BY LAUREN AGORATUS, M.A. WHAT IS THE ESSA? The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. ESSA is replacing No Child Left Behind (NCLB.) The Council of Chief State School Officers has a chart and narrative on the crosswalk between ESSA and NCLB (see Resources). Some components of the previous law have been kept, some were revised, and other pieces are new. Here is an overview on […]
BY TOM SANNICANDRO AND SCOTT LIEBER INTRODUCTION: College is the dream of many students across the country, and the ladder to economic opportunity, independence, and a first job [1]. Now, evidence suggests that college provides the same opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) as for non-disabled students [2, 3]. Employment and earnings outcomes for people with ID were higher if they had taken college classes. Students with ID who attend college are significantly more […]
PUZZLES & CAMO BY SHELLY HUHTANEN He let me in his world for an entire 45 minutes. I asked Broden, “Is it time?” He looked at me and said, “Time for school.” School has started so my taxi driving hours have significantly increased this past week. By the middle of last week, my son, Hayden, tried to convince me to paint my car yellow. I’m assuming he thought I might be able to pick up […]
BY KAREN KABAKI-SISTO, M.S. CCC-SLP Along with academic achievement, a goal of the educational experience is to learn how to have successful social relationships both inside and outside of the classroom that continue through adulthood. However, physically seating a student into a classroom –mainstream or self-contained –does not automatically ensure social acceptance. Problems with learning and communication can cause a child with special needs to be misunderstood, left out, teased, and/or bullied, leading to behavioral […]
BY AMANDA JENSEN-DOSS, PH.D. The world of child and adolescent mental health is unfamiliar and often bewildering. Deciding whether your child would benefit from therapy and then finding the best treatment can be a difficult undertaking because it is hard to know who to trust with your child’s wellbeing and whether the treatment prescribed will be effective. On top of that, many parents do not even have access to therapists because they lack insurance coverage […]
