Post by title1parent on Jul 11, 2008 16:45:06 GMT -5
Just received this from a neighbor. Nice to see our Special Needs PTA get some recognition.
State's only special needs PTA looks to shake things up this fall
PatriciaMurphy,Triblocal.com
07/11/08 09:44 AM
Three years ago, Lori Price discovered a job transfer was going to move her family from Michigan to Illinois.
The mother wasted no time getting on-line. At the top of her list — a school system that could accommodate her son, Colin, who had been diasgnosed with Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.
"Everything came back to school districts 203 and 204," said Price, an Aurora resident. "Then I happened upon the 204 Web site and found the special needs Parent Teacher Association. Once we moved here, I started attending meetings."
Soon she was meeting parents and learning about area doctors who cater to children with sensory issues.
Currently, Price serves as president of the state's only special needs PTA, which was chartered by the Illinois PTA and National PTA in 1999, and she has played an integral part in increasing the organization's membership by 50 percent in the last year. Even so, she admits, the PTA could have much more of a significant presence for those living in Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield who are served by the district. The group's roster lists 89 names out of the 3,500 children found to have special needs through district 204's individual education plan, a diagnostic procedure mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
"I think we're the best-kept secret in 204," Price said. "We want to create awareness because it is a group that does so much good for so many families."
Many members have children with autism, but the organization is open to district parents of children with any disability from Down Syndrome to a physical handicap to visual or auditory difficulties. Parents need not be members to attend meetings.
Support is the basis for the organization, Price said, and members are encouraged, first and foremost, to join the PTA of their child's school. By alerting traditional PTA event organizers of a boy or girl's particular sensitivities to sound or some other stimulation and suggesting slight modifications, parents of special needs children serve to limit their child's exclusion from extracurricular activities.
"It's not about dictating what the event will be but being a voice without rocking the boat," Price said.
The group, which is headed by a four-person executive board, meets monthly to discuss business, host speakers on various topics and open the floor to any member introductions, concerns or questions.
Past speakers have included School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner who highlighted a pilot program to be enacted in four elementary and two middle schools this coming academic year.
"Each individual school is going to take a look at their own population and look at the [special needs] program," Price said. "Before, [the program] has been a cookie cutter model but now schools will model it to kids, and it could change year to year. There are going to be more certified special needs teachers brought on because of this."
Pilot schools include Steck, Welch, Cowlishaw and McCarty elementary schools and Granger and Hill middle schools.
The organization has some ambitious goals of its own, and all are focused squarely on creating awareness, Price said.
Her reach has gone beyond the special needs PTA as she has asked district 204 school PTAs to designate special needs liaison to open the line of communications between the various organizations.
The PTA is also partnering with a local counseling center to provide siblings of special needs children with an opportunity to meet peers in similar home situations and speak with professionals. The group is also looking to develop interest groups to tackle individualized aspects of special needs like a newly diagnosed group and a legal issues group.
"We'd also like to bring some disability experts in for events. For someone to say 'I never knew about this group and look at this they've put on,'" Price said.
To learn more, visit ipsdweb.ipsd.org and click on “organizations” listed on the left-hand side of the page.
State's only special needs PTA looks to shake things up this fall
PatriciaMurphy,Triblocal.com
07/11/08 09:44 AM
Three years ago, Lori Price discovered a job transfer was going to move her family from Michigan to Illinois.
The mother wasted no time getting on-line. At the top of her list — a school system that could accommodate her son, Colin, who had been diasgnosed with Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.
"Everything came back to school districts 203 and 204," said Price, an Aurora resident. "Then I happened upon the 204 Web site and found the special needs Parent Teacher Association. Once we moved here, I started attending meetings."
Soon she was meeting parents and learning about area doctors who cater to children with sensory issues.
Currently, Price serves as president of the state's only special needs PTA, which was chartered by the Illinois PTA and National PTA in 1999, and she has played an integral part in increasing the organization's membership by 50 percent in the last year. Even so, she admits, the PTA could have much more of a significant presence for those living in Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield who are served by the district. The group's roster lists 89 names out of the 3,500 children found to have special needs through district 204's individual education plan, a diagnostic procedure mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
"I think we're the best-kept secret in 204," Price said. "We want to create awareness because it is a group that does so much good for so many families."
Many members have children with autism, but the organization is open to district parents of children with any disability from Down Syndrome to a physical handicap to visual or auditory difficulties. Parents need not be members to attend meetings.
Support is the basis for the organization, Price said, and members are encouraged, first and foremost, to join the PTA of their child's school. By alerting traditional PTA event organizers of a boy or girl's particular sensitivities to sound or some other stimulation and suggesting slight modifications, parents of special needs children serve to limit their child's exclusion from extracurricular activities.
"It's not about dictating what the event will be but being a voice without rocking the boat," Price said.
The group, which is headed by a four-person executive board, meets monthly to discuss business, host speakers on various topics and open the floor to any member introductions, concerns or questions.
Past speakers have included School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner who highlighted a pilot program to be enacted in four elementary and two middle schools this coming academic year.
"Each individual school is going to take a look at their own population and look at the [special needs] program," Price said. "Before, [the program] has been a cookie cutter model but now schools will model it to kids, and it could change year to year. There are going to be more certified special needs teachers brought on because of this."
Pilot schools include Steck, Welch, Cowlishaw and McCarty elementary schools and Granger and Hill middle schools.
The organization has some ambitious goals of its own, and all are focused squarely on creating awareness, Price said.
Her reach has gone beyond the special needs PTA as she has asked district 204 school PTAs to designate special needs liaison to open the line of communications between the various organizations.
The PTA is also partnering with a local counseling center to provide siblings of special needs children with an opportunity to meet peers in similar home situations and speak with professionals. The group is also looking to develop interest groups to tackle individualized aspects of special needs like a newly diagnosed group and a legal issues group.
"We'd also like to bring some disability experts in for events. For someone to say 'I never knew about this group and look at this they've put on,'" Price said.
To learn more, visit ipsdweb.ipsd.org and click on “organizations” listed on the left-hand side of the page.