Kids Together Email Newsletter "promoting inclusive communities where all people belong" JANUARY 2008 Newsletter Please notify us to receive this newsletter in text only. This list consists of over 3000 people (and growing!) Suggestions for newsletter items are welcome! "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." ~ Dante ~ The Paraprofessional Conundrum: Why We Need Alternative Support Strategies Michael F. Giangreco, Ph.D. & Stephen M. Broer, Psy.D. http://www.uvm.edu/~cdci/evolve/conundrum.pdf (4 pages Adobe File) "It's an explosion!" That's the way one administrator described the rapidly increasing numbers of paraprofessionals who support the special educational needs of students with disabilities. Assigning paraprofessionals to classrooms or individual students has become a dominant and growing model of support, especially for students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Increasing the numbers of paraprofessionals sounds like a good idea to many parents and professionals. Families are pleased to know that an additional person will be watching out for their child. Busy teachers and special educators are pleased to have an extra person to share the workload. Administrators often agree to hire paraprofessionals in an effort to be supportive of parental and teacher requests and because it is a seemingly lower cost option than hiring professionals or sending students to more restrictive and expensive educational placements. Add to this the fact that all of us know paraprofessionals who are worth their weight in gold! Their ranks include some of the most talented, dedicated, hardworking individuals in public schools today. Everyone is happy, so what's the problem? (article looks at the issues and gives clear examples of possible solutions, includes a chart with 16 criteria to evaluate over-reliance on paraprofessionals.) ------------------------------------------------------------ New Assistive Technology MENUS THAT TALK The Menus That Talk device is designed to speak briefly and on request. Share this with your favorite restaurant! http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-menusthattalk08jan04,0,6886121.story - There are 15 buttons that can be designated to various subsets of the menu -- pasta, chicken, beef, etc. Each button is labeled with print and in Braille, but for those who don't know Braille pressing a button will first announce the category. - The talking menu has a detachable earphone that slides out of the side of the device, allowing the user to listen in private. There's also a jack so diners can use their own headphones, and the menu is compatible with most hearing aids. - When the guest is ready to order, another button causes lights on the sides of the unit to flash as a signal to the waiter. ------------------------------------------------------------ Escopes ID System http://www.escopes.com A miniature microscope within a locket the size of a nickel, can contain 25 lines of important emergency information like emergency contacts, medication, allergies, health problems, plus special Interactions. Keeping important information available immediately. ------------------------------------------------------------ How a School in Florida Got Mainstreaming Right The Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119906505632958721.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone Interesting article, although it is limited to only students deemed able to "keep up" and not true inclusive practice, nor the best language. But, there are also a few notable quotes... "By slashing administrative costs, the district was able to push more resources into classrooms. From there, it began pairing up general and special-education teachers to work together in integrated classrooms." "Last year, a federally funded study that examined inclusion programs nationwide held up Choctaw, as Adam's high school is known locally, as a model. Researchers were particularly impressed by the unusually high degree of coordination between special- and general-education teachers at the school." ------------------------------------------------------------ Mark your calendars! CITEd and Don Johnston, Inc. Second FREE Webinar series, Moving Forward with Technology. http://www.cited.org/index.aspx?page_id=140&#upcoming The Role of Technology in Response to Intervention (RTI) February 11th at 11:00 am ET & February 28th at 3:00 pm ET RTI is fast becoming a household term, but what does it mean for you in your school and classroom? How can technology help you manage the process and serve students? Discuss the implications with the experts at the new National Center for Response to Intervention about research to practice efforts. Presenters: Nancy Safer, Co-Principal Investigator, National Center for Response to Intervention; and Tracy Gray, Director, Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd). ------------------------------------------------------------ In Pennsylvania ACTION ALERT Security Savings Accounts for People with Disabilities Pennsylvania Advocates Email or Visit Your Representatives http://capwiz.com/ndss/issues/alert/?alertid=10695856 The Financial Security Accounts for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2007 needs Pennsylvania Representatives to sign on as cosponsors. Enter your zip code to email a prewritten message to your representative asking them to become a cosponsor. You can personalize the message. The Security Accounts for Individuals with Disabilities Act would provide individuals with disabilities and their families the same opportunity for long-term savings that other Americans now enjoy, but with the flexibility to accommodate the uncertainty and wider range of expenses that life with a disability brings. The money saved in these accounts would not be counted in the determination of eligibility for Social Security or Medicaid benefits. ------------------------------------------------------------ ACTION ALERT High Stakes Testing http://www.elc-pa.org:80/nochild/nochild.html The Pennsylvania State Board of Education voted this week on draft regulations to create new high stakes graduation tests for all Pennsylvania public school students. The Education Law Center has information posted to assist you in submitting comments to the State Board of Education, including a fact sheet, research summary on graduation testing and the testimony provide by the Education Law Center. ------------------------------------------------------------ 1620 A Short Video on Testing (Through You Tube) created by Barry Bachenheimer http://plethoratech.blogspot.com/2007/05/1620.html ------------------------------------------------------------ In Pennsylvania PEAC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Pennsylvania Education for All Coalition http://www.paedforall.org Saturday February 2, 2008-- 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. At all three PaTTAN offices across the state http://www.pattan.k12.pa.us/contact/DirectionsAccommodations.aspx Keynote Topic: "Systems Change for Inclusion" by Dr. Jerry G. Petroff, College of New Jersey School of Education. "State of the State" by John Tommasini Pennsylvania Director, Bureau of Special Education PEAC is a partnership of parents, educators, related professionals and others who believe that children of all backgrounds and abilities should be successfully educated together in their neighborhood schools within the general education curriculum. To download the registration form and get more information go to http://www.paedforall.org ------------------------------------------------------------ The Parent Side (tm) T-shirts, cards, magnets mugs, stickers & more! It's a campaign for inclusion and against exclusion! http://www.theparentside.com Get It Your Way! If you want a t-shirt with a certain design on the front (small or big) and another design on the back (small or big), or the same design on both sides and it doesn't appear in the store, drop me a line! If you haven't visited in a while, check out the new products and lots of designs!!!! Don't forget to vote for theparentside.com As always, comments, suggestions or questions are welcomed. info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Keep The Parent Side #1 in the top 100!!!! Help keep The Parent Side #1 of the top 100 stores on the "Fun T-shirts Top 100 Shops" website. How cool to have a disabilities rights shop at the top! Get your family and friends to help vote! Use the this link http://funtshirts.top-site-list.com/vote182.html or follow the link from The Parent Side ------------------------------------------------------------ Resources are listed for general information purposes only Kids Together does not endorse products, services, or provide any legal advice Kids Together, Inc. is an all-volunteer non-profit 501(c)3 organization We support the belief that children with disabilities, like all children, have the need to be welcomed, cherished and embraced in our communities. 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