Fun on the Go

I found this idea (on Pinterest, of course) and put something similar together for miss Chloe. She LOVES playing with the magnet letters. It's great fine motor play, great special education, an easy way for other kids to want to come and play with Chloe (which she loves, of course), and I LOVE how easy and mobile it is! Sometimes simple ideas are the most genius. :)

 

The Masterpiece

A beautiful poem written for Kendall of Kendall's Hope
by one of her Special Education teachers.

I know this will make your day, so enjoy....

There’s a tiny piece of heaven who will breathe Earth’s air tonight
She’s the gift you prayed for when you prayed with all your might.
Straight from God’s own hand, a vision of His heart
Flawlessly designed by angels; she’s a perfect work of art

She’ll have mommy’s soft skin and daddy’s button nose
Perfect in every way from her head to her toes.
With big brown eyes and a dimpled chin
Curly brown hair and a sweet impish grin

What’s that you say…her legs are not strong?
Oh no, God said, you’ve got it all wrong
She will dance in your heart and soar with the wind
In her own time, you’ll be amazed at the races she’ll win.

Her eyes... you say, they cannot see?
But, she sees past the sadness and into the hearts
Of people who love her and make her a part
Of the beauty around her that she’s felt from the start.

Her voice is silent and you can’t hear a word?
Yet, she sings with a rhythm of a soft fragile bird
She speaks to your soul and whispers her love
On the wings of an eagle, with the grace of a dove.

A child so precious, and uniquely your own
Chosen by God, a gift from His throne
A little piece of Heaven meant all along
To fill your life with her strength, her sight and her song.

For Kendall Briggs
With love, Terri Limon

Conductive Education

The Conductive Learning Center
Grand Rapids Michigan

Well friends, I have to say...The four week experience that we had at the CLC just may have changed our lives and our outlook on life forever! The people who work there are so dedicated and obviously devoted to the children who attend the center. Whether they are there for one session or if they are attending full time, the approach is the same and the goal is to promote independence. It concentrates on developing and improving gross motor skills such as learning how to sit, walk and hold on to large objects, as well as fine motor skills including learning how to hold a pencil and eat and drink. Many parents are surprised to see their child sitting on the potty for the first time.
The curriculum strategies are tailored to the needs and abilities of each student, many who have Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida and other Motor Challenges.
The Conductors are committed to teaching students to reach beyond what is expected. They include music and singing into a structured routine making it a fun and positive experience, so they can learn the necessary skills needed to live a more independent, confident and fulfilling life.
You can only imagine our excitement when they had Hailey up on a walker (with assistance of course) after only being there 3 days! We wholeheartedly agree with the program and want to see Hailey attending on a more regular basis. I’m not sure if that means moving to Michigan, or making the trip there more frequent. It is not even out of the question to open up a Center here in Massachusetts. Either way I have to get more aggressive in my fundraising efforts. Unfortunately Conductive Education is not covered by insurance.
Friendships are different now than they used to be, quality instead of quantity. The entire community welcomed us with open arms. The parents, the staff, and the program director were all helpful and inspirational. We felt a complete sense of belonging and unity. Families who understand, people who have never met us before opened their home and their hearts to us. It is the bond we share as families of children with special needs. Parents who have walked the road before us paved the way. The same families who have learned not to waste their precious time listening to rude comments, awkward stares and low expectations from Doctors.
To all of the Parents and Educators at The Conductive Learning Center in Michigan. I have just one thing to say. BRAVO BRAVISSIMO!

Teach to Read With Symbols

One great way to teach children with special needs to learn is with symbols. Read this tutorial for tips on how to "write with symbols" in a way that will help your child!



You can use these use these resources to create a symbol book....

Imagine Symbols
Straight Street
Sclera Picto's
Widgit Symbol Packs

Eyegaze Apps

I originally saw this post on Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs and, after I picked my jaw up off the ground due to my utter amazement, I just had to share it!

The products seen in this video are the first steps towards a comprehensive curriculum to teach purposeful eye gaze interaction leading to each purposeful eye gaze interaction leading to eye gaze controlled communication and computing. We have road maps and progressions to teach keyboards and switch skills but this will be important for us to teach learners what they need to access an eye gaze controlled device. Amazing.

The computers seen here are the Tobii PC Eye, the software is by Sensory Guru and the interactive floor mat is a Magic Carpet.

The magic carpet app is nothing shy of astonishing.

Teacher Appreciation Ideas

I've searched over the world wide web and created this collection of what I believe to be the cutest DIY teacher appreciation gifts. And now I'm going to share them with YOU! Teacher Appreciation week is May 2 - May 6. Have fun making crafts and teaching your child to show gratitude with one of these fun ideas!....

(all images & captions are linked)

Free printable thank you cards from Cottage Industrialist

I love this photo thank you! This could be used to make a card or it could be framed...
idea from Heinz Endowments

apple love idea from The Tumtum Tree

caramel apple for teacher idea from One Charming Party

Giving thanks in a photo idea from doobleh-vay

These "You are Sweet" free printables from Living Locurto
could be cute with any sweet treat!

Wordle word cloud idea from Instructables

heart-shaped word cloud with student names
idea from Tagxedo

"thanks a latte" free printable from Skip to my Lou

simple thank you cards from Printables by Amy

personalized sticky notes idea from How Does She

scent-sational free printable from eighteen25
put with yummy lotion, scentsy products, candle, etc. Fun!

Free printable tags from A Bushel and a Peck
This would be cute with a water bottle & flavor packs

adorable pencil vase idea from gumdrops to glitter

free printable compliment banner
from How About Orange

crayon wreath idea from
The Ballard Bunch

crayon monograms from The Three R's

apple-shaped picture collage
easy to make with Shape Collage

alphabet flower bouquet idea from One Charming Party

free alphabet-iloveyou printable from Sprik Space

Let me know if you make any of these! I'd love to see your masterpieces!!!

Resources for Assistive Technology

A.T. Tipscast
Accessible Technology Tips
Adaptations 4 Kidz
Apple Assistive Technology
Apps for Children With Special Needs
Assistive Tech Forum
Curriki

Junior's Voice
Moms With Apps
SpeEdChange
Teaching All Students
Tequipment
Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners
Wrightslaw Way

Which technological device(s) do you use for your special needs child? Which apps are your favorites? Which online resources do you find most helpful? Please share!

Special Education Resources

Today I stopped by Chloe's preschool classroom and in just a few minutes, realized some major frustrations of the teachers in regard to funding for technology assistance, equipment, etc. I started doing some research to see if/how I might be able to help them help me help Chloe. I found some great resources and wanted to pass along the great information!

• PEATC on Special Education - Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center. This is a great resource for special needs parents. There is a power point that gives a full tour of Special Education. There are glossaries for definitions and acronyms of terms frequently used in the Special Education world. There are fact sheets about many subjects relating to Special Education. Those are just the highlights. There are many other resources and useful tools. I highly recommend taking a peak at this site!
• PATCN - Parent Technical Assistance Center Network is a division of the U.S. Department of Education. They provide training and resources applicable to your specific region, in order to, "[improve] outcomes for children with disabilities and their families."
• OSEP - "The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing leadership and financial support to assist states and local districts." There are resources about IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act), grants, technical assistance and training.
• TA&D - Technology Assistance & Disabilities is a project of OSEP. "The projects address topics such as autism, deafness, disproportional representation, dispute resolution, learning disabilities, parenting children with special needs, positive behavior support and transition. Most information and technical assistance is available free of charge."
• RRCP - The Regional Resource Centers Program is another part of OSEP. Its purpose is to "assist state education agencies in the systemic improvement of education programs, practices, and policies that affect children and youth with disabilities. Services offered by the RRC Program include consultation, information services, specially designed technical assistance, training, and product development."
• NICHCY - National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (um, not sure how they got that acronym from that name?) provides information and research on special education practices. I particularly like their state-specific resources.
• Special Ed Justice - News & information about Special Education Law.

Although many of these sites appear to have duplicate purposes and resources, I still think they are all worth a minute of your time to see which program will be most beneficial for your child's specific needs.

Tara

A Little IEP Humor

Top Ten Signs...
That You're Going to Have a Bad IEP Meeting
By Colleen F. Tomko


10. The IEP invitation lists "drive-thru" hours.
9. When you get to the meeting, the staff want to know what you are doing there.
8. They give you complimentary white flags and tissues.
7. Your child's student ID # is 666.
6. They try to convince you that the attending speech therapist really is the janitor's identical twin.
5. You find yourself explaining that...the regs say they can use IU's for related services, not I-O-U's.
4. The special ed coordinator says 'Have we got a place for your kid".
3. They think "inclusion" is some type of venereal disease.
2. The staff is bumming because their label maker burned out.
1. You over hear the staff talking about the Least "Resisted" Environment.

I Do Not Like These IEPs
~Author Unknown

I do not like these IEPs
I do not like them, Jeeze Louise
We test, we check
We plan, we meet
But nothing ever seems complete.
Would you, could you
Like the form?

I do not like the form I see
Not page 1, not 2, not 3
Another change
A brand new box
I think we all
Have lost our rocks.

Could you all meet here or there?
We could not all meet here or there.
We cannot all fit anywhere.
Not in a room
Not in the hall
There seems to be no space at all.
Would you, could you meet again?

I cannot meet again next week
No lunch no prep
Please hear me speak.
No, not at dusk. No, not at dawn
At 4 pm I should be gone.

Could you hear while all speak out?
Would you write the words they spout?
I could not hear, I would not write
This does not need to be a fight.
Sign here, date there,
Mark this, check that
Beware the students ad-vo-cat(e).

You do not like them
So you say
Try again! Try again!
And you may.
If you will let me be,
I will try again
You will see.

Say!

I almost like these IEPs
I think I'll write 6003.
And I will practice day and night
Until they say
"You got it right!"

Funny or Sad or Both?

The Power of Believing

'Tis the season to believe!!!....

(An oath for professionals who worked with students with severe and/or multiple disabilities)



1. Believe that all students can learn and have the right to.
2. Believe that all students can communicate and have the right to.
3. Believe that all students have the right to choose and should be given the opportunity to do so.
4. Believe that there is always hope.
5. Believe that small miracles are the best.
6. Believe that all movements, signals, cries, and gestures are a form of communication.
7. Believe in patience.
8. Believe each individual has something positive and valuable to share with you.
9. Believe that if there is a will there is a way.
10. Believe that you have something positive to give to individuals with severe and multiple disabilities.
11. Believe that all students need to be cognitively challenged.
12. Believe that if you believe that the child will believe.

@2001, Creative Communicating. This article was taken from a work in progress by Pati King-DeBaum titled “The Power of Communication”.

An Open Letter to All Professionals

Hello?

New teacher, or therapist, or doctor? Is that you?

Oh hello…

I just wanted to chat with you a second. To caution you. Or warn you.

Please, tread carefully.

You see, what you might not realize as you look at me, talk to me, tell me your opinions, our options, our lack of options, and your predictions of our outcomes is that; well… you see that heart?

The slightly broken, definitely bruised one?

Yeah, that’s my heart.

My slightly-broken, definitely-bruised heart.

My Heart left my chest
In tiny jeans and t-shirt
Walks around, exposed.

Now, I realize that as you look at me you might see…a confident parent… or an angry parent…or a happy-go-lucky parent…

You might think that I understand everything… or nothing…… or that I have all the experience in the world because I have done this before… or that I know the rules… or that I don’t know the rules and that is for the best….

You might believe… that I am high maintenance… or overreacting… or maybe neurotic… or disengaged and uninterested… or that I don’t really care… or maybe I care too much…

But regardless of what you see, what you think, or what you believe, this is what you should know:

I am broken-hearted. And it doesn’t matter if it is the first day or a century later. It doesn’t matter where in the “grief cycle” I might be. It doesn’t matter if the wounds are healed, or healing, or fresh and new. This heart is bruised. Slightly broken. Different than it once was and will ever be again. And when you speak, or don’t speak, in judgment or not, my heart is out there.

Some of “us” parents… the ‘special’ ones… can be a pain in the ass. I know that. WE know that. But we are fighting a fight we never planned to fight, and it doesn’t end. We don’t get to clock out at the end of the day. We don’t get a vacation from it. We live it, everyday. We are fighting without knowing how to fight it, and we depend so much on you to help us. We have been disappointed, by you or others like you. And we are disappointed in ourselves. We are your harshest critics. We are our own harshest critics too. We are genuinely fearful, and driven, and absolutely devoted. And we also know, we need you. So please, be careful with us. Because as hard and tough as we may look outwardly, our hearts are fragile things.

by Pia of The Crack and the Light

Help Kidz Learn

I found this website through a couple other blogs I follow and just had to share it here.

www.helpkidzlearn.com

This site has simple games, stories, and more. Most of which are accessible by a switch and all you need is a switch interface to play. Switch accessible software can be very pricey but it also can easily become boring if you don't have lots of different activities. So nice to find a site where Junior can enjoy the activities without the cost.

There are several different switch interfaces available. This is the one Junior uses to access his computer.


Click the picture to go to one of the sites that carries them. This type is very simple to use, you just plug it into a usb port on your computer and then plug you switch into one of the ports on the front any you are set. Though in the description it is considered a single switch interface we have used 2 switches with Junior's with no problem.

Conductive Education

by Renee of Massagermommy


Conductive Education, often described as rehabilitation through learning, was founded by Dr. Andras Peto in Budapest, Hungary, in 1948. Peto devised this unique, intensive group method of special education, which expects and demands active learning and participation by the child in attempting to overcome his/her motor disability (i.e. cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, cerebral vascular accidents, etc.).

The conductors are responsible for facilitating education, utilizing concepts of goal directed activity, verbal regulation, and group dynamics.


Conductive Education focuses on the whole person, recognizing physical, social, intellectual, and emotional aspects of learning. Focus is on functional skills such as dressing, feeding, and walking. Ultimately, Conductive Education is the complex development of the personality.


Zach has been doing Conductive Education now for almost 6 months. We only go once a week to once a month depending on if we have the funds that month or not. Even with the small amount we can afford for him to go we have seen some things that make us so happy and so worth the time and money.

In just the first month of Conductive we started seeing much better trunk control and he has become much more aware of his larger environment. He has also started to understand the idea of potty training, he still does not have the words to let us know he needs to go but every time we put him on the potty he will go. This is something I did not give him enough credit for, I would have never even tried potty training with him because of the lack of communication about it on his part.



I know that this is just the beginning of many things he will surprise me with over the years. I am so excited to see all the things to come that he WILL do, at this point I am just not interested in the things he can't do. I'm sure we will come across things in the future but at this point I say "the negatives can wait, he is only 3. The future will bring what it may but we will tackle it as it comes."

Homeschool Resources

100 Excellent Online Resources for Christian Homeschoolers

What Defines Me Is My Determination

Today's guest post is written by a wonderfully inspirational young lady, Erin Breedlove. I am completely blown away by her blog, Empower People, Change Lives. I often joke that Austin will probably grow up to be a doctor because he has such an extensive medical background. As you will read Erin's dream is to do just that, I have no doubt that her drive and determination will take her all the way to the top.

Without further ado:

As a college student with cerebral palsy, I find that there are certain words, often used to describe those with disabilities, that are derogatory in terms of the way that they describe people like me and unlike me, the ones that have worked so diligently to get to where they are today.

Handicapped implies that there is a figurative “cap” on the things that students with extra challenges can achieve and perform. The truth is, though, that there aren’t any limitations on anyone. The only limits that are set are the ones that you set for yourself. For instance, I will graduate from college as a music therapist and will obtain a board certification and a certification in neurologic music therapy. Upon graduation, I will hopefully attend Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to obtain my MD in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation so that I can assist others in achieving the maximum level of independence and the highest quality of life possible.

By default, I expend more energy by nine o’clock in the morning as someone without my challenges might by nine o’clock in the evening. Every day, my muscles are fighting with themselves. They all think that they have a job to do when only one muscle or limb of my body should be exerting energy. Because I am a college student and my classes are in different buildings, I need to have the energy to transport myself from building to building, which is heavily aided by the fact that both buildings that house my classes are adjacent to the dormitory building. Even before I think about transitioning from one building to the next, I must wake, get dressed, put on my shoes, makeup, and brush my hair and teeth. Nightly, my routine consists of relaxation, homework, preparing for the next day, dinner, and shower. Though it seems quite structured, I have learned which things work for me. For instance, Facebook and Twitter are things that I use to wind down during the day and to maintain energy levels. I find things that are easy and practical for me. I can access Twitter and Facebook on my Blackberry, so the issue of carrying the laptop when you’re waiting for class is just not a big issue. Blogging has also helped me, in recent days, to accommodate the fact that I do need social interaction while getting cognitive stimulations through the articles and thought-provoking stories that you always hear in association with the community of people with disabilities. Now, I will have an even greater impact on the way that people with disabilities and other injuries and conditions live and thrive throughout the course of their injuries and side effects. Handicapped? I think not!

Disabled implies that an individual is not “adequately able” to perform a given task. While the individual may not be able to complete the task in the same manner that individuals without impairments might be able, the task is, in fact, one that is completed. Therefore, full credit is deserved. For example, when hanging clothes on hangers, I lay the hanger on a flat surface to clip pants or hang shirts. Different process to get there. Same result.

The word disabled has many meanings to many people, but I have often been surprised by the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act doesn’t have a section in which it is addressed as to which terminology is generally user-friendly and acceptable. You’ve all seen the “Campaign to End the R-Word” groups online, and personally, I believe disabled should be at the very top of this list as well. Because I’m disabled doesn’t mean that I have less entitlement to goods and services in the USA, so why should it even be used? My favorite alternative for the “r-word” has to be “developmentally progressing,” which implies that the individual isn’t quite where they need to be…just yet. They will get there. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I am comforted by the fact that when I apply to medical school, they will not be permitted to turn me away because of my disability, and for those who have or work with younger children, you might encounter situations in which children are under the impression that they will be discriminated on the basis of their disability. It is vital that you ensure that they understand that in 2010, that should not and will not be the case. In college, the discrimination, if you will, rarely happens on our campus, but it did for the student who was told he couldn’t live in the dorms because of his challenges. At the college-level, you have so many classes with so many different people that no one remembers that you weren’t in the class taking the test with the rest of the class because you had extended testing time; I feel that public elementary, middle, and high schools should make a conscious effort at blending other students in with students who may have challenges, even beyond the basics of inclusion.

It doesn’t take a word to let your child know his or her challenges. It takes a day in his or her shoes for him or her to show you his or her challenges.

Try This Tuesday: Adaptations 4 Kidz!

This blog has been created by Heidi, a member of the kidz krew, to help our kids with different abilities live life to the fullest.


Be sure to stop by for lots of incredible ideas from an incredible person! Not only is Heidi a loving mom and advocate, she is also a professional therapist. I am so excited she created this blog and plan to learn a LOT more from her!