AWAREness

August 2011

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Providing parents of children with disabilities with information, training, assistance, and support

1021 Delaware Avenue

Palm Harbor, FL  34683

1-888-61-AWARE

www.CFLparents.org

Top Ten Back to School Tips for Parents Whose Children Have an IEP

10. Get your child excited about going back to school by talking with them about it.

9.  Go school supply shopping with your child and let them choose the school supplies that they want…..within reason of course!

Click here for the full list.

In This Issue

Top Ten Back to School Tips

USDOE Awards $ to Special Education Parent Centers

Florida County Restricts Prone Restraint

Private School to Individualize Learning for Children with Autism

Charter Grants

Florida High School Goes Digital

Device Helps Students Take Notes

Inside Your Child’s Brain

Educators Protest Bans on Websites

VSA – Art My Way

Parentally Placed Private School Students

Mobile Devices and Disability Therapy

Department Awards Over

$5 Million to 19

Special Education Parent Centers

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the award of more than $5 million in grants to operate 19 special education Parent Training and Information (PTI) Centers in 13 states and Puerto Rico.

With the new grants, the Department now funds 91 information centers for parents of students with disabilities. Every state has at least one Parent Training and Information Center, which assists parents as they work to ensure their children receive a free, appropriate public education as guaranteed by federal law.

“Parent Centers help families better understand their child’s disability and can often connect them to important local, state and national resources,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “These centers will play a vital role in empowering parents and families to learn about appropriate early interventions and special education services.”

Click here for more.

Central Florida Parent Center is proud to be one of the 19 funded centers.  We look forward to working with you all for four more years! 

Thank you for all of your support.

Florida County Restricts Use of

Prone Restraint in Schools

School board officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., voted on Wednesday to approve a new policy that makes prone restraint a last resort for subduing students with special needs. Some parents and advocates had been calling for an outright ban on the practice, which some experts say can cause injuries and death. The board said it will review the issue again in three months, and called for all uses of the practice to be reported and available for the board's next review.

Click here for more.

Florida Private School to Individualize Learning for

Students with Autism

A new private school in Daytona Beach, Fla., will cater to students with high-functioning forms of autism. The curriculum at Monarch Academy will be tailored to meet the needs of individual students and will include socialization, behavioral and life skills alongside academics, the new school's principal said. "They're looking at individual needs instead of numbers," said Nancy McBride, whose son is enrolled. "I wanted someone who has a passion for the children and knows our kids are special."

Click here for more.

Federal Charter Grants are Awarded to N.Y. and Florida

New York state will receive a $113 million, five-year federal grant to expand and improve charter schools. Fourteen states competed, but only New York and Florida were awarded the Department of Education Charter School Program grants. New York officials said their plans call for schools to serve high-needs students, replicating schools with top track records for success, and turning around struggling campuses.

Click here for full article.

Florida High School Goes Digital with iPads for

all Students This Year

Lake Minneola High School in Florida will distribute iPads to all of its students this fall as part of a statewide initiative to replace textbooks with digital materials by 2015. State officials will monitor the school's pilot program, gathering information to help other schools make the transition.

Click here for read more.

Award-Winning Device Helps Students Who Cannot See Take Class Notes

A team of students from Arizona State University competed in Microsoft's recent Imagine Cup. The team won the U.S. competition and came in second in the worldwide finals with a technological device to help students who cannot see or who have visual impairments take notes in school. The device was inspired by team member David Hayden, who cannot see, and sought an alternative to cumbersome equipment that allows students to see the blackboard or take close-up notes, but not both.

Click here for full article.

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

Inside your child's brain

Your child's brain is developing at an astonishing rate, with each stage bringing new skills, challenges, and emotions. Learn more about what neuroscience has discovered about your child's brain, and how this can help your parenting dilemmas.

Click here for more.

Some Educators Protest School Bans

on Certain Websites

Many schools ban certain websites using filters to block possible objectionable content. However, some educators question that approach, likening banned websites to bans on certain books in schools. In the fall, a small number of schools and libraries nationwide are planning a Banned Sites Day to bring attention to the issue.

Click here for more.

Let’s Bring Inclusive VSA Florida Art Classes “My Art My Way”

to Your Community!

While moving around their regions, VSA Florida Regional Program Coordinators continue to hear the outcry for community art classes for children with disabilities.  In our ongoing effort to serve the state with quality inclusive art programming for students of all abilities, the push has begun to answer that need!  VSAFL regional coordinators are currently looking for free space within their territories that can be used to propose this much needed offering.  School multipurpose or classrooms, churches, museums, community centers, university spaces are all options.  We must have at least 5 students in each class for this opportunity to take place

Classes are $10/student, with registration being blocks of 4 classes for $40. Visual, Dance, Music, Performing or Literary arts are all possibilities for the classes. If you are aware of such space or are a parent that would like to register your student for one of our classes, please contact your regional coordinator directly:

Jennifer Bonaventura, Region 1  -  jennifer@bonavstudio.com

Pat York, Region 2  -  yorkpat@cox.net

Anna Preston, Region 3  -  ampreston13@aol.com

Heather Spooner, Region 4 -  heatherspooner@hotmail.com

Kathy Iwanowski, Region 5 -  kathy@kathyiwanowski.com

For more information about VSA Florida and the programs we offer, please visit www.vsafl.org .

FLORIDA Department of Education Technical Assistance Paper –

Parentally Placed Private School Students

Although there is no individual entitlement to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with disabilities who have been enrolled by their parents in private schools, school districts where nonprofit private schools are located have an obligation to ensure that students with disabilities enrolled in these schools have an opportunity to participate in programs assisted by or carried out under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The purpose of this technical assistance paper is to provide all involved parties with guidance in the development and implementation of procedures for parentally

Click here for more.

How Mobile Devices are Being Used in Disability Therapy

Researchers from the University of Iowa and other schools in North America are developing various applications to facilitate the use of mobile devices in the therapy of individuals with autism, cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities. One such app aims to help young children collaborate on creative storytelling exercises, while another looks to increase arm and wrist motion in those with physical challenges.

Click here for more.