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AWAREness |
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Volume 2 |
Issue 2 – January 2008 |
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This newsletter contains links to PDF files which require Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download Acrobat Reader, click here. |
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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 |
From the Staff of Central Florida Parent Center:
We would like to wish you and yours a very safe, happy and healthy New Year!
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In This Issue
FCAT Waiver
Transition from Early Steps
The Art of Disclosing Your Disability
“Ransom Notes”
Steps to Success - Communicating with your child’s school
Guardianship and Its Alternatives
CFPC Guest Chat Transcripts
SIMPLY Careers Helping students with disabilities plan their futures
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Florida Department of Education WAIVER OF FLORIDA COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT TEST ® (FCAT) GRADUATION REQUIREMENTFOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES The Enhanced New Needed Opportunity for Better Life and Education for Students with Disabilities (ENNOBLES) Act, passed by the 2003 Legislature, requires that each district school board provide instruction to prepare students with disabilities to demonstrate proficiency in the skills and competencies necessary for successful grade-to-grade progression and high school graduation. The ENNOBLES Act also provides, in Section 1003.43(11)(b), Florida Statutes (F.S.), for the waiver of the FCAT requirement for graduation with a standard diploma for certain students with disabilities who have met all other requirements for graduation with a standard diploma, except a passing score on the FCAT.
For further information regarding the FCAT waiver go to: http://www.fldoe.org/ese/fcat/fcatwaiv.pdf
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The Art of Disclosing Your Disability This document (www.miltwright.com/articles/ArtOfDisclosingYourDisability.pdf) is a short guidebook on issues to consider when disclosing a disability to an employer in an interview or on the job.
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Emails, Letters and Phone Calls Stop ”Ransom Notes” Ad Campaign The New York University Child Study Center had initiated a public service campaign the Center described as "designed as a provocative wake up to create awareness and spark dialogue about childhood psychiatric disorders." The ads are written as "ransom notes" from the disability as having kidnapped the child. For example, the ad on autism stated: "We have your son. We will make sure he will no longer be able to care for himself or interact socially as long as he lives. This is only the beginning." It is signed "Autism." There are several other such ads regarding Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Bulimia, Depression, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Reaction from advocacy groups had been largely negative. A collective of 12 organizations, including ADAPT, TASH, and others, wrote a petition in response that said in part, that the "campaign places a stigma on both parents and children, thus discouraging them from pursuing a diagnosis that might be helpful in gaining access to the appropriate services, supports, and educational tools. The autism spectrum should be recognized for what it is: a lifelong neurological condition - not a kidnapper that steals children in the dead of the night. The devaluation of the lives of people with disabilities has led to public policies and funding decisions that have forced thousands of people with disabilities into nursing homes and other institutions. The unintended consequences of ad campaigns like yours give legitimacy to the taking away of the civil and human rights of people with disabilities." The Child Study Center has pulled the ads, and will look at taking a new direction in the near future. The Center invites the public to provide input into the new ad campaign, in an upcoming online “town hall” meeting. For more information, visit: NYU Campaign: http://www.aboutourkids.org/about_us/public_awareness
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Steps to Success: Communicating with Your Child's School This brochure offers specific communication skills that may be helpful to parents as they develop and maintain partnerships with their child's school. This document was developed in partnership with the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY). To view the entire document visit: http://www.directionservice.org/pdf/Steps%20to%20Success1.4pg.pdf |
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We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce |
Guardianship and Its Alternatives Because the appointment of a guardian takes away a person's ability to make decisions about his or her life, other options which place fewer restrictions on the person with a disability should be considered first. One of these less restrictive options may be able to meet the person's needs without the appointment of a guardian. For more information regarding guardianship and its alternatives visit: http://olrs.ohio.gov/ASP/olrs_FAQ_Guardianship.asp
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Central Florida Parent Center offers formal and informal online chats.
If you have not had an opportunity to attend a chat, we invite you to check in on our chat schedule at: http://www.cflparents.org/bbchat2.htm
We also encourage you to have a look at the transcripts of past chats with Guest Speakers such as:
Kathy Burton and Patricia Howell - FL Department of Education “Conflict Resolution” http://www.cflparents.org/chats/Chat-Oct172007.htm
Tom Nurse - MetDesk Specialist “Planning for the Future: Special Needs Trusts” http://www.cflparents.org/chats/Chat-August152007.htm
Mark Keith - Small and Rural District Outreach Program “Family Survival” http://cflparents.org/chats/ChatNov282007.htm
Meme Hieneman - Positive Family Intervention Project “Positive Behavior Supports” http://www.cflparents.org/chats/ChatDec132007.htm
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SIMPLY Careers! Helping Students with Disabilities Effectively Plan Their Futures through Comprehensive Career Development SIMPLY Careers is a 7-step process that assists students in achieving their future career goals through sequential career assessment, exploration, activities, experiences, programs, support, and planning centered around four broad career focus areas. Career focus areas are broad groupings of career clusters and occupations with common attributes and are based on Federal Department of Labor occupational data. The four broad focus areas are · arts, design, and communication · business, sales, and management · scientific, technical, and natural resources · social science, health, and education.
For more information regarding the SIMPLY Careers 7 step process, visit: http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1415/SIMPLYatt.pdf
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