Caring parents want their kids to get the most out of every school day. As parents, we do simple things to help our kids maximize each school day – be sure they get enough sleep, eat a good breakfast, have a quiet place to do homework, ask about school each day, communicate with teachers. Terri Mauro’s Back to School Resources But if your child has special needs, you can do even more....

Don’t you just hate it when you go to a cool new website, but when you go to the URL, it’s inaccessible or under construction? Well, some people with disabilities, maybe even your own child, experience similar frustration every time they want to access the web. Why? It’s simply not available to them due to the nature of their disability. A recent feature on the NPR show, On the Media,...

As the parent of a child with special needs, you value teachers who help your child achieve as much as possible. Since this is Teacher Appreciation Week, you might enjoy this story of how one teacher changed the life of his student. Patricia Polacco The well-known children’s author and illustrator Patricia Polacco struggled with dyslexia for most of her elementary school years. She tells her...

In the previous posts in this series, Cassandra Sines shared what she’s learned about being the parent of two children with behavioral special needs. In Part 1, she gave advice about how to work with the public school system. Part 2 described and provided downloads for five of the pages she uses in the All About Me notebook she gives her son’s teachers at the beginning of each school year....

In the first post in this series, Cassandra Sines told her story as the parent of two children with behavior disorders. She also shared what she’s learned about being a proactive parent in the public schools. This post provides descriptions of the first six sections and corresponding downloads for the  All About Me notebook Cassandra created. All About Me Notebook Page Descriptions Here are...

The topic of this blog’s February 16 post was 7 Ways to Advocate for Your Child in the Health Care Community. A few days later Cassandra Sines left a comment about an All About Me notebook she uses to be proactive at her children’s school. What she described sounded so fascinating, I emailed her and asked if she would chat on the phone about her creation.  Our talk was so enlightening...

In the last DifferentDream.com post, you learned about Balanced Living All Year, Joan Celebi’s new book for parents of kids with special needs. In this post, you’ll hear about her favorite new IEP resources. IEP Phone App One of Joan’s picks is the IEP Phone App available at no charge, compliments of the Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC). You can download the app...

Recently I sat by a little boy at our church potluck. He has some special needs, especially in the area of communication. For years, I wondered if he would ever overcome them. Our lunch together reminded me of a maxim I followed during my teaching years: Every child can learn, given enough time. EParent.com To read the whole story about what my potluck mate learned because someone gave him enough...

In the previous post, you met Jennifer Peter, an Iowa professional learning and leadership consultant. If her explanation of the difference between Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and 504b plans was helpful, you’ll also appreciate her answer to this question: What advice do you have for parents about how to maximize services for their children with special needs? Services for Preschoolers Jennifer...

In a recent interview with Iowa professional learning and leadership consultant, Jennifer Peter. She explained the difference between an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and a 504b plan. Her explanation was so elegant and clear-cut, you deserve to hear it, too. IEP Schools are required by federal law to create IEPs for any school-aged student who has been tested and identified as needing special education...