We’ve had such a great response to the Wrightslaw Conference and so much fantastic support from the business community that we’ve decided to add a special BONUS to this conference for FREE!!!!

FREE March 11th Pre-Conference Friday Night  “Experts Sessions” We’ve gathered some of the top experts in this state to share their expertise on a variety of Parenting and Education topics which will help you, help your child and help your family.  Trainings and sessions with these experts frequently cost hundreds of dollars but they’ve agree to share some of their expertise with you on this special night … FOR FREE. Don’t miss out!!!

• Stephanie Cork – RLAC – “Orton-Gillingham & Other Reading Intervention Strategies For Special Needs Children”
• Tom Kendziorski – The ARC of Oakland County – “Social Security, Transitions and Planning A More Secure Future For Your Child”
• Jamie McGillivary – Beaumont HOPE Center & Healing Haven – “Stress Reduction For The Special Needs Family”
• Aubry Dodge – Behavioral Consultant – “Fixing Wrong Behaviors: Functional Behavior Analysis & Behavior Intervention Plans”
• Dean Norton -  Mac Professionals – “The IPad Educational Revolution & Education Technology”
• Dr. Linsk – Integrative Medicine & Pediatrics – “The What & How of BioMedical Interventions For Kids With Special Needs”
• Dr. Wycoff – Wycoff Wellness Center - “Another Way Of Looking At, Understanding & Treating Allergies”

This Friday night “Pre-Conference” Experts Night is our thank you to all of you and a rare opportunity to get some great information from some of the top experts in their fields FREE OF CHARGE. So please join us for this special night.

Click here to view a flyer for this event – Friday Night Speakers – please feel free to download it or share it with your friends!

*** You don’t need to have a ticket to the Wrightslaw Conference to attend this special Friday night speakers night.

Just A Reminder …

That the Conference isn’t until March 12, 2011 but tickets are selling quickly now …. so don’t miss out on the Wrightslaw Special Education Law & Advocacy Early Bird Tickets!

The early birds are grabbing up the tickets to the Wrightslaw conference.  We did a slow roll out yesterday just to test the pages and tickets started selling immediately.

For all of the details about the conference click – here.

The early bird special is only good for the first 100 ticket buyers so if you want to come to the conference please don’t wait too long to get those tickets.

Last time we sold out at 500 people and were turning people away because we literally could not add any more people to the room.

This year we’ve changed venues (last time Wayne County so this time Oakland County) and while we have a beautiful venue it’s going to be a smaller venue with fewer tickets available.  So check those calendars and get those tickets!!

Get Your Tickets NOW!

Two years ago we did a Wrightslaw Special Education Law Conference and it was an overwhelming success.  Five hundred parents and professionals attended for a day full of information, strategies and explanations.  In the months that followed we were overwhelmed with stories of parents that were able to get help for their children that had previously been unattainable.

It turns out that old saying is true – Knowledge IS Power.

Since that conference we’ve had people repeatedly asking us to bring Wrightslaw back to the Metro area so they could learn, share and understand more.

Well, we’ve got great news!  After a lot of work trying to coordinate schedules  ….. Wrightslaw is coming back to the Metro Detroit area on Saturday, November 13th for another full day conference.

We’re putting the finishing touches on the conference information and will roll it all out tomorrow … right here.

Along with the conference information we will also be opening up tickets sales and offering a special Early Bird discount for the first 100 ticket buyers.  We’ve changed venues this time so we’ll be selling fewer tickets to this years event so please if you’re interested don’t wait … I’d hate to see anybody miss out!

How can you make sure you don’t miss out ….

• Check back here tomorrow frequently
• Make sure you’re following us on our Facebook page (we’ll announce over there when the tickets go on sale too!)

We look forward to another great conference and hope to see you there!

As a special “thank you” to all of our friends and in honor of Autism Awareness Month (and oddly enough Stress Awareness Month – coincidence that these two are both in the same month?) we are offering the following

My Great Kid – Help My Kid Giveaway

What are we giving away …….

Understanding Your Child’s Test Scores WebEx CD Training (link)

• This is a great example of the phenomenal work that Peter Wright and the folks at Wrightlsaw do.  I’ve included a link above to the Wrightslaw website for a full description of the program but as the title suggests this is a 1.5 hr training – taken from Mr. Wright’s live training – that teaches parents HOW to truly understand their child’s test scores.  There is no part of the process that is more important to ensuring your child gets an appropriate IEP than truly understanding these scores.  Too often parents (myself included initially) make decisions based on what we think these scores and tests mean without ever full understanding what we’re seeing.  Surprisingly,  quite often many of the professionals at the schools don’t understand how to properly read and interpret these tests and scores either.  Learn how to generate better IEP’s with better goals and learn it all …. for FREE!

Special Education Law & Advocacy Training WebEx CD Training (link)

• Can’t make it to a live training with Peter Wright, or one of his associates, or have you been to one of his trainings but need a review (come on you can admit it,  they cover A TON of material and odds are you missed a couple of things) then this CD is what you’re looking for.  It is a 6 1/2 hour training presentation on CD ……. and we’re giving a bunch of them away for FREE!

When are we giving these FANTASTIC Wrightslaw products away?

• Every Friday throughout the month of April (9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th) we will be giving away a copy of the Wrightslaw “Understanding Your Test Scores” Training CD’s.
• Every Monday for the next four weeks (April 12th, 19th, 26th & May  3rd)  we will be giving away a copy of the Wrightslaw “Special Education Law & Advocacy” Training CD.

So, how will we choose the winners?

• Winners will be chosen randomly from those folks following us on Facebook and Twitter.
• So, if you’re following us on both Facebook and Twitter you double your chances of winning one of these great training CD’s.

We want to get the word out about this promotion to as many folks as possible SO we’ve come up with an ADDED bonus for those of you who are willing to help us.  On May 3rd the “My Great Kid” fan that has gotten the largest number of their friends to join us on Facebook and Twitter will get a special bonus prize …

• A copy of the “Understanding Your Child’s Test Scores” Training CD
• A copy of the “Special Education Law & Advocacy” Training CD
• A VIP Package to our Wrightslaw Special Education training (TBD)
  • 2 FREE Tickets to the conference
  • 2 Reserved Seats :  First row, smack in the center

How will we know who has sent us the most?

After your friends join our conversation via Facebook and Twitter, have them either drop us an email or send us a direct message via Twitter that says :

“My Friend Friend’s Name sent me!” (obviously, replacing the “Friends Name” part with your friends actual name).

HOWEVER, only names sent to me via DIRECT MESSAGES or EMAIL will be counted.

How do you send a Direct Message ~ easy:

• Twitter – In the status box they type  “D + username + message” so it would look like this “d mygreatkid AutismASK sent me!” (check this link for more info)

Email – This one is even easier send me an email Steve@MyGreatKid.com and throw the same message in the subject field  “My friend Friend’s Name sent me!”

SO, as a quick review we’ll be giving away:

• 5 Wrightslaw “Understanding Your Child’s Test Scores” Training CDs
• 5 Wrightslaw “Special Education Law & Advocacy” Training CDs
• 2 Tickets to our Wrightslaw Special Education Training (TBD)

AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS

• Fan us on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter

Do both and double your odds of winning.  Does it get any easier than this?

************

P.S.  – If you’ve got an IEP coming up soon and you can’t wait to see if you win one of these great training tools go to the Wrightlsaw site right now and purchase a copy for yourself.

P.S.S. – Speaking of Facebook, if you’re not already following Wrightslaw on Facebook get yourself over there quick and join the conversation.

** The CD’s are free but there will be a nominal charge for shipping (i.e.- all you have to pay is the actual shipping or postal charge, we’re not going to do that informercial “shipping and handling” thing where they charge you for shipping and $50 for handling)

We’ve had the good fortune to have special education attorney Wayne Steedman provide us with high quality, professional answers to complicated special education law questions (IEP, ESY, LRE, AYP, MET, NCLB … if all these letters are leaving you feeling l-o-s-t, check out our “Special Education Terms” section of the Education tab) on our show as part of our “Wrightslaw Tip Of The Week” feature since shortly after the show started.

After a bit of tweaking with our schedules we were finally able to get him on the show live for a more in depth discussion…

Mr. Steedman is a practicing educational law attorney and founding partner of Callegary & Steedman and special education law trainer for Wrightslaw Special Education Law Training, more from his official bio:

Wayne Steedman is an attorney and founding partner in the law firm of Callegary & Steedman.

Mr. Steedman’s practice is devoted primarily to the representation of children with disabilities. He has represented his clients in administrative due process hearings and state and federal courts.

In addition to a law degree from the University of Maryland, Mr. Steedman has a Masters Degree in Social Work. For several years, he served as a Due Process Hearing Officer in special education cases. He is an active member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA).

Mr. Steedman is the author of “Advocating for Services: Legal Issues Confronting Parents and Guardians” in Growing Up with Autism: Working with School-Age Children and Adolescents.

Wayne and Pete Wright (Wrightslaw.com) have worked together since Wayne’s successful decision in Gerstmyer v. Howard County Public Schools. In Gerstmyer, the Judge found that a Montessori School was the appropriate placement for a child with dyslexia, a language learning disability. Read about this case in Parents of Dyslexic Child Reimbursed for Tuition at Montessori School.

We first met Wayne at a Wrightslaw Special Education Training that he was conducting in Toledo, Ohio a couple of years ago.  Not only did we learn a lot from him that weekend but we were also impressed with his down to earth ability to help parents (like us) understand what the law means (in non-legalese) for our children.

On January 24th, 2010 we interviewed Mr. Steedman and spoke to him about the importance of tracking your child’s progress towards their educational goals over the course of the year, and what to do if your child ISN’T making appropriate progress.

While he’s a special education attorney, much of the advice he gave is useful for the parent of any school age child – special education or not.

While this country’s special education system has many weaknesses and deficiencies one of it’s great benefits (at least potentially great), is the emphasis on closely monitoring student progress.  I say “potentially” because for many children this “progress monitoring” is done in such a generic, biased, sloppy manner that it has little value.  However, for the children whose parents are educated and advocate strongly for their children this monitoring has tremendous potential for real understanding and progress.

Disappointingly though, this same degree of monitoring and exploration is not done with ALL of the children in the school.  However, by using some of the practices and methods we discuss in our interview you can improve your child’s educational experience and insure that they’re truly making the progress that they should be (and know what to do if they’re not).

In addition to tracking your child’s progress we also discussed requirements for Extended School Year services and how to insure that the professionals working with your child are properly trained and qualified (automatically assuming that they are isn’t a good strategy).

In the second part of the show we spoke with Matt LaFontaine from the LaFontaine Automotive Group about automotive safety and automotive tips including getting the answer to a question we’ve had for a while about those “hydrogen” inflated tires.

******************

Articles Written By Wayne Steedman

• 10 Tips: How to Use IDEA to Improve Your Child’s Special Education Program
• Independent Educational Evaluations: What? How? Why? Who Pays?
• How to Request a One-to-One for Your Child
• Going on a Discovery Mission Behind “Enemy Lines

More Links For Wayne Steedman

• Wrightslaw Training Program Speakers – Bio of Wayne Steedman, Esq.
• Callegary & Steedman, P.A.
• Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA)

Nitrogen Tires

• Pros, cons of using nitrogen in tires
• Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Tires – Nitrogen air loss study
• Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Nitrogen in tires – Q&A
• Nitrogen in Tires : Information about Nitrogen Tire Inflation News, Benefits, Generator Dealers, Location Finder & More
• The Straight Dope: Is it better to fill your tires with nitrogen instead of air?

We use Nitrogen in our tires and I’d say it does seem to make a slight difference, however, we also are members of Costco and get it done for free.  Would we do it if we had to pay for it?  Probably not ….. unless it was really cheap.

We had the great honor on October 25th of last year to interview Peter Wright from Wrightslaw.

Pete is a pioneer in the area of Special Education Law and truly one of the ultimate child advocates in this country.  We had the joy of being able to host a Wrightslaw conference in 2008 and were stunned at not only the overwhelming response the conference received but also the great generosity that Pete showed in working with us and helping parents at the conference.

Unfortunately, this interview was one of the one’s lost from the blog when our servers were hit last year with a series of unfortunate events.  So we’ve reposted the interview again for your learning and listening enjoyment.

The timing of this repost is fantastic because it just happens to coincide with the release of the top information shared on the Wrightslaw website last year.  So if you’re new to Wrightslaw you’ve got a great outline to start your education below.  Of course, even if you’re not new to Wrightslaw and Special Education Law you can’t go wrong with the outline presented below either.

Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement regarding a soon to be announced Wrightslaw conference in the Detroit Metro area.

The Wrightslaw Top 10 Informational Articles From 2009

1. Tests and Measurements for the Parent, Teacher, Advocate & Attorney
2. Wrightslaw Game Plan: SMART IEPs
3. Functional Behavior Assessments: What, Why, When, Where, and Who?
4. Response to Intervention: Guidelines for Parents and Practitioners
5. IEPs for Children with Behavior Problems
6. Key Differences Between Section 504, ADA, and IDEA
7. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) & FAPE
8. Supreme Court Issues Pro-Child Decision in Forest Grove School District v. T.A.
9. 10 Tips: How to Use IDEA 2004 to Improve Your Child’s Special Education
10. Reading Tests: What They Measure…and Don’t Measure

Hot Special Education Topics From 2009

1. Response to Intervention (RTI)
2. Discrimination: Section 504 and ADA
3. Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)
4. IDEA 2004
5. Behavior Problems and Discipline
6. Special Education Caselaw
7. Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Asperger Syndrome
8. No Child Left Behind
9. Inclusion, Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), Mainstreaming
10. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD)

Top 10 Education / Special Education Law Cases Discussed in 2009

1. Bd. Ed. Hendrick Hudson Sch. Dist. v. Amy Rowley
2. Honig v. Doe
3. Forest Grove School District v. T.A.
4. Fitzgerald v. Barnstable
5. Burlington Sch. Comm. v. Mass. Dept Ed
6. Henrico v. R.T.
7. Florence County Sch. Dist. IV v. Shannon Carter
8. Jarron Draper v. Atlanta Independent Public Schools
9. Cedar Rapids v. Garret F.
10. Irving v. Tatro

Top 10 Blog Posts From 2009

1. Does a Child Need an IEP AND a 504 Plan?
2. How Can I Develop SMART IEP Goals for Behavior Problems?
3. Should Poor Organizational Skills be Accommodated in an IEP?
4. When Schools Punish Sick Children Who Miss School: A Game Plan
5. IEP FAQs: Can More than one Disability Be Listed in an IEP?
6. Should Your Child’s IEP Include Extended Year Services (ESY)?
7. Is ADHD a learning disability? I’ve been told “no, it’s not.”
8. IEP FAQs: Is There a 10 Day Timeline for IEP Meetings?
9. Getting Help for a Child with a Behavior Disorder
10. Handcuffs? Bruises? Disability Rights Files Suit Against Wake County Schools

You Missed A Show?

Missed a show?  How could you?

Okay, besides you have a family and the show is on early Sunday mornings.

Then here’s your chance to catch up.  I’ll be posting full breakouts of all the shows we did in 2009 but in the meantime check out any of the shows that you might have missed below:

1. Dr. James Gregg – Is Chiropractic Right For Your Family?
2. The Swine Flu & The Vaccine – What’s The Story & Is It Safe?
3. David Kirby – Vaccine Safety & The Impact Of Factory Farming On Our Diets
4. Peter Wright From Wrightslaw.com – Special Ed & Special Ed Law
5. Twitter – Why, How, Should We Care w/ Leslie Poston Co-Author Of “Twitter For Dummies”
6. John Gatto – The American Education System
7. Dr. Arthur Benjamin – Math Magic & Improving Math Education
8. Barbara Coloroso – Fighting Back Against Bullying
9. David Allen – Author Of NY Time Bestseller “Getting Things Done”
10. Dave Farrow – Guinness Book Memory Master Record Holder
11. Kim Stewart – Eating Between The Lines (Coming Soon)
12. Marianne Syzmanski – Toy Tips For Children
13. Carol Kranowitz – The Out of Sync Child & Sensory Integration

Many (and soon) all off these shows can also be downloaded at Itunes in the Podcast section under “My Great Kid”.

Thank you for listening to the show and following this blog and please let us know if there are any topics, or guests, you would like us to speak to in the future.

“Parents will always be catalysts for education reform.”

def: Catalyst: An agent that precipitates -or- accelerates fundamental change

In what is sure to be a phenomenally informative show, this Sunday on the  “My Great Kid” Radio Program (Sunday 8:00am-9:00am, WAAM 1600am or online at www.waamannarbor.com;  A podcast will be posted after the show) we will be interviewing Peter Wright the founder of Wrightslaw.com and one of the nation’s most influential attorneys.

If you have a child with “special needs” or if you have a child who’s having trouble in school you literally cannot afford to miss this show.  If you have a friend that this applies to please tell them about the show.  Mr. Wright’s advice, website, books and conferences have been a critical part of my son receiving the education that he’s entitled to under the law since his earliest days of  Early Intervention.

This man is literally the guru of Special Education Law.

To learn more about Pete click here.

If you have any questions that you would like to have asked please send them to me at  steve@mygreatkid.com or post them to my Twitter page @MyGreatKid or call in live during the show at 734-822-1600.

Thanks to Keith Schoch over at Teaching That Sticks for pointing me to the OUTSTANDING op-ed by Steve Peha (from Teaching That Makes Sense. ).

I have to admit that at first I was a bit uncomfortable with the using the word “Genocide”, it seemed a bit extreme.  However,  let’s look at the definition:

violent crimes committed against groups with the intent to destroy the existence of the group – USHMM

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part – ICC

Hmmmm, looking at it according to the definitions and defining it as “academic genocide” maybe that’s not too strong.

THOUGH, it’s important to realize that it wasn’t me,  (or even Steve Peha) that used it …. it was Judge Howard Manning:

Halifax County’s public schools do such a bad job of educating students that they are committing “academic genocide,” a state judge said in ordering a hearing next month on who should run the schools.Manning based his statements, in part, on the system’s scores on end-of-grade reading tests. More than 71 percent of elementary school students are not proficient in reading, and more than 74 percent of middle-school students are not proficient, Manning wrote.

“This is irrefutable evidence of a complete breakdown in academics” in the Halifax County schools, he wrote.

Manning manages a public school funding lawsuit known as the Leandro case, after one of the plaintiffs. He has focused much of his attention on high school improvements since the state Supreme Court in 2004 largely upheld his ruling, which found the state is required to provide a “sound basic education” to all public school students. The judge’s order for a hearing is another outgrowth of the Leandro case, originally filed in 1994. Halifax was one of the five original school districts in the case.

Full Story Here

Unfortunately this problem isn’t limited to Halifax and is even worse for children with “special needs”.  This doesn’t seem that hard … if the child isn’t LEARNING the system isn’t WORKING!

For two related posts about what to do when the school isn’t teaching your child how to read check out : Waiting To Fail and Not One Size Fits All over at the Wrightslaw Blog.

“Can a child have an IEP for speech and a 504 for academic interventions?”
There is nothing in the law that says a child with a disability should have an IEP for some needs and a 504 plan for others. It’s confusing, it’s more work, and it’s unnecessary.
A school that does not understand the requirements for [...]
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