacob's standard score for the Socialization domain is </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">significantly higher than the average for all domains, this </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">difference is not particularly unusual. In fact, a difference this </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">large occurred in over 16 percent of the cases in the normative </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">sample. Such a difference indicates that social abilities are a </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">weakness for Jacob relative to his skills in the other areas. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Activities that target the development of social skills may therefore </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">be useful. In fact, attention to socialization may help to raise his </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">overall level of adaptive behavior.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I met with the psychologist and got Jake's diagnosis. I'm sure that </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">you have already received the handouts that the psychologist gave me </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">and that you got the news of his diagnosis, but I thought that I'd </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">email you so that you would have the email. I went over it verbally </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">and that is a lot to remember.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Jake has been formally diagnosed with: </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Asperger's Syndrome</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Inattentive ADHD</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Dysgraphia</span><br /></span></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-25251903009422567622014-07-02T09:09:00.001-05:002014-07-02T09:09:10.877-05:00No spanking in schools across Missouri under lawmaker's proposal : News<a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/no-spanking-in-schools-across-missouri-under-lawmaker-s-proposal/article_a31bcd48-2cff-5474-9d9b-bc9f0ee59bb3.html">No spanking in schools across Missouri under lawmaker's proposal : News</a><br /><br />
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<div class="entry-content" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">JEFFERSON CITY •</strong> Through 13 years of teaching, Jennifer Kavanaugh never dreamed of hitting a child — not even once.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Kavanaugh, now a fifth-grade teacher at St. Margaret of Scotland School in St. Louis, previously taught in a school where children were physically punished for bad behavior, but she never participated.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">She knows there are teachers across the state who do, however, and she wants it stopped.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">“All studies point to the fact that corporal punishment does not make for a more peaceful, happier child,” she said at the Capitol on Wednesday.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Kavanaugh and about 30 of her fifth-grade students attended a hearing Wednesday on a bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Keaveny, D-St. Louis, that would ban corporal punishment, or spanking, in both public and private schools in the state. The Senate Committee on Progress and Development unanimously passed the bill Wednesday afternoon.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">“We need to stop assaulting our kids,” Keaveny said.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Missouri is one of 19 states that still allows corporal punishment in schools. The most recent states to ban it were New Mexico, in 2011, and Ohio, in 2009. Illinois also has a ban on this form of discipline, according to the Center for Effective Discipline, a National Child Protection Training Center program.</div><div style="float: right; margin-left: 2px; width: 378px;"><div class="ym" id="ym_724547456557849856"></div></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The country’s patchwork laws can largely be attributed to a 1977 Supreme Court ruling that left the issue up to the states. In Ingraham v. Wright, Florida students argued that the state’s corporal punishment policy violated both their Eighth and 14th Amendment rights. The court upheld Florida’s policy.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">In Missouri, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requires each school district’s written discipline policy to include a policy on corporal punishment. Should it be used, the local school board must determine how it will be used and whether a parent will be notified or can opt for a different form of discipline.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The department does not keep track of which districts in the state use corporal punishment. However, in 2009 the Missouri School Boards’ Association estimated that at least 70 of the more than 500 districts in the state had policies allowing the use of corporal punishment.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">A Post-Dispatch inquiry found that many districts in the St. Louis area — including St. Louis, Clayton, Lindbergh and Riverview Gardens — do not allow this type of discipline.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Ferguson-Florissant’s disciplinary policy also does not include spanking. District officials believe there are better ways — ranging from parent-teacher conferences to suspension or expulsion — to discipline a child, district spokeswoman Jana Shortt said.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">But some districts do allow the practice. About 4,200 students across the state were physically punished in the 2009-2010 school year, the most recent numbers available, according to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The Fox School District in Jefferson County used to allow spanking in its schools, but it changed its policy in the early 2000s, said Lorenzo Rizzi, the district’s assistant superintendent of secondary education.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">“I think the Board of Education no longer sees it as a proper way to punish kids,” Rizzi said. “The use of physical response doesn’t change behavior — oftentimes it escalates.”</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The trend away from corporal punishment mirrors a national trend. For the 2009-2010 school year, about 184,500 students were physically punished, compared with about 223,000 in the 2005-2006 school year, according to the department.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">A decrease, however, is not enough for Kavanaugh. She wants to see teachers use positive behavior supports.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">“We need to require more of teachers,” she said.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">No one spoke against the bill at Wednesday’s hearing. However, Sen. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, voiced concern about including private schools in the bill.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">“I do not support corporal punishment, but my parents sent me to a faith-based school ... I’m opposed to government interfering in the curriculum.”</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Senate Minority Leader and committee Chairwoman Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, said she wanted to move the bill forward but believed there could be a hang-up on the private school portion.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">“I suspect we’ll hear from people who don’t want state intervention in private schools,” Justus said.<span class="print_trim">“At some point, we may need some compromise when some folks come and talk to us. Right now, I haven’t heard any opposition.”</span></div></div><div class="tagline" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><div style="border-top-color: rgb(224, 224, 224); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alex Stuckey covers Missouri politics and state government for the Post-Dispatch. Follow her on Twitter at </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/alexdstuckey" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">@alexdstuckey</a>.</span></em></div></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-69378227927329172472014-07-01T09:47:00.001-05:002014-07-01T09:47:55.711-05:00We Want to Hear from You: New and Improved Feedback Platform Now Online | ED.gov Blog<a href="http://www.ed.gov/blog/2014/07/we-want-to-hear-from-you-new-and-improved-feedback-platform-now-online/">We Want to Hear from You: New and Improved Feedback Platform Now Online | ED.gov Blog</a><br /><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343c47; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The U.S. Department of Education has created a “one stop shop” to make it easier for you to give us feedback.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343c47; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Our <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/reg/retrospective-analysis/index.html" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #316194; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review webpage</a> is now online. This resource offers all of the information you will need to submit comments on current and proposed regulations, which could go a long way to help reduce regulatory burdens and generate results that are efficient and easier to understand.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343c47; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When you visit the page, you will find a link to all Education regulations open for public comment via <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #316194; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">regulations.gov</a>, a link to all existing Education rules via the <a href="http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #316194; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR)</a>, and a link to the easy-to-use <a href="http://www.ed.gov/blog/retrospective-review-of-existing-rules/" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #316194; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">form</a> for submitting comments on existing regulations. All links are conveniently found in the same location as the Department’s plan for retrospective analysis, status reports, and <a href="mailto:Reg-Review@ed.gov" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #316194; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">contact information</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343c47; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ED recognizes the importance of maintaining a consistent culture of retrospective review of regulations. We’re dedicated to streamlining and modifying ineffective and inefficient regulations, while ensuring our rules are concise and minimize burden to the greatest extent possible.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343c47; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Above all else, we’re committed to implementing regulations that support states, local communities and schools, institutions of higher education, and others in improving education nationwide and in helping to ensure that all Americans receive a quality education.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343c47; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We continue to seek greater and more useful public participation in our rulemaking activities and welcome your comments, ideas, and suggestions!</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343c47; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Elizabeth McFadden is the Deputy General Counsel for Ethics, Legislative Counsel, and Regulatory Services at the U.S. Department of Education.</em></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-4560634918545668712014-05-08T10:12:00.001-05:002014-05-08T10:12:07.595-05:00Expelled students need alternative education - St. Louis American: Guest Columnists<a href="http://www.stlamerican.com/news/columnists/guest_columnists/article_96aa6de0-d650-11e3-8127-001a4bcf887a.html">Expelled students need alternative education - St. Louis American: Guest Columnists</a><br /><br />
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<div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.006003379821777px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 18px;">For students who have been expelled from school, an alternative education is critical to getting them back on track and moving forward to a brighter future.</div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.006003379821777px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 18px;">Statistically, expelled or suspended students often end up on the wrong track, derailed and facing a bleak future filled with uncertainty, false starts, frustration and possibly a life of crime or drugs.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">A case in point: a 13-year-old student was expelled by the Hazelwood School District.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">At home for six months with no educational options and an unemployed mother who could not afford a private alternative education for him, the seventh grader was in serious jeopardy until Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM) and its Children’s Legal Alliance program stepped in.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Alleging that the Hazelwood School District’s refusal to provide an alternative education violated the student’s right to a free public education (as guaranteed by the Missouri Constitution and citing the district’s statutory obligation under 167.164 RSMo), LSEM filed a lawsuit against Hazelwood.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">LSEM further alleged that the refusal to provide an alternative education violated the student’s right to equal protection under the Missouri Constitution. Currently, the state provides an alternative education to children who become involved in the juvenile court system and to children who are certified as adults and incarcerated in Missouri prisons.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Yet the student, who had not been charged with any crime, was not receiving any alternative education. Named as co-defendants in the lawsuit were the State of Missouri, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Missouri State Board of Education.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The lawsuit was subsequently settled. In addition to changing it policy, the district agreed to pay for the student to attend an off-campus alternative education program called ACE. At ACE, the teen-ager is flourishing academically while his mother, who was previously unemployed partly because of her son’s expulsion, is back to work. </div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">While the case was successful, it remains to be seen whether the settlement will put the spotlight back on a recurring problem: the failure of Missouri school districts to provide expelled students or those under long-term suspensions any alternative education.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Contending they have no legal obligations to provide alternative options, many school district leaders and officials refuse it even though districts would receive the same amount of funds from the state as it does for a traditional classroom education.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">This denial of education is unfortunate.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Underlying research clearly demonstrates that offering alternative education to suspended or expelled pupils benefits them and society as a whole. Without an alternative, bad outcomes can occur.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Without day care or other arrangement options, the parent is often forced to quit his or her job to stay at home with the child. If left alone or not adequately supervised, the child could become susceptible to gang or other delinquent or criminal activity. And the child will not graduate from high school, all but eliminating post-secondary opportunities.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The positives of providing alternative education include a chance to return to high school and graduate while reducing delinquency and school failure. It’s also more cost-effective to society to educate these teens or children rather than kicking them to the curb, where welfare and prison costs are steep and crime and drugs reside.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Recently, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education published guidance in response to reports that children of color and children with disabilities are disproportionately suspended or expelled from school. That guidance concluded that children be removed from school only as a last resort, and if removed, they should be given an alternative education and returned to the regular education classroom as soon as possible.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">It’s too early to tell whether other school districts will take note of LSEM’s lawsuit and, like Hazelwood, change its policy of refusing alternative education to all expelled students.</div><span class="paragraph-0" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><span class="paragraph-1" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.004502296447754px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 18px;">Now is the time for all Missouri education leaders and stakeholders to reconsider this outdated and ineffective approach that ultimately harms students and society long after the final bell has rung.</div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-80095819474949769422014-04-22T10:39:00.001-05:002014-04-22T10:39:02.127-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Local School Boards Should be Abolished | Missouri Education Watchdog<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/04/local-school-boards-should-be-abolished.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Local School Boards Should be Abolished | Missouri Education Watchdog</a><br /><br />
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<div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">I’m all for local educational control. Authentic local control. We do not have authentic school board control in Missouri and I wager than many school districts in other states don’t have local control either. School districts must adhere to federal and state mandates and autonomy is eradicated and discouraged for local school boards. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><strong>An entity to watch and research in Missouri and your state is your <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">state school board association,</span> a private association which uses tax dollars for its existence.</strong> You might find (as we are discovering in Missouri) that these associations do not protect taxpayers, but rather, they assume control that is not granted to them but is wielded over school board members.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Missouri school board members must undergo training to understand what their duties are and most boards look to the Missouri State Board Association (MSBA) for this information. Increasingly it seems as if <a href="http://missourieducationwatchdog.com/?s=msba&x=0&y=0" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MSBA is writing policy for school boards instead of being an advisory organization.</a> Research your state school board association and determine its function for your school districts. It has become more of a regulatory association instead of training school board members to be effective voices for the citizenry which elected them. Tax dollars are spent for this training with this private organization. <a href="http://missourieducationwatchdog.com/education-organization-msba-provides-language-to-render-parents-wishes-meaningless-ask-your-school-board-members-whats-a-designee/" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">From a previous post:</a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">You can see how much your district pays to belong to MSBA <a href="http://www.msbanet.org/home/membership.html" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">here.</a> The amount is based on the budget of your school district. My district (Kirkwood) pays approximately $10,000 for MSBA’s direction and policy decisions. Why do we need a school board anymore? Maybe the education reformers are right. Just turn it over to private organizations directing how tax money is to be used. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b><i><u> School board members increasingly are figureheads for private organizations funded by local taxpayers who think they are actually voting for members who set/direct policy for their districts.</u></i></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The education reformers are increasingly calling for the demise of the local school boards. Local school boards don’t really do much other than hire/fire teachers and maintain physical property. If school board policy is being written by MSBA and the board members are following along adopting all the policies MSBA writes, then why do school boards exist?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The following article from American Spring shows the power MSBA has over school board candidates and school board policy in Camdenton, MO. From <a href="http://americanspring2011.com/2014/03/18/camdenton-missouri-school-board-elections-about-local-control/" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em>Camdenton, Missouri School Board Elections About Local Control</em></a>:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">Recently, <a href="http://americanspring2011.com/2014/03/17/april-election-meet-the-camdenton-school-board-candidates-news-the-lake-news-online-camdenton-mo/" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="April election: Meet the Camdenton School Board candidates – News – The Lake News Online – Camdenton, MO">the Lake Sun asked candidates for Camdenton school board their qualifications and asked a couple of questions.</a> The responses to the first of those questions are noteworthy, as it deals with a fundamental change to the way the public is ‘allowed’ to interact with board members.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">From the Lake Sun:</span><br /><strong style="background-color: white;">Do you think the current school board policy regarding public participation allows for sufficient opportunity for the public’s voice to be heard? Do you support the current policy or if elected would you seek to make changes to the policy?</strong><br /><span style="background-color: white;">This policy represents a fundamental shift of the tax paying public’s ‘role’ in school affairs. </span><strong><span style="background-color: yellow; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It plainly seeks to use a questionable interpretation of law to stifle public input to the board, requiring an approval process that filters communications meant for the board through both school administration and school attorneys. This, to many parents, represents another step in a silent coup, preformed under the assumption of authority neither the administration, nor the school attorneys, have. A concerted effort has been made to reinforce the false logic that our representatives should somehow be ‘protected’ from hearing from the public and parents they serve.</span></strong></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Part of the new public comment policy, as recommended during an August visit from an MSBA lawyer, appears below. </span><strong><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Camdenton adopted a </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">policy that restricts the public from having open discussions with the board about their concerns, if those requests aren’t ‘approved’ by administration and attorneys.</span></span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>7. Only items from the posted agenda may be discussed. If an individual seeks to address an issue that is scheduled to be discussed by the Board in closed session, the Board may require the person to hold his or her comments until closed session.</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong></strong><strong>8. The Board may vote to suspend or amend these rules in extraordinary circumstances. The Board may impose additional rules as it deems necessary and reserves the right to alter the above rules depending on the circumstances. The Board reserves the right to cancel, reschedule or delay the public comment period at any time or delay comment on a particular topic. The Board may refuse to hear comments on a particular topic if advised to do so by legal counsel.</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Paul Ellison writes how four of the five candidates support the MSBA’s policies of shutting down dialogue from the community:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">On January 14, 2014, in an <a href="http://americanspring2011.com/2014/03/17/direct-email-contact-with-school-board-now-a-reality-news-the-lake-news-online-camdenton-mo/" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Direct email contact with school board now a reality – News – The Lake News Online – Camdenton, MO">article in the Lake Sun announcing the email policy</a>, Assistant Superintendent Roma France announced the implementation of Camdenton’s email accounts for board members.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">France made the following statement:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Protocol would be for the Board president and/or superintendent to respond to the patron on behalf of the district.” She went on to say, “If several questions come in on the same topic, then the item may be placed on the next board agenda.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Lake Sun described the email procedures, as laid out for them by France:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">” Then, she told the board that emails would go to a mail distribution group, board@camdentonschools.org, which would be sent to each board member along with the superintendent or a designee. “</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">And that: ” In most cases, the superintendent or administration will be the one to respond. “</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">The guidelines adopted for the district’s email policy contain restrictions that mirror, in practical application, those inserted into the inappropriately named ‘public comment policy’. The guidelines offered the Lake Sun by Camdenton’s administration, read as follows:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>1. If you are providing Board members an e-mail address, all Board members by policy must sign the Authorized User Permit that staff and students must sign and Board member must agree to the same terms as staff and students.</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">This first policy restriction would allow, presumably, for the unfettered monitoring of emails between themselves and their constituents. It creates an environment worthy of the NSA in the Camdenton school district. It would allow complete access to all board member’s accounts, without cause, without warrant. Camdenton’s version of Big Brother, it can reasonably be assumed, is manned by school administration and the districts lawyers, the firm of Mickes, Goldman and O’Toole.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">Also from the Camdenton administration’s ‘guidelines’:</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: yellow;">4. When information is sent via the generic Board@camdentonschools.org, the protocol is for the superintendent or Board president to respond on behalf of the district and to cc the Board the response so that the Board knows the patron has been corresponded with and what was said. If a Board member disagrees with the response or has questions, he or she is encouraged to immediately notify the superintendent and the Board president of that fact.</strong></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">The last sentence in this ‘guideline’ is one that gives us pause, particularly when we consider the access and latitude granted the administration and its lawyers in regard to the distribution of emails in the first place. This assumption of authority, of determining which emails reach the board, is reemphasized throughout these ‘rules’ created by administration and their attorneys.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">Number five of these ‘guidelines’ ensures that, even a board member can be denied the ability to add a topic or concern to the agenda.<br /><strong><br />5. Any Board member may ask that a subject is added to the Board’s agenda at the next meeting for discussion. The Board as a whole will ultimately vote when approving the agenda to determine if the issue will be discussed.</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">The last sentence of ‘rule’ #5 is particularly offending:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>However, Board members are free to direct questions or concerns to the superintendent or Board president.</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">Number six in the list of guidelines:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>6. A Board member who is not the Board president may correspond individually with a patron, but is required to indicate that the opinions expressed are his or her own and not the Board’s. A Board member is prohibited from using a district-provided e-mail address contrary to district policy or law or to violate district policy or law.</strong></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><u style="background-color: yellow;">The key words and phrases in ‘rule’ number six are distressing. “Board member”, “prohibited”, “contrary to district policy” and “violate district policy”. These are words that place control of our school, not in the hands of our elected representatives, but into those of administration and attorneys. Many of these policies were crafted, approved and suggested by the attorneys for our school district and district administration. They are not rules of law, nor are should they be.</u></i></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><u style="background-color: yellow;">Rules nine and ten completes the usurping of power from the citizens in the Camdenton school district. They clearly illustrate the ongoing efforts to eliminate ‘local control’ over our school districts.</u></i></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><span style="background-color: white;">9. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">The superintendent or Board president in their discretion may not respond to messages from the same sender that are repetitive,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> or messages that are threatening or that use profane language.</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">10. The superintendent or Board president will not directly respond to messages involving litigation, potential or pending litigation, or a situation on appeal pursuant to district policies or the law.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: white;">In addition, the superintendent or Board president may not respond to messages if advised by the district’s attorney not to do so. However, the superintendent or Board president will acknowledge receipt of the message and notify the sender of the rules.</strong><br /><b><i><u style="background-color: yellow;">These policies, designed to remove, control and suffocate the input of parents and tax payers, </u></i></b><span style="background-color: white;">are the opposite of Barbour’s claims.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>“Yes, I believe the recently-updated school board policy facilitates engaged communications with our students, parents and patrons. We truly want to hear from our public. It’s their school. We recently enhanced this school board policy with an email address so our patrons can access all board members at exactly the same time from our school district’s web site.</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>Yes, I support this policy. We will be monitoring its progress. We also will continue to be cognizant of new technology as it emerges to communicate with the public exemplifying transparency and participation.”</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;">She also invited the public to “peruse” the school web site. Perhaps Ms. Barbour should have perused a dictionary for both the correct definition of transparency. To her credit however, Ms. Barbour didn’t dive under her desk like partner-in-crime, Jackie Schulte. Ms. Schulte used the question regarding the public comment policy shift to beat the drums of fear mongering. This fear mongering is based on the flawed legal interpretation that, somehow, the school board could be held liable for what a citizen says to them. This laughable notion is parroted by Schulte.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 60px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>“Board members are responsible for protecting our staff and students; allowing anyone to speak on impulse could open the district to possible legal repercussions.”</strong></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><u style="background-color: yellow;">Read about how the Board members are apparently working for the superintendent, not the other way around. The Board is supposed to represent the taxpayers who voted them in, not acquiesce to the superintendent….who the Board hires! Since when does a board take orders from an employee of the District?</u></i></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><u style="background-color: yellow;">Read about conflict of interests between board members and companies performing services for the district. Read about the law firm that represents and advises Camdenton School Board and decide if you think board policies are supporting the taxpayers or special interests. Read how this board is adopting policy written by the law firm that may very well be illegal. Read more <a href="http://americanspring2011.com/2014/03/18/camdenton-missouri-school-board-elections-about-local-control/" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">here.</a></u></i></b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"><u><i><b>Call your school district and find out which law firm is representing your district. Determine if your board policies are copyrighted and directed by MSBA. If most of your policies have been written by MSBA and suggested by your legal representative to be adopted, ask your board members if they are aware of the implications of denying citizens freedom of speech.</b></i></u></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Policies written by private organizations supported from tax dollars are developing/directing educational policy for local school boards. Sounds like the NGA/CCSSO writing Common Core standards, doesn’t it? <strong>We might as well abolish our school boards and state educational agencies and just shovel the taxpayer dollars to private organizations and forget this charade of local control because <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">it doesn’t exist.</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-58435705107523549112014-04-17T09:14:00.001-05:002014-04-17T09:14:57.184-05:00Spanking may soon be banned in Missouri schools | KMOV.com St. Louis<a href="http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Spanking-may-soon-be-banned-in-Missouri-schools-255620461.html">Spanking may soon be banned in Missouri schools | KMOV.com St. Louis</a><br /><br />
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<div id="storyInfoHolder" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; float: left; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 340px;"><span class="vcard author" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #222222; display: block; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="fn" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 340px;">by KMOV.com staff</div></span><span class="source-org vcard" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #484848; display: block; float: left; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 340px;"><div class="org fn" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">KMOV.com</div></span><span id="dateInfo" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 340px;"><div class="published dtstamp" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #484848; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="2014-04-17t04:11:28z">Posted on April 17, 2014 at 6:11 AM</div><div class="updated dtstamp" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #484848; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="2014-04-17t05:57:43z">Updated today at 7:57 AM</div></span></div><div class="entry-content" style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div id="inset" style="border: 0px; float: right; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px -8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 226px;"><div class="module" id="storyData" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 16px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 210px;"><br />
<dl style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></dl></div></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">(KMOV) – <span style="background-color: yellow;">Missouri is one of 19 states allowing corporal punishment in schools</span>, though that practice may soon be banned, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Missouri Senate Committee on Progress and Development unanimously passed a bill Wednesday to ban corporal punishment in all public and private schools.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">As it stands, Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) requires each district’s written discipline policy to include rules on corporal punishment.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Post-Dispatch reports should it be used, <span style="background-color: yellow;">the local school board must determine how it will be used and whether a parent will be notified or allowed to choose a different form of discipline.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">DESE doesn’t keep track of which Missouri districts use corporal punishment, but in 2009 the Missouri <span style="background-color: yellow;">School Boards’ Association <b><i><u>estimated</u></i></b> at least 70 of the more than 500 state districts had policies allowing the practice.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Fox School District was one of the last in the St. Louis area to get rid of corporal punishment in the early 2000s.</div></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-26497789027669366302014-03-30T20:19:00.001-05:002014-03-30T20:48:56.810-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Inappropriate "Services"<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/03/inappropriate-services.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Inappropriate "Services"</a><br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have contacted many people, in the Lee's Summit school district, and none of their children are receiving appropriate social skills training for autism.</span><br /><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Social skill is not a “service” but a functional skill necessary for daily living activities. Learn what the IDEA, the federal regulations, and the Commentary say about Present Levels of Functional Performance and IEP goals for functional skills.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read Pat Howey’s article What You Need to Know About IDEA: Present Levels of Functional Performance and Functional Goals in IEPs.<a href="http://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/iep.functional.perf.htm" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/iep.functional.perf.htm</a></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your child’s IEP must include a description of her Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance. This means what her strengths and weaknesses are – both in academics and in functional areas like social skills.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If your child has “functional needs” the school must meet these and address these needs with goals in the IEP.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Questions to Ask</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember, you are part of the IEP team. You have input about your child’s needs and what services may be needed to meet these needs.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does your daughter have challenges in the social skills area?<br />Is her weakness in social skills accurately described in the Present Levels?<br />Does her IEP include goals about how the school will meet these challenges?<br />Do the goals meet her needs?<br />Is she making measurable progress toward these goals?<br />You need to request a meeting of the IEP team to discuss your concerns and to review and revise the IEP.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_960" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><b id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_967"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_966" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17pt;">Reorganized School District No.7</span></b></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_992" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_991"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">301 NE Tudor Road</span></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_994" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_993"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Lee's Summit, Missouri 64086-5702</span></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_996" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_995"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Phone: (816) 986-1024 Fax: (816) 986-1160</span></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_997" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Jerry L. Keimig</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_999" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_998"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Executive Director of Special Services</span></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1000" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1001" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">December 22, 2008</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1002" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1003" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ms. Heidi Atkins Lieberman</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1004" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Assistant Commissioner</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1005" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Division of Special Education</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1007" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1006"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Missouri Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education</span></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1008" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">PO Box 480</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1009" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0480</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1010" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1011" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear Ms. Lieberman:</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1012" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1013" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1014"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This letter is in response to concerns expressed by OSEP regarding Ms. Tucker. Ms. Tucker has responded to staff in our District with a continual barrage of emails and web postings on a variety of topics expressing concerns, sending general information regarding special education issues, and conducting personal attacks on staff. <span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1015" style="color: #c00000;">(It was my intention to offer information on the appropriate services for a child with autism. Many of my emails were ignored unless I sent several requesting responses.)</span></span></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1016" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1017" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1018"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ms. Tucker continually voices her concerns regarding educational programming for her son. We would agree that he has specific areas that need to be addressed, but despite multiple District attempts to provide direct interventions for her son, she has refused many of these services. We have even developed additional course offerings in response to her concerns, but once in place, she has refused to allow her son to access programming. It appears that Ms. Tucker is more interested in a personal attack on the individuals responsible for providing educational services rather than accessing existing services designed to provide educational benefit for her child. <span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1019" style="color: #c00000;">(This is totally inaccurate. I sent a “continual barrage of emails” with research on why these programs were not appropriate. I have been personally attacked by the district and this letter is a perfect example. They did not develop an additional course for my son. They wanted to put him in a class with children that had were emotionally disturbed and then grade him on his social progress. How can they begin to believe that could be appropriate?)</span></span></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is the Lee's Summit <i>R-7s </i>School District stance that we have been extremely responsive to the concerns of Ms. Tucker having devoted hundreds of hours to discussion of said concerns and viable solutions. We would welcome an opportunity to present the district view to an independent panel either through a DESE child complaint or a due process hearing. <span style="color: #c00000;">(They want me to go to due process because they think that they can weaken my resolve.)</span></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1040" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1038" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">C: Dr. David McGehee</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1038" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1038" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-1432999809MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227930606_1030" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><br /></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1071" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1070" style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Social Skills Groups: What Does the Research Tell Us?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1069" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Autism Spectrum News</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1068" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Promise of Research</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1061" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Fall 2008, Vol.1, No. 1</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1062" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Lynda Geller, Ph.D.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1063" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Asperger Institute</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1064" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">NYU Child Study Center</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1065" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div align="center" class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1075" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1077" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1076" style="background-color: yellow; color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Social skills deficits are considered to be one of the critical diagnostic impairments that define autism and Asperger Syndrome, so it perhaps not surprising that both school personnel and clinicians in the community frequently recommend that a child or adolescent on the autism spectrum should be enrolled in social skills groups.</span><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1078" style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> The intention of such groups is to improve the development of these skills that often are so compromised. Yet just how much research evidence exists supporting the effectiveness of social kills groups as they are currently being delivered? The goals of this review are to summarize what the research tells us regarding efficacy of group social skills development </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">models and to suggest to families what they should require from those delivering this kind of service.</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1080" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1081" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1083" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1082" style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Social skills are critical to successful adult outcome, from having rewarding personal relationships to academic and vocational accomplishment to overall mental health and quality of life. When considering these issues for the individual with an autism spectrum disorder we must be cognizant of the developmental nature of these conditions. <span style="background-color: yellow;">Individuals on the autism spectrum have underlying brain differences that affect how they experience the world. In turn, experiences in life have direct consequences on ongoing brain development. So the outcome of any child’s development is the sum total of underlying assets and deficits and the life experiences that continuously shape all </span></span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">of us and directly impact brain development. That is why early intervention is such a powerful tool. It actually shapes brain development during critical periods and individual outcome can be profoundly affected by having or not having these kinds of experiences.</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Those of us who work intensively with children with autism continually witness how autism unfolds and how the lack of certain experiences contributes to the ultimate outcome of each one of them. For example, it is not uncommon for parents to tell us that their child has never had a friend. While this is painful in and of itself, the developmental ramifications are significant. Peer interactions are necessary to develop the skills for maintaining conversation, taking perspective, playing appropriately, controlling emotional expression, negotiating conflict, and experiencing intimacy. Without these experiences in childhood, establishing a positive adulthood is very difficult. So, the child with the developmental differences of autism suffers the additional burden of limited experience in critical areas, resulting in what we so often see in young adults as inability to establish relationships or maintain a job and personal independence.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Therefore it is no wonder that so many clinicians and educational professionals try to provide development in the area of social skills. We all know it is critical for successful adulthood. But is what is being typically provided in schools and clinics effective in improving essential social skills?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Very recently, four significant reviews of social skills interventions have been published (White et al., 2007; Rao et al., 2008; Matson et al., 2007; Bellini et al., 2007.) They provide guidelines for assessing social skills groups as they have been implemented and give us important standards for assessing whether critical qualities exist in what is being currently offered.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">White, Keonig & Scahill describe their concern with <span style="background-color: yellow;">social skills development as being based on findings that <b><u>social skills deficits do not remit but become more devastating with age </u></b>as the social milieu becomes more complex; <b><u>that children in inclusive settings are often more rejected and isolated, yet are not given the skills to succeed; </u></b>and that social skills deficits contribute to academic and occupational underachievement and later mood and anxiety problems. Given these outcomes, high quality social skills interventions are crucial. Fourteen studies were identified that addressed group intervention for children and adolescents identified as having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD.) All studies had very small sample sizes (ten or less.) Only two studies utilized a manualized approach specifically developed for individuals with an ASD while others used techniques developed for other populations. Others simply described their approaches in greater or lesser detail. Only five studies included a comparison group and none used randomized assignment to treatment group.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">None of the studies could be considered an effectiveness study, that is, one that examines the generalizability of gains to other settings. White et al. concluded that the state of research about social skills groups is still in its infancy. However, they identified some promising strategies, based on what was demonstrated in the studies that should be considered in future program development. These include stimulating social motivation, rewarding social initiation, reinforcing appropriate social responding, treating interfering behaviors, and providing opportunities for skill generalization. Their strongest recommendation was that we need to develop and validate manualized social skills curricula to be utilized in schools and community-based groups.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Rao, Beidel & Murray reviewed papers evaluating social skills training programs for youth with <span style="background-color: yellow;">Asperger Syndrome or high functioning autism</span> to assess their efficacy and make recommendations for future research directions. They examined ten studies of high functioning children on the autism spectrum as such students are more likely to be in inclusion settings where the social demands are more intense. They found that current research is lacking in the following areas: establishing a common definition of what comprises social skills; conducting research that includes having control groups to compare outcomes and having blind observers to evaluate results; generalizing techniques to other settings; and conducting long term follow-up to determine if an intervention had any effects on eventual outcome. They recommended that future studies utilize </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">manualized treatments specific to particular social deficits (e.g. simple interaction versus relationship development,) that more rigorous research designs be employed to assess effectiveness, and that generalization beyond the office be specifically implemented and measured. As in the previous review, these authors noted that the feasibility of improving social development through group instruction has been demonstrated, but the specific methods need further research.</span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Matson, Matson & Rivet examined a wide range of social skills interventions for children with ASDs of all functioning levels. In their review of seventy-nine treatment studies, they generated specific recommendations of what is required for the field to move forward toward more validated and specific social skills treatments.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">They suggest:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Parent training models to improve generalization and to make intervention available for younger children,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Programs that address interfering behaviors or comorbid disorders (such as severe anxiety,)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Interventions for children under six years of age whose brains have greater plasticity and who should be developing skills they can practice throughout elementary school,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Need-specific programs that can differentiate between those who need very basic versus more advanced skill development,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Consistent use of measurements in existing school and community social skills programs to assess if participants are meeting their specified goals.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Bellini, Peters, Benner & Hope reviewed social skills interventions being delivered in school settings. As social skills development is almost universally stated as a goal for special education students with ASDs, this is a particularly critical area to examine. A meta-analysis of fifty-five single-subject design studies was conducted to formulate some generalizations about treatment effectiveness of programs as they are <b><u>currently being delivered in schools </u></b>and to specify what approaches seem to offer the best potential. Bellini et al. reiterate that there is only minimal evidence that social skills training programs are effective for children in general, let alone for those for whom social deficit is the defining attribute.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: yellow; color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><u>The most important conclusions of this review were that social skills interventions in schools, as they are being reported in the literature, have low to questionable treatment </u></b>and generalization effects and moderate maintenance effects. That implies that most treatments were not particularly effective in changing social behavior or affecting any changes that generalize across settings, but that any changes that occurred were somewhat maintained. The studies were then assessed by approach with the general findings that interventions need to be more intensively implemented, that they should occur in context rather than in an office, that the strategy should match the specific skill deficit, and that validated treatments should be implemented by clinicians trained in the specific intervention to insure effectiveness. <b><u>The findings of this analysis were discouraging and implied that much of what is now being done for students with ASDs in schools may be rather ineffective.</u></b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Given the limited research evidence for the effectiveness of group social skills interventions, what are responsible recommendations? For community-based interventions, parents should ask the following questions:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Is there a manualized, evidence-based curriculum or a well-designed, explicit program with specific goals?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Do the proposed group members have similar needs that are being addressed specifically?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Do the target behaviors being addressed make sense for each member?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Is generalization to real-life settings being designed as an integral part of the program?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">As children with ASDs typically lack good generalization skills, it is necessary to provide more specific opportunities for practice in realistic settings. This can be implemented through parent involvement with each session’s lesson, rehearsal and reinforcement homework for members, and prescribed member interaction between sessions. Interventions can also take place in actual life locations. Of importance, as well, is the therapist’s orientation to achieving measurable goals.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Does the group leader</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Assess each member’s needs before inclusion in the group?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Have plans for assessing effectiveness?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Consider the family’s specific desires for skill acquisition?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Assess satisfaction with the service at the conclusion?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">In-school services also need to be examined. Families should request that</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Services be very specifically described on the student’s individualized educational plan</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Those delivering the services have knowledge about both social skill development and the specifics of delivering such services to children on the autism spectrum</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Services be of sufficient intensity to be effective</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">School personnel are utilizing evidence-base practice</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Interventions are being delivered in authentic locations such as playgrounds, classrooms, and lunchrooms, rather than only professional offices.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Sometimes parents do not feel sufficiently knowledgeable or empowered to request the services their child truly needs to promote the best outcome. It is important for parents to be wise consumers by</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Requesting specific plans and generalization strategies</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Learning how to reinforce social skills through play dates and get togethers</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Helping their child maximize strengths and interests in social settings</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Negotiating with school treatment teams to implement a true social skills program that is individually designed and data-driven.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Meanwhile, professionals who specialize in autism and Asperger Syndrome can help families gain awareness of the current state of knowledge; understand what they as parents can specifically accomplish with their children; and know what critical questions to ask of anyone currently providing social skills intervention in schools or community. Together, parents and professionals should continue to advocate for more treatment-based research on social skills development now.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">References</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Bellini, S., Peters, J.K., Benner, L., & Hopf, A. (2007) A meta-analysis of school based social skills interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Remedial and Special Education, 28(3),</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">153-162.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Matson, J.L., Matson, M.L., & Rivet, T.T. (2007) Social-skills treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders. </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Behavior Modification, 31(5),</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">682-707.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Rao, P.A., Beidel, D.C., & Murray, M.J. (2008) Social skills interventions for children with Asperger’s syndrome or high-functioning autism: A review and recommendations. </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(2),</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">353-361.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1109" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">White, S.W., Keonig, K., & Scahill, L. (2007) Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review of the intervention literature.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1107" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1108" style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(10),</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia, serif;">1858-1868.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1106" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="ygrps-yiv-196293552MsoNormal" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1396227508664_1098" style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, san-serif, Roboto; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-1594810081452552872014-03-28T12:08:00.001-05:002014-03-30T20:48:56.803-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Autistic Students<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/03/autistic-students.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Autistic Students</a><br /><br />
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<h4><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, the CDC has now announced new numbers in autism </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">prevalence: 1 in every 68 children under the age of 21 has autism, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">including 1 in every 42 boys. This is a 29% increase since the last update (1 in 88 in 2012).</span></span></h4><h4><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last time that I was able to get the information, Lee's Summit had 17,559 students. 150 of those students had an educational diagnosis of autism. Another 250 had a medical diagnosis. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If the CDC is correct it would mean the Lee's Summit would potentially have 258 students with autism. </span></span></h4><h4><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This means that there are potentially 158 autistic students that are not being served. Following is the law in Missouri and the facts on how well educated the persons making decisions are. In Missouri a person designated as an autism specialist decides your child's educational diagnosis regardless of how many doctors disagree or have diagnosed otherwise.</span></span></h4><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Best Practice Guidelines: There are currently no best practice guidelines to </span></span><br /><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">help bring consistency in the therapies and methodologies used by local </span></span><br /><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">school districts. However, the lack of such guidelines is a symptom of a larger </span></span><br /><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">problem – the absence of a database and statewide data collection system to </span></span><br /><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">help classify the specific issues faced by each individual child. The database </span></span><br /><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">could also be used to identify helpful treatments and to scientifically support </span></span><br /><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">the appropriate use of various methods of intervention, treatment, and </span></span><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"></span></span><br /><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">teaching. </span></span><br /><br />
<div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Eligibility: All public education programs for special education students </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">contain eligibility criteria. IDEA Part B allows school districts to determine </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">eligibility of students for services. Although students may already have </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">received a formal medical diagnosis of ASD, some districts insist on </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">performing their own assessment to determine eligibility for services, which is </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">often labeled an “educational diagnosis.” Some parents and providers </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">testified that they view the educational diagnosis as a bureaucratic method for </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">the school district to deny services to some children. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Program Conflicts: For students with ASD with more severe behavioral </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">issues, parents testified that some school districts have failed to address and </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">consider a student’s neurological and mental health status, and have </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">employed methods intended for students whose behaviors are not the result of </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">a disorder like ASD. Such methods include isolation or suspension from </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">school under the criteria established by the Safe Schools Act. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Blue Ribbon Panel recommends that the Department of Elementary and </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Secondary Education solicit proposals to design a data collection system to </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">support analysis of ASD intervention across the lifespan (evidence-based therapies </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">or teaching practices) and costs of serving children with ASD organized by </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">appropriate classifications. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is recommended that the data collection system be created for all students with </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">ASD using the state-wide identification number and be submitted to the Department </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">of Elementary and Secondary Education. Access to the data should be granted to </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">appropriate public school personnel, qualified researchers in the field, and </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">individuals specifically authorized by statute or rule. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Blue Ribbon Panel recommends that local school districts inform parents of </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">the importance of having a service coordinator from the Department of Mental Health present at the IEP meeting that takes place around the fourteenth birthday </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">of a child with ASD. The Department of Mental Health can begin to develop </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">transition goals for the child, and determine which state agencies should be </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">contacted while fostering stronger relationships with the child and his or her </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">family. The child’s family or legal guardian would have the right to exclude this </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">individual from the IEP meeting. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Blue Ribbon Panel recommends that the state of Missouri develop and </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">implement best practice guidelines for educational assessments and interventions. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Evidence-based best practice guidelines for effective educational assessment and </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">interventions for ASD should be developed and disseminated broadly to act as a </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">resource for Missouri school districts. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">B. Missouri’s Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Act </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Blue Ribbon Panel recommends that Missouri allow equivalent funding to </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">follow the student to the provider of the parent’s choosing. Having options for </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">treatments or services empowers parents and encourages the General Assembly to </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">explore models of choice in educational services. The General Assembly should </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">investigate the merits of ASD scholarships, open enrollment for students with </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">ASD, public and private partnerships, and any other educational opportunities for </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">students with ASD, students with developmental disabilities, or students with </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">developmental delays. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">F. Educational Diagnosis </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While it is clear that the evaluation of children conducted by educators is not done to </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“diagnose” the child, but rather to see if and how the diagnosis of ASD adversely </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">impacts the child’s education, there is considerable misunderstanding created by the </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">requirement to “make an educational diagnosis.” </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In Missouri, there are two ways for a child to be eligible for services under the federal </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">IDEA. First, a child can have characteristics of a particular disorder, such as ASD, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">that grants automatic eligibility. Second, children can be eligible for early </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">intervention services between the ages of birth and 36 months by having a </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">developmental delay, defined as functioning at half the developmental level that </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">would be expected for a child developing within normal limits and of equal age. The </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Blue Ribbon Panel heard numerous concerns about this requirement, including the </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">perception of how it limits high-functioning individuals with ASD, who need the </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">social and communicative services that are not otherwise available to them. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Public education programs for special education students require students to meet </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">eligibility criteria to qualify for services. Some children come to the school district </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">seeking services with a medical diagnosis of ASD. Under IDEA, the school district </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">is to consider the medical diagnosis and determine whether that diagnosis requires </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">any educational intervention or supports. Testimony indicated a perception problem </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">and semantics issue involving this process. Although the school district is not to </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">dispute that a medical diagnosis has been made, many special educators and school </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">districts use the term “educational diagnosis” to describe the process by which they </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">determine whether educational intervention is required. In this way, it appears to </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">parents that the school district is conducting its own diagnosis of the child and is </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">making a different decision than the multi-disciplinary diagnosis team previously </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">reached. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.9em; margin-top: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong>AUTISM CONSULTANT:</strong> Missouri does not have such an educational designation. However, there is a three-tiered system of Project ACCESS autism educational consultants described below.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.9em; margin-top: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong>IN-DISTRICT AUTISM CONSULTANT</strong> <strong>(IDAC): </strong>A certified teacher with a minimum of two years classroom experience is selected by his or her school district’s administration to attend the <strong><em>Introduction to Autism</em></strong> training either in a face-to-face format or the online format through Project ACCESS’ Community of Practice site. In addition to the Introduction to Autism training, attending the <strong><em>Working with Autistic Students in the Schools (WASS)</em></strong> OR <strong><em>Early Intervention for Young Children With Autism (EIYCA)</em></strong>training is also required. These trainings enable the teacher to attend the Autism Consultant Training (ACT). An administrator must send an endorsement letter indicating the school district’s intention to use that person as their In-District Autism Consultant (IDAC). School districts may have as many IDACs as is deemed appropriate for the district’s needs for a staff member to consult with colleagues serving students with ASD in their own districts. Project <em>ACCESS</em> will provide each IDAC with a nametag and maintain a participant database. If the IDAC moves to another Missouri school district, the new district can make a written request to Project <em>ACCESS</em> and the IDAC status can be transferred to the requesting district.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.9em; margin-top: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Each person attending the In-district Autism Consultant training must complete a separate registration form. Candidates may </span><a href="https://www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?I=1533869&D=11005" style="cursor: pointer; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">register online</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> using My Learning Plan. </span></div><ul style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; margin: -0.4em 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Training Dates: June 16, 17 and 18, 2014.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Training Times: Registration is from 8:00 to 8:30 on the first day and training begins at 8:45 and lasts until 4:00. On day two and three, training begins at 9:00 and ends at 4:00.</span></li>
</ul><div><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><h4><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">You can do the math. Three days of training </span></span></h4><h4><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">and </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">you are in charge of making decisions </span></span></h4><h4><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">that </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 16px;">will </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 16px;">affect a person's entire life. Forget </span></h4><h4><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 16px;">the </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 16px;">eight years </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 16px;">of school that the doctor </span></h4><h4><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 16px;">attended.</span></h4></div><br /><br />
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<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-74575921459423848962014-03-14T10:42:00.001-05:002014-03-30T20:48:56.850-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Sunshine Law<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/03/sunshine-law.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Sunshine Law</a><br /><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><b>SUNSHINE<br />
LAW</b><o:p></o:p></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span><br /><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The<br />
Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 843 (Kurt Schaefer) on March 10. The<br />
bill makes several changes to the Missouri Sunshine Law. The bill allows<br />
members of the public to request notice of public meetings be sent to them when<br />
notice is provided to the governing board members. The original bill made<br />
public the performance evaluations of former public school teacher employees,<br />
but Sen. Schaefer plans to remove that provision from the bill. The<br />
Association supports greater transparency and accountability in school board<br />
meetings.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-577366784625813902014-03-13T18:21:00.001-05:002014-03-30T20:48:56.840-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: 5 Things School Administrators Should Never Say During An IEP Meeting<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/03/5-things-school-administrators-should.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: 5 Things School Administrators Should Never Say During An IEP Meeting</a><br /><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5 THINGS SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SHOULD NEVER SAY DURING AN IEP MEETING</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1).“We cannot hire another nurse just for your child.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know it seems as if this respons<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">e would be preferable to explaining to the board of education that it now must hire a full-time nurse. If you choose to handle it this way, you won’t be spending your summer by the pool. Instead, you’ll get to spend your time with the... school district’s attorney preparing for direct and cross examination.</span></span></div><div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; line-height: 15.359999656677246px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">While it is often difficult to draw a distinction between nursing services and medical services, that is precisely what you must do. If the student needs nursing services to assist him or her in taking part in the educational process, then that is what must be provided — period.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">2). "Your child will be graduating at the end of the month whether you like it or not."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">Graduation with a diploma is considered a change of placement under an IEP. Any change of placement triggers extensive due process rights. If the parents disagree with their child (who has not reached the age of majority) graduating they can stop it by filing for due process. This would trigger a Stay Put. Stay Put means there can be no change of placement or reduction of services while the disagreement is being worked out.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">3).“We’ve spent too much time on this already, let’s move on.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">Face it, sometimes you are not going to be able to agree. While the development of the IEP is supposed to be a collaborative process where, ideally, the team reaches consensus on each and every item contained in the IEP, sometimes that is not going to happen.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">When it becomes clear consensus will not be reached, remember that a decision still needs to be made. Instead of being argumentative, explain to the parents it appears the team is unable to reach agreement and that, as the administrator, it is your responsibility under the law to make the final decision, and then do it.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">4). "I won’t let you add your comments to the parental concerns section of the IEP form because the IEP is a School document and I disagree with your description of the events that occurred"</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">This question has been responded to in the United States Federal Register where it was said, “Parents are free to provide input into their child’s IEP through a written report if they so choose.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">5). “We don’t think that is appropriate, but if you want it, we’ll put it in the IEP.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">This comment by a school district administrator is a natural consequence of not making the decision required. Too often we add items to the IEP we know are inappropriate in order to appease the parents. When faced with this temptation, remember the first rule in school law — nice guys and gals finish last. You have an obligation to the child to develop an appropriate IEP that will provide educational benefit to him or her, not to appease the parents, as appealing as that may be during a tense moment. If it is on the IEP, anyone (including the due process hearing examiner) who looks at it will have no legal basis to ignore your peace offering and will expect it to be implemented.</div></span></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-58704827929628182632014-03-12T10:24:00.001-05:002014-03-30T20:48:56.844-05:00Hawke Blog | A Father's Journey Through the Special Education Maze<a href="http://hawkeblog.com/">Hawke Blog | A Father's Journey Through the Special Education Maze</a>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-75139198865074608392014-02-20T10:09:00.001-06:002014-03-30T20:48:36.268-05:002 Mo. Principals Accused Of Not Reporting Violence | KMBC Home - KMBC Home<a href="http://www.kmbc.com/2-Mo-Principals-Accused-Of-Not-Reporting-Violence/12257844">2 Mo. Principals Accused Of Not Reporting Violence | KMBC Home - KMBC Home</a><br /><br />
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<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; padding: 0px;"><span class=" authorLocation" itemprop="contentLocation" style="display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; padding-right: 3px;">PARK HILLS, Mo. —</span>Two eastern Missouri middle school principals are expected to face misdemeanor charges, alleging they violated the Missouri Safe Schools Act by failing to report violence.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; padding: 0px;">The Park Hills Daily Journal reported that St. Francois County prosecutor Jerrod Mahurin plans to charge Central Middle School's principal and vice principal. As of Wednesday morning, formal charges have not been filed.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; padding: 0px;">A probable cause statement said school resource officer Craig Newberry learned that a 14-year-old boy struck a 12-year-old girl in the buttocks with his knee, causing a fractured tail bone. The incident happened at the school on March 29 and was not reported to police by either principal.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; padding: 0px;">The Safe Schools Act requires administrators to report an act of violence as soon as reasonably practical to police. Last week, a detective spoke with both the principal and vice principal. Both said they were aware that the girl had been injured by the boy, but did not report it.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; padding: 0px;">The probable cause statement said the vice principal told police her own daughter had been playing with the same boy, causing bruises to her arm. The vice principal said she spoke to the boy earlier in the day on March 29 - before the 12-year-old girl was hurt - and told him to keep his hands to himself.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; padding: 0px;">Central superintendent Desi Mayberry said a district review found the injury happened during horseplay and wasn't an assault that needed to be reported under the Missouri Safe Schools Act.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; padding: 0px;">Mayberry said if prosecutors choose to press charges then all teachers and principals in the county are at risk of criminal charges every time a student gets hurt while under their care.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; padding: 0px;">But Mahurin said he will prosecute any case necessary to protect victims, especially children.</div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://www.kmbc.com/2-Mo-Principals-Accused-Of-Not-Reporting-Violence/12257844#ixzz2tsZ5PIVR" style="color: #003399; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">http://www.kmbc.com/2-Mo-Principals-Accused-Of-Not-Reporting-Violence/12257844#ixzz2tsZ5PIVR</a></span>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-43216646841413845462014-02-18T11:07:00.001-06:002014-03-30T20:48:36.228-05:00Does your school have a secret history of abusing disabled children? Find out here - National special education | Examiner.com<a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/does-your-school-have-a-secret-history-of-abusing-disabled-children-find-out-here">Does your school have a secret history of abusing disabled children? Find out here - National special education | Examiner.com</a><br /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;">Missouri</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;">1. North Mercer R3, Mercer, MO (Seclusion Room: Closet converted to seclusion room)</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;">2. Underwood Elementary School, Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, Lee’s Summit, MO (Seclusion: Child kept in closet for most of a month)</span>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-77090880156353842222014-02-15T13:28:00.001-06:002014-03-30T20:48:36.271-05:00Lee's Summit R-7 School District: How Do They Sleep At Night?<a href="http://leessummitr-7schooldistrict.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-do-they-sleep-at-night.html">Lee's Summit R-7 School District: How Do They Sleep At Night?</a><br /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Tuesday, August 9, 2011</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Sometimes I sit and relive the past four years. I think of all of the tears, anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, and hurt that my family has gone through. Then I think of all of the other families that are going thro</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">ugh the same thing. Their lives being destroyed while they sit back and helplessly watch it happen.<br /><br />One thing always comes to mind. How do the people that are paid with my tax dollars sleep at night? How can they destroy the life and future of another human being and then take their paycheck? How can they hug their children while they are destroying the lives of other children?<br /><br />I was raised in the 60s and the 70s. My parents were strict and taught us to be honest, caring, and loving human beings. We were taught that you never progress in life without hard work, integrity, honor, and respect. You never hurt others or lie.<br /><br />I wonder what the parents our of teachers, principals, superintendents, legislators, and school board officials taught their children. Would they be disgusted by the things that their children do to innocent children? Would they be dismayed that their children care about nothing more than self promotion and the almighty dollar? Would they be proud that their children are successful because they are robbing children of their future? My parents would disown me. They would not tolerate the behavior that I see every day.<br /><br />I have been to many school meetings and sat across the table as these people have lied, cheated, and stolen my child's future. I have seen my legislator sell out my child to further his political career and then lie about it and call me a politcal stalker. I am powerless to stop them. They have all of the power and my hard earned tax dollars have bought it for them.<br /><br />How many lives are going to be destroyed before this is stopped? How many people are willing to stand up for their children no matter what the consequences are? I am. I have been for four years. Its a lonely journey and I invite you to join me.</span>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4616586923254004390.post-32046335305826602022014-01-23T11:42:00.001-06:002014-03-30T20:48:36.224-05:00U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Release School Discipline Guidance Package to Enhance School Climate and Improve School Discipline Policies/Practices | U.S. Department of Education<a href="http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-departments-education-and-justice-release-school-discipline-guidance-package-">U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Release School Discipline Guidance Package to Enhance School Climate and Improve School Discipline Policies/Practices | U.S. Department of Education</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;">The U.S. Department of Education (ED), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), today released a school discipline guidance package that will assist states, districts and schools in developing practices and strategies to enhance school climate, and ensure those policies and practices comply with federal law. Even though incidents of school violence have decreased overall, too many schools are still struggling to create positive, safe environments. Schools can improve safety by making sure that climates are welcoming and that responses to misbehavior are fair, non-discriminatory and effective. Each year, significant numbers of students miss class due to suspensions and expulsions—even for minor infractions of school rules—and students of color and with disabilities are disproportionately impacted. The guidance package provides resources for creating safe and positive school climates, which are essential for boosting student academic success and closing achievement gaps.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">"Effective teaching and learning cannot take place unless students feel safe at school,"</span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. "Positive discipline policies can help create safer learning environments without relying heavily on suspensions and expulsions. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Schools also must understand their civil rights obligations and avoid unfair disciplinary practices. We need to keep students in class where they can learn. These resources are a step in the right direction.</span><span style="background-color: white;">”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;">The resource package consists of four components:</div><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 3px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2em;"><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;">The <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Dear Colleague</strong> guidance letter on civil rights and discipline, prepared in conjunction with DOJ, describes how schools can meet their legal obligations under federal law to administer student discipline without discriminating against students on the basis of race, color or national origin;</div></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;">The <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guiding Principles</strong> document draws from emerging research and best practices to describe three key principles and related action steps that can help guide state and local efforts to improve school climate and school discipline;</div></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;">The <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Directory of Federal School Climate and Discipline Resources</strong> indexes the extensive federal technical assistance and other resources related to school discipline and climate available to schools and districts; and</div></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;">The <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Compendium of School Discipline Laws and Regulations</strong>, an online catalogue of the laws and regulations related to school discipline in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, compares laws across states and jurisdictions.</div></li>
</ul><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">"A routine school disciplinary infraction should land a student in the principal’s office, not in a police precinct,"</span><span style="background-color: white;">Attorney General Eric Holder said. "This guidance will promote fair and effective disciplinary practices that will make schools safe, supportive and inclusive for all students. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">By ensuring federal civil rights protections, offering alternatives to exclusionary discipline and providing useful information to school resource officers, we can keep America’s young people safe and on the right path."</span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">The guidance package is a resource resulting from a collaborative project—the Supportive School Discipline Initiative (SSDI)—between ED and DOJ. The SSDI, launched in 2011, addresses the school-to-prison pipeline and the disciplinary policies and practices that can push students out of school and into the justice system. The initiative aims to support instead school discipline practices that foster safe, inclusive and positive learning environments while keeping students in school. The Department of Justice </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">enforces Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race or national origin in public schools, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin by schools, law enforcement agencies, and other recipients of federal financial assistance.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;">The guidance package also results from President Obama's Now is the Time proposal to reduce gun violence. It called on ED to collect and disseminate best practices on school discipline policies and to help school districts develop and equitably implement their policies. To both continue ED/DOJ efforts in connection with SSDI and fulfill the administration's commitment to "<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence" style="border: 0px; color: #8f8f8f; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Now is the Time,</a>" the guidance package was developed with additional input from civil rights advocates, major education organizations and philanthropic partners.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-top: 14px; padding: 0px;">To view the resource documents, visit <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #8f8f8f; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">www.ed.gov/school-discipline</a>.</div><div><br /></div>faceofautismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16655863600108004345noreply@blogger.com0