May 11, 2012 Posted by Jolene

5 Ways to Set a Positive Tone at Your Child’s IEP Annual Review

During my 25 years as a classroom teacher, I attended many, many annual reviews for my students with identified special needs. So I was delighted when guest blogger Gillian Marchenko send the following guest post just in time for annual review season. Parent who will soon attend an annual review may want to get a pencil and paper so you can take notes! 5 Ways to Set a Positive Tone at Your Child’s IEP... read more

Dec 21, 2011 Posted by Jolene

How to Be an Effective Advocate for a Child with Special Needs

Guest blogger Ellen Stumbo has been thinking about an issue important to parents of kids with special needs: how to be an effective advocate. In today’s post, she shares about how her perception of effective advocacy has changed and mentions a good book put out by Wrights Law, an organization that trains parents to advocate for their kids in school. Am I an Effective Advocate? Speak up for those who... read more

Oct 7, 2011 Posted by Jolene

Creating a Homework Space for Your Child with Special Needs

Really, truly, I do not work for the Washington Post and receive no kickbacks from them for promoting their articles. And I don’t know if editors are directing their reporters and bloggers to write about special needs. What I do know is that in the past few months they’re run some bang up articles about travel with special needs kids, an area sprayground accessible to kids with special needs,... read more

Oct 3, 2011 Posted by Jolene

Guest Blogger Ellen Stumbo: When Back to School Is Different

Guest blogger Ellen Stumbo’s three girls went to school this fall. Each daughter responded differently to the experience, partly because of their personalities, partly because of their ages, and partly because two of them have special needs. In today’s post Ellen writes about her thoughts about her girls’ first day of school and their untapped potential. When “Back to School”... read more

Sep 14, 2011 Posted by Jolene

Easing Your Child’s Back-To-School Anxiety

Way back in fifth grade I was so scared of our schools tough-as-nails science and math teacher that my tummy hurt every single morning. So much, in fact, that more than once I stayed home all morning with very real, very painful stomach aches…that disappeared the minute her science and math block ended. I was suffering from school anxiety, a malady that affects kids with and without special... read more