AWAREness
Volume 2
Back to School Issue Issue 5 - August 2008
Providing parents of children with disabilities with information, training, assistance, and support
1021 Delaware Avenue
Palm Harbor, FL 34683
1-888-61-AWARE
Back to School: A Checklist for Parents
Starting a new school year presents challenges for students with disabilities and their families. The new year presents a chance to do things differently and perhaps better.
Here is a checklist of ten things that families of children with disabilities can do as a new school year begins.
Editors Note: Although this article from the Philadelphia Public School Notebook is dated 2006, the checklist offers ideas that stand the test of time!
In This Issue
Back to School checklist
Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance
Medicaid Waiver –
Four Tier System
Parents Seeking Parents
NCLB – Mapping Florida’s Progress
Prior Written Notice
Getting to Know Me
School Advisory Councils
New CFPC Website for Students
|
Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (formerly - Present Level of Educational Performance)
The purpose of the PLAAFP/PLEP is to identify and prioritize the specific needs of a child and establish baseline performance in the general education curriculum so that an individualized and meaningful plan can be developed. Statements of PLAAFP/PLEP include current information about the student’s academic achievement and functional performance.
The PLAAFP/PLEPs provide a description of the degree of match between the student’s current skill levels and the expectations of the student’s learning environment.
To view components and characteristics of PLAAFP/PLEP
|
Medicaid Waiver and the Four Tier System
Last year, the Legislature changed the law to require a four-tier waiver system for individuals receiving Medicaid Waiver services from the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.
The Legislature created four waiver tiers for people who receive services under the Developmental Disabilities Waiver, the Family and Supported Living Waiver, or the Consumer Directed Care Program. The Legislature also created eligibility criteria for the waivers.
Click here to visit the APD site and more information about the Tier System
Tier
System Challenged!
The Agency for
Persons with Disabilities published a set of proposed rules to implement
the tiers and held a public hearing on April 24, 2008. Four waiver
recipients, Southern Legal Counsel and the Advocacy Center for Persons
with Disabilities filed a challenge to the proposed rules. The legal
challenge is ongoing.
Click here to visit the Developmental Disabilities Council website, and see an update.
Parents Seeking Parents!
We, at CFPC, recently received an email from a parent looking to find other parents who have a child born with congenital cataracts, pseudo-phakia, has nystagmus, strabismus and photophobia (light sensitivity). This family is located in Port St. Lucie.
If you are able to help connect this parents to another parent, please contact:
No Child Left Behind
Mapping Florida's Educational Progress 2008
Every day, we learn what works so students can make greater progress. Six years after No Child Left Behind's passage – and mid-way to the nation's goal of having students on grade level or better in reading and math by 2014 – we have collected more data than ever before about the academic performance of our students and schools. This information enables all of us to chart where we are as individual states and as a nation and to map a course of action for future progress. The foundation of our success will depend on our continued commitment to the following core principles:
· High Standards
· Annual Assessments
· Accountability for Results
· Highly Qualified Teachers in Every Classroom (HQT)
· Information and Options for Parents
· All Children on Grade Level By 2014
For more information on Florida's progress, click here.
A new ABC series, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," includes Luke Zimmerman, a man who has Down syndrome. Zimmerman plays Tom Bowman, a recurring character and brother of one of the lead characters. The show auditioned non-disabled actors for the role of a disabled older brother, but ended up casting Zimmerman soon after he read for the part.
A note from the Editor: I wanted to share this information with our readers and add a “YAY” to Luke Zimmerman!
Written Notice
People often confuse two notices they receive regarding Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).
One notice, is the Notice of Meeting, which by law must be sent to you "early enough to ensure that parents will have an opportunity to schedule and attend the meeting at a mutually agreeable time and place
This notice is supposed to list all the people who will attend the meeting. There used to be confusion when a district would say this notice is only an "invitation" to the meeting and those people listed do not have to attend. IDEA states that the parents will be informed of "who will be in attendance", in the Notice of Meeting.
The other notice is Prior Written Notice which is one of the important rights in special education for parents. These rights are in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). When a child receives special education services, this law says that schools must notify parents in writing before taking a specific action or before refusing to take an action that parents have requested.
For more on Prior Written Notice, click here.
You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.
~Clay P. Bedford
Is your young child getting ready to transition into a new program?
Leaving Early Steps and starting Pre-K?
Starting kindergarten this year?
The Florida Transition Project for Infants, Young Children and Their Families offers a wonderful resource titled: Getting to Know Me. Families fill out the three page form which is designed to give a new provider a profile of their new student!
This is a great tool for families! Click here and take a look!
School Advisory Councils (SAC)
Each school in the State of Florida must have a SAC. By law, each SAC must be composed of the principal and an “appropriately balanced” number of “stakeholders.” These individuals must be representative of the ethnic, racial and economic makeup of the community served by the school.
Be part of the planning process in your community – contact your child’s school.
For more information on SAC - click here
Note from the Editor: Some districts also have an ESE (Exceptional Student Education) Advisory Council. Check with your local School District for information.
Click here to find your local ESE contact information.
Check It Out!
This site is a place where students with disabilities can meet and support each other, share ideas, learn, and have fun!
Students will have the opportunity to talk on message boards as well as in a chat room, and, if requested, get a fellow student as a mentor. Students can also get to know more about the Special Education process.
This site is monitored by Cat, CFPC’s Youth Coordinator. If you have any questions feel free to send her an e-mail at Cat@cflstudents.org