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!

Your Child's Bedtime

Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that the average toddler sleep 12 to 14 hours and that the average school age child need 10 to 12 hours of sleep. Most children do not get enough sleep. Now, if you have a special needs child you know how hard it can be when your child is over tired and over stimulated. If you get your child up for school at 6 a.m. then your child will need to be asleep by 8 p.m. Here are some recommendations for an easier bedtime.
1. Don't tell your child it is bedtime. Give them the power in when they fall asleep. Make bedtime a quiet time. Tell your child it is just relaxing time. Let them have a book or for special needs children, books on tape.
2. Paint your child's room a soothing neutral color. Many parents make the mistake of treating their children's rooms like a playroom, using bright stimulating colors. The bedroom's main purpose should be for sleep.
3. Put good blinds or curtains over the windows to help block out the sun, or even a bright moon. A dark room makes it more likely that your child will have a more productive sleep period.
4. Create a bedtime routine. It is never too late to start this. Decide on a routine and stick with it for 14 days. This will be a lot of work, but studies have shown that sticking with something new for 14 days will make it easier to become a habit.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the child who gets the recommended amount of sleep is easier to put to sleep, easier to get up, and believe it or not, have a higher IQ.

SEAC Meeting

Good Morning Everyone! All is well in my world today and I hope for you too! Tonight is our monthly Special Education Advisory Committee meeting. The SEAC as it is called is a group of parents and professionals who come together monthly to talk about Special Education and act as an advisory for Mathews County Public Schools Special Education. The meeting is open to the public and is a great place to network, learn about available programs and express any concerns you have to the board who will pass them on to the schools.

Mathews County Special Education Advisory Committee
July Meeting
When: July 7, 2009
7 p.m.
Location: The Brambles
Main Street Mathews

We hope to see you there!

My Story

Hello all. Welcome to the new blog for all things Special Education in Mathews County, Virginia. Don't let the words Special Education fool you. The term Special Education encompasses many things such as English as a Second Language, Gifted Education, Speech and Language Impairments, Visual Impairments, Hearing Impairments, Emotional Disabilities, Developmental Disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, and many other disabilities and disorders. Special Education no longer has the negative stigma that it once did.

My name is Lori Jackson and I am the Coordinator of the Mathews County Special Education Parent Resource Center at the Mathews Memorial Library. I will be updating this blog daily so check back often. I am originally from Anacortes, Washington. I attended Monterey Peninsula College and Columbia College. I have a background in Library Services and History. My husband is in the United States Navy and that is what brought us to Virginia in October 2006. We have three great kids who all attend Mathews County Public Schools. I have been involved with Special Education since 2003.

Please feel free to send me any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

The Mathews County Special Education Parent Resource Center is open:
Sundays 1-3 pm
Mondays 10-2 pm

Please stop by and see me! If you can't make it in, please check out our website:
www.mathewsprc.org

I look forward to blogging with you!

Lori Jackson, Coordinator
Mathews County Special Education Parent Resource Center