Special Needs Planning for Families

Fearless Family Key Two - Creating Community

2013-05-24T05:40:00-07:00

Why and how should you gather a community around your special needs child?

Six Questions Parents Should Ask at an ARD Meeting

2013-05-22T09:12:58-07:00

What is the ARD? An ARD (admission, review, and decision) committee is a group of people whose job is to design an individualized education plan (IEP) for each student who receives special education services. Parents are an important part of...

How Doing Your Estate Planning Can Help in a Disaster

2013-05-21T11:03:14-07:00

As we all watch the almost incomprehensible scenes of devastation coming out of Oklahoma, I have trouble imagining how the people in these neighborhoods will begin to move forward. They have nothing - not even a wallet with ID and...

Writing your own will: Can you? Should you?

2013-05-21T09:46:00-07:00

I spoke at a meeting of special needs parents last week, and in the course of the discussion one woman shared that while she hadn't yet done a will, she does do an informal, handwritten will every time she takes...

Six Questions to Ask at an ARD Meeting - Question SIX

2013-05-20T10:01:00-07:00

Question 6. Do we need more information before a decision can be reached? (and why, or why not?) Pull this question out when you are interested in a particular service but the school is trying to talk you out of...

Six Questions to Ask at an ARD Meeting - Question FIVE

2013-05-19T10:00:00-07:00

Question 5. Where will that be written in the IEP? If it’s agreed to by the entire committee, it’s a suggestion. If it’s written down in the IEP, it’s a mandate. However, because the paperwork for an IEP is extensive...

Six Questions to Ask at an ARD Meeting - Question FOUR

2013-05-18T09:58:00-07:00

Question 4. What training on this is available to these personnel? Adequate training for personnel that work with your student is critical. Training may be on specific educational techniques or on working with particular disabilities. This is a good question...

Six Questions to Ask at an ARD Meeting - Question THREE

2013-05-17T09:56:00-07:00

Question 3. Is there any person in the district that might have more information on this? With only a few school staff on each ARD committee, there are bound to be people in the district with more experience and more...

Six Questions to Ask at an ARD Meeting - Question TWO

2013-05-16T09:53:00-07:00

Question 2. What other ideas do you have? This is a great question to use when the school staff seems to have already decided the entire IEP. Check back tomorrow for Question THREE. Read Question ONE

Four Keys Overview of Special Needs Planning

2013-05-14T09:13:14-07:00