Mar 22, 2013 Posted by Jolene

8 Ways to Promote School Readiness in Kids with Special Needs

School readiness is something parents want to encourage in their kids with special needs. But they aren’t always sure about how to promote readiness. Esther Leung, who sometimes guest blogs here at DifferentDream.com, has good advice for parents in her post at Friendship Circle of Michigan. 8 Ways to Promote School Readiness Esther’s... read more

Jan 11, 2013 Posted by Jolene

Bullying at School: What Can Parents Do?

Bullying has been a problem at school for centuries for children with special needs and for typical kids, too. With students heading back to school after Christmas break, now’s the time to highlight an excellent article about what you as parents can do if your child is bullied at school. Bullying at School The folks at ConnectedFamilies.org... read more

Oct 26, 2012 Posted by Jolene

Parent Toolkit: Make the Most of the School Year

A parent toolkit may be just what you need with school year in full swing and parent/teacher conferences right around the corner. Thankfully, Mary Mazzoni features the resource you’re looking for at her website, Life After IEPs wesite. Parent Toolkit from the NCLD The kit is a free resource created by the National Center for Learning... read more

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... 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... read more