Special Education

Special Education

I have been a special education teacher for over 30 years. So much research and understanding has evolved over this time period and there are countless valuable resources available to parents, children and teachers. There has also been a huge legal controversy that has developed. This unfortunately has school districts in such fear of litigation that they are now focusing more on the prevention of legal dispute with such burdensome procedures and paperwork; that children are getting lost in the shuffle.

As a Resource Specialist I was cautioned about using the word dyslexia, yet I knew that a huge percentage of the children I was seeing were in fact dyslexic. The information on the web about this is substantial and invaluable to children and parents. There are programs that WORK! This has become one area of expertise for me. The struggling reader/ speller is something I can remedy easily with several processes I learned over the years, which are now under the label of some very costly techniques. I can guide you through this process, which I hope to have outlined on my website in the near future.

The main concern in the area of special education is the support and nurturing of your child's self esteem. It is critical to teach your child about their own gifts in addition to educating them about their areas of challenge. They must know that having areas of weakness does not make them "less" nor does it define who they are. Understanding their learning strengths and weaknesses and knowing what they need to succeed is key. Children must be shown that they count and that who they are is precious, loved and has nothing to do with any outer standard or reference point. Please contact me if you need guidance on how to best support your child.

The following are LINKS to some of the Resources in the area of Special Education

GENERAL Special Education Links

• Wrightslaw – A Must See sight for all special education matters in support of Parents and their children resources for dealing with schools, ieps, testing, and getting your child’s needs met per their legal rights. http://www.wrightslaw.com
• Learning Disabilities Information and Resources
  www.ldonline.org
• A Source for Special Education Information of all kinds … links for every area. http://uniquelygifted.org
• Special Education Resources on the Web http://seriweb.com/
• Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates
  http://www.copaa.net/

Dyslexia

• International Dyslexia Association http://www.interdys.org/
• Children of the Code http://www.childrenofthecode.org/
• Dyslexia Awareness Center
  http://www.dyslexiacenter.org/main.shtm
• Bright Solutions for Dyslexia http://www.brightsolutions.us/
• http://www.dyslexia.com/library/silver1.htm#what

ADHD ADD

• POSITIVELY ADD -- Parenting & Unschooling
  For parents of children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) who are seeking ways to accentuate the positive aspects of ADD and minimize the negative aspects, while avoiding medicating their children if at all possible.
  http://borntoexplore.org/
  http://bouncingbrains.com/
• Outside the Box - ADHD Resources for Misunderstood Kids http://adhd.kids.tripod.com/
• http://www.mindspring.com/~jupton/jan1.html
• http://www.feingold.org/

Autism Spectrum and Asperger
Syndrome

• http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer
• http://www.asperger.org/
• http://www.aspennj.org/
• O.A.S.I.S. – Online Asperger Syndrome Information and Support http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/

Anxiety,Phobias,Obsessive Compulsive

• http://www.socialphobia.org/
• http://www.anxietynetwork.com/
• http://www.ocfoundation.org/

Tourette Syndrome

• http://www.tourettesyndrome.net/

Bipolar Disorder

• http://www.bipolarchild.com/
• http://www.bpkids.org/site/PageServer

Non-Verbal Learning Disability
The NLD syndrome reveals itself in impaired abilities to organize the visual-spatial field, adapt to new or novel situations, and/or accurately read nonverbal signals and cues. It appears to be the reverse syndrome of dyslexia. Although academic progress is made, such a student will have difficulty "producing" in situations where speed and adaptability are required. Whereas language-based learning disorders have been shown to be genetic in origin, heredity has not, as yet, been linked to NLD. It is known that nonverbal learning disabilities involve the performance processes (generally thought of neurologically as originating in the right cerebral hemisphere of the brain, which specializes in nonverbal processing).
http://www.nldline.com/

Auditory Processing (CAPD, APD)/Hearing Impairment
Children with auditory processing problems have trouble understanding spoken information, even though their hearing may be fine in terms of acuity. The standard hearing test, involving detection of tones, will not pick up these problems - the child must be tested by an audiologist trained in assessing auditory processing. A child who has auditory processing problems may appear to have ADD, due to problems attending to spoken information.
http://www.ncapd.org/php/

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