Advocacy

A new resource is available for students who struggle with educational success because of their ADHD. An organization called The Edge Foundation has begun training coaches to help ADHD students succeed in school and college. Coaching seems to be a new trend in the U.S.A to help young people succeed in the world despite their learning challenges. What does an ADHD coach from The Edge Foundation do for students with ADHD? According to their website, once hired, the Edge Foundation coach will contact the student every week. Contact will be via telephone or internet for a 30-minute period weekly, during the typical 10-month academic year. What will the life coach do specifically for the student with ADHD? According to the website, there are six main… [more]

Yesterday, I got a chance to do some pretty heady stuff! As part of my Partners in Policymaking class we have to do “projects”. My project yesterday was going to the state capitol and working with an intern advocate who lobbies for disabilities issues there. So I got a one-on-one personal lesson about how to talk directly to congressmen during legislative sessions. He had my morning mapped out for me, and instructed me how to stand in the line of people wishing to pull representatives off the House floor and speak with them on issues. He had the fact sheet information I needed to give to the representatives and gave me a quick lesson in the facts of the issue. Our… [more]

One thing that became apparent as I listened to our speakers at the Partners in Policymaking class this weekend was how huge the disability community is (over 53 million Americans at last count). The other thing that became apparent was how splintered this “minority” is as a group. We have hundreds of organizations representing every possible disability we could have. In fact, I got an email today about Non-verbal learning disability (NLD). Lest you think I’m making light of this disability, I know that it’s real and a serious problem for many. But the email claimed that it was a disorder on the autism spectrum that had not been officially recognized. And it reminded how desperately each disability (and the people who have it… [more]

Feeling politically active today? If your child has an IEP, or you know children who do, please consider calling or writing your congressperson today to ask them to support H.R. Bill 4188, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Representatives Chris Van Hollen and Pete Sessions. This bill would restore the ability for parents who prevail in a due process hearing to recover the cost of their expert witness fees. In 2006, the Supreme Court took away this right through their decision in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy. Now parents of children with disabilities who go to due process are responsible for paying all expert witness fees themselves, regardless of whether they prevail in the case or… [more]

I received a pass into the recent Advocate Academy’s webinar on Understanding Assessments: Psychological, Processing and Achievement Evaluation Data given by Alan Brue, Ph.D. Although I missed the live airing of the event, I have been catching up on the course work and hope to give you some insights into how to understand the evaluations school psychologists give our children. Advocate Academy is the education program of the Advocacy Institute, a non-profit dedicated to products, projects and services that improve the lives of those with disabilities. In addition to a very impressive list of webinar offerings that can teach anyone advocating for their own child or other children with special needs some invaluable information about various processes, such as evaluations, behavior… [more]

These words on a bookmark from EMK Press reminded me of Bruce Anderson at Community Activators and what he taught my Partners in Policymaking class on telling our story. (Side note: Check out the awesome Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections book published by EMK Press.) I blogged about our weekend with Bruce earlier this month. We learned a great deal about what motivates us to volunteer and give back, and how suffering produces blessings. But today, I’m thinking about the storytelling aspect of what we learned. Nancy Bostock, who I blogged about earlier this week, has done an outstanding job of sharing her story (in two minutes no less) to the Florida Senate committee. This… [more]

It’s one of those situations I can’t figure out. Are the school systems in Georgia retaliating against parents more, or are we just learning about it more? Are the systems upping the ante on those parents who advocate for their children receiving special education services OR are those parents becoming more vocal about the wrongs that have always been done to them? I honestly don’t know. But I have a hard time hearing about it…because it is happening so much and in so many different ways, all over the state. Readers here indicate that it’s happening nationally as well. Yesterday’s retaliation news in my world was learning that a family had been turned into DFCS by school officials for neglect because they… [more]

Yesterday, our Partners in Policymaking class met Kathie Snow, a “just a mom” convert who is now a nationally known speaker, writer and consultant on disabilities. Her website, Disability is Natural is a cornucopia of common sense information, resources and products on how to treat, communication with and communicate about persons with disabilities. Kathie is definitely a rebel rouser. She shook up the room full of parents of children with disabilities quite a bit yesterday. Each of us was challenged to rethink the way we talk to and about our children and what labels and words we choose. And she’s got a point. Words are powerful. And apparently I feel this way too, as I ranted just last… [more]

Today was my first day of Partners in Policymaking. And the first thing I learned...all positive change in the arena of children’s rights has been made by moms. Yep, the main force to be reckoned with is a bunch of organized and angry moms! As one of our speakers put it, the “tenacity and grace” of moms goes much farther than all the knowledge and intellect of experts and politicians. I agree...and I like the image...tenacity and grace. There are 35 of us in the class from all over Georgia; three self-advocates and the rest are parents of children with disabilities...all kinds of disabilities. There is one other adoptive mom in the crowd; she has both adoptive and biological children with… [more]

I’ve been accepted into the 2007-2008 class of Partners in Policymaking for my state. This program, now in its 20th year, was created by the Minnesota Council of Developmental Disabilities to teach parents and self-advocates the power of advocacy. The organization has on-line courses available on their website, but nearly every state in the US, as well as the Netherlands, New Zealand, Ireland, Portugal, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. Over 15,000 people have graduated from their programs. I applied back in July and was accepted. I was accepted two years ago as well, but had to decline because of schedule conflicts. The hardest criterion of the program is committing to being there for all 8 weekends – there are no absences allowed… [more]