Where Do We Go from Here?

MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS ABOUT SPECIAL EDUCATION DISPUTE RESOLUTION BY WILLIAM BLACKWELL, ED.D. Planning special education services is a collaborative process involving parents, children, and school personnel. While the majority of individualized education programs (IEPs) are developed collaboratively, there are situations in which disagreements arise that are not easily resolved. Parents are sometimes left asking themselves, “Where do we go from here?” following an unsuccessful attempt at resolving differences with school personnel. Our federal special education […]

Transitioning From Pre-school To Elementary School, And Beyond:

STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES BY DIANE WISCARSON, WISCARSON LAW As a parent of a child with special needs, you may be particularly anxious about sending your child to elementary school. After all, you want to make sure that your incoming kindergartner gets the full benefit of a public school education, and has a positive experience in the process. Prior to your differently-abled child reaching kindergarten age, they will have likely been getting services through […]

Helping Parents Help Their Kids Thrive In School

BY KATHERINE FIRESTONE School was hard for me. I felt like an imposter. I was in honors classes but I felt like I had to work so much harder than everyone else to get the same grades. I had to read to myself out loud so that I would understand what I was reading and not skip ahead. It took forever. Then I had to go back and highlight everything I had just read to […]

Launching an Actress with Autism – Summer 2017

by Marguerite Elisofon             The title of this article suggests I’m either crazy, dreaming or overly optimistic. What autism mom in her right mind would encourage her daughter on the spectrum to choose acting as a career? Yet here I am—knowing that it’s next to impossible for a neurotypical actress to succeed—becoming the momager of a young woman with serious social challenges. But the possibility has become more tantalizing and real since my daughter Samantha […]

How Charter Schools & Vouchers Affect Special Education

Families should carefully weigh the pros and cons of charter schools and vouchers, and speak with their Parent Training and Information Center about their state laws, regulations, and policies regarding special education and charters or vouchers, before making a decision. BY MARIA DOCHERTY AND LAUREN AGORATUS, M.A. With the increased focus in the United States on charter schools and the use of vouchers to support student  attendance at private schools, more and more parents of […]