Parent Support Group

I highly encourage all parents of children with special needs to become involved within their communities. Here in Mathews County we have a wonderful Special Education Advisory Committee that meets on the second Thursday of each month at Mathews High School Library at 6:30 p.m. We also have a Parent Support Group that meets the third Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the Mathews County Rescue Squad building in Hudgins. Our crowning jewel in Mathews is our Parent Resource Center that is a partnership between Mathews County Public Schools and Mathews Memorial Library. There is a volunteer at the resource center on Sundays from 1-3 p.m. and Mondays from 10-2 p.m. to answer your special education/special needs questions. I encourage all to check out all of these wonderful resources.

Education Quote of the day

Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.
-John Dewey

IEP Meetings and your Children

Good day all! How many of you include your child in their IEP meeting? Most of us don't. Does your child know that they even have an IEP? The answer again is not many. Many of us parents are so busy with work and other activities that when the yearly IEP meeting is upon us, we hurriedly head to the school to attend what is for most a review meeting and then we quickly sign the IEP and head back to work, or home. We need to STOP and think about what we are doing. The IEP is not ours, it is our child's INDIVIDUAL Education Plan. This plan sets the tone for how our child will experience his or hers education. The key to a successful IEP is to include the child. Discuss with them what an IEP is, what their accommodations are and what they need to do to succeed. Empower them. Let them control the meetings as they get older. This will allow them to see themselves as a leader in their education! Please visit this wonderful website about empowering children to be their own advocates:

www.imdetermined.org

The PRC @ MML Open House!

We invite you to attend the Mathews County Special Education Parent Resource Center Open House at Mathews Memorial Library. The Open House will be from Noon- 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 2, 2009. We look forward to seeing you there!

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Eunice Kennedy Shriver 1921-2009

Today is a sad day in the Special Education community. Please take a moment to remember Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who passed away today at age 88. Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the founder of The Special Olympics. The Special Olympics gave people with disabilities the ability to compete and enjoy sports just like everyone else. She started The Special Olympics to honor her older sister Rosemary who was left mentally disabled after a lobotomy. Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the first celebrity advocate for those with a mental disability.

The Special Olympics started as a small summer camp for the mentally disabled at her home in Maryland. Today the Special Olympics are a worldwide event, much in the spirit of the regular Olympics, with games being held at locations all over the world. Eunice Kennedy was also responsible for promoting acceptance of those with mental disabilities. When she started the Special Olympics in the 1960’s the common practice was to institutionalize those with mental disabilities and forget about them. Eunice Kennedy Shriver made sure that we did not forget, and that we saw that mentally disabled citizens were indeed able.

Free Wireless Service for Qualifying Families

SafeLink Wireless is offering free wireless service to low income families. Please follow the link for more information.
www.safelinkwireless.com

Great Websites

Hello all! Welcome to another day of blogging!
I believe that the empowerment of parents as advocates for their children is one of the keys to success in Special Education. I would like to recommend a website pertinent to parents in the Tidewater Region of Virginia.

www.peatc.org This is the Parent Educational Advocacy Center. From their website:

"The Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center builds positive futures for Virginia's children by working collaboratively with families, schools and communities in order to improve opportunities for excellence in education and success in school and community life. Our special focus is children with disabilities. We do this by providing:

• Services and support for families and professionals;
• Easy-to-understand, research-based information and training; and
• Opportunities for strategic partnerships and advocacy for systemic improvement."

Please take the time to check out PEATC and their website!