AWAREness
Volume 3
Issue 1 - November 2008
Providing parents of children with disabilities with information, training, assistance, and support
1021 Delaware Avenue
Palm Harbor, FL 34683
1-888-61-AWARE
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008
On September 25, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law a measure (S. 3406) that significantly amends the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Coincidentally, the original ADA was signed in 1991 by his father, former President George H.W. Bush.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) provides broader protections for disabled workers and turns back the clock on Supreme Court rulings that Congress deemed too restrictive of disabled employees’ rights. The bottom line is that more employees will fit within the definition of disabled under the ADA.
Click here for more information.
In This Issue
ADA Amendments Act
Diploma Decisions
What is an IEE?
Florida Inclusion Network
Volunteer Pre-K Standards
Waiver Provider Website
Communicating with Your Child’s Teacher
Teaching Children with ADD
Thanksgiving Family Fun
Diploma Decisions for Students with Disabilities
What Parents Need to Know
(A guide designed by Florida Department of Education for parents of students with disabilities)
This guide is designed for parents of students with disabilities. It provides information about types of diplomas available through the Florida public school system. Knowing about these options will help you make sure that the educational program your child participates in will lead to an appropriate diploma. The diploma will help your child achieve his or her goals for life after high school.
It’s good to begin thinking about graduation options when your child is in elementary school. The elementary school program lays the foundation for future years. By the end of middle school, you and your child will be asked to make more definite plans about diploma choices. This is not a decision you will have to make on your own. You will be assisted throughout this process by school and district staff through the development of the individual educational plan (IEP). The diploma choice is reviewed each year at your child’s IEP meeting. The type of diploma that your child is working toward may be changed.
To view the entire guide, click here
What is an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)?
It is an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency (school district) responsible for the education of the child in question.
Click here to view a helpful IEE fact sheet.
Florida Inclusion Network
The Florida Inclusion Network provides learning opportunities, consultation, information and support to educators, families and community members resulting in the inclusion of all students.
Click here to learn more about inclusion activities around the state.
Volunteer Pre-kindergarten (VPK) Standards – 2008
The Florida VPK Education Standards (2008) were formally adopted by the State Board of Education on August 19, 2008. These standards create a common framework and language to for VPK programs serving Florida’s four-year-old children. The VPK Standards are reviewed and revised, as needed, every three years.
Based on collaboration with a panel of experts and public input from citizens across the state, the standards reflect the latest research on child development and developmentally appropriate practices for four-year-old children. Benchmarks are now available three areas: the domains of Language and Communication and Emergent Literacy, and in Mathematical Thinking, further explaining what Florida’s children should know and be able to do at the end of the VPK experience.
Click here for the full article.
What’s Happening in Your Neck of the Woods?
Click here to visit our CFPC events calendar.
WaiverProvider.Com is a directory of Medicaid waiver providers. The site provides much more than just names and phone numbers. WaiverProvider.Com provides detailed information about each provider including: services provided, areas covered, special skills, and experience.
The site also provides current information on Waiver activities and changes.
Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway.
-- Mary Kay Ash
Communicating with Your Child's Teacher
One of the best ways that parents can help their children succeed in school is to be involved with their education. This starts with communicating well with your child's teacher. Basically, good communication involves meeting with the teacher, being a positive and courteous partner in your child's learning, and keeping the lines of communication open in various ways throughout the year.
Click here for tips for communicating with your child’s teacher.
Teaching Children with ADHD
The Department of Education has released a new publication called Teaching Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Instructional Strategies and Practices. This is a follow-up to the 2003 Identifying and Treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Resource for School and Home.
Click here to download the full publication.
Have a little “Thanksgiving Fun” with the family!
Click here for family fun craft ideas!
From all of us at Central Florida Parent Center – have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!