Times are TOUGH! So I’m keeping you up to date with the latest information and ideas related to our kids and the COVID-19 pandemic. I have conversations with experts, state and federal guidance plus plenty of printables and other information to guide you through these difficult months.
One of the most common questions I’m getting is “What will happen to my IEP if I choose to…” regarding all the options we are faced with.
Skills Lost or Delayed During Lockdown A recent study of over 50,000 preschoolers in England showed that current 4 and 5-year-olds are showing speech and language delays in greater numbers than before. A similar study in Los Angeles confirmed the British study. Because children did not experience the social and cognitive interactions they would have…
Will your distance learning be successful? As we face the reality of having to do long-distance learning with our children long term, parents are worried. After all, this distance learning stuff looks really different. Is it sufficient? Will my child fall behind or regress? What can I do to make sure this doesn’t happen? All…
Back to School With an IEP I’m sorry that it took me almost a month to get this video trimmed, transcribed and uploaded. A lot has happened in the past 3 weeks, including my father going into hospice and passing away. During the first week of August, I did a Facebook Live event with Special…
IEPs during the Pandemic As we head into a new school year that has even more unknowns than the spring, many parents are being told that their child’s IEP must change to reflect what is happening. First, let’s review. At the time of this writing, there has not been any federal guidance since March. At…
A FAPE Test Case and Distance Learning “In light of the foregoing, I recommend the Plaintiffs’ Motion be granted in part. Specifically, I recommend that the DOE be ordered to provide J.V.2 with in-person services as described in the September 2019 PO to the extent such can be done safely in compliance with guidance from…
Your IEP This Fall We are faced with so many tough decisions this fall. I addressed the decision-making process in this post: Should you keep your student at home or send them to school? How to Decide for Fall 2020 If you are still struggling with your decision, I encourage you to visit that post….
Getting your Disabled Child to Wear a Mask If I had a nickel for “Well, just have him wear a mask!” I’d be rich. Am I right? Actually, we’ve been working on ‘wearing a mask’ for about two months. And we are now to the point where he will hold it in his hand for…
Nervous about going back to school? We all are! This year’s back to school time is going to be more anxiety-filled than ever before thanks to the virus and the ongoing pandemic. But, there are a few things you can start doing early that will help calm your child’s nerves and help them go into…
Kids and Trauma Our kids have been through a lot lately. From being completely isolated from friends and classmates, to experiencing discrimination with your family, to watching a policeman kill a man on TV and neighborhoods and familiar places destroyed. It’s a lot to take in, and witnessing and experiencing trauma affects our kids. I…
Gross Motor Activities for Special Needs Does your child have sensory breaks in their IEP? Or need them? Are you worried about loss of PT sessions, gym class, recess, organized sports and all the other things that may make our kids more sedentary? And hey, not everyone has a sensory room in their house, right?…
Occupational Therapy at Home I had another great Facebook Live chat again today. Today it was Jaime Bassman, MS OTR/L from nearby Lower Merion. We spent an hour discussing various OT and IEP things. Jaime is a 0-3 OT, so she offered up a zillion tips on how to do this at home, easily! She…
How to Practice Social Skills/SEL during times of isolation. When you’re stuck at home with only the same few people day after day, working on social skills and SEL social-emotional learning can be a challenge. I partnered with Ashley Rose of Mission Cognition to bring you some ideas of how to practice these skills with…
IEP Regression and Distance Learning Regression is one of our biggest fears as parents. Our kids are already behind their peers and we work so hard to help them close the gap. So it’s incredibly disheartening to witness regression. I did a Facebook Live today with Dr. Monica McHale, President of the Learning Disabilities Association…
Distance Learning and IEPs Here is the information from the Attorney/Advocate chat that I hosted about distance learning and IEPs. The chat participants were me, and two attorneys, Laura Heneghan and Nickie Krebsbach. We took parent questions and in 90+ minutes, we covered many topics, including distance learning, related services, PWNs, retention, transitions and much…
Providing FAPE during the crisis This crisis has really exposed flaws in our society. I could dedicate an entire website to the inequities in education, special education and so on. Since parents are seeing these differences, all day, every day it has shed a light on them. I hope that at the end of this,…
Online Learning with a 1:1 Aide This post is only a few months old, but it already needs updating. At the time of the original publication, 1:1 learning just couldn’t be done. Most of us were in strict quarantine or lockdown and it wasn’t considered ‘reasonable’ to ask an aide to come to your home….
Extended School Closings and FAPE Blech. I don’t even know where to begin. All at the same time, things are moving so rapidly, and yet it feels like time is standing still. This is a post full of duplicate information that I’ve had to repackage for several reasons. One being–the information has changed since I…
Preparing for Quarantine As more and more school districts are closing, I can feel the tension rising in the Facebook group. I get it, I’m nervous too. Kevin has had 3 surgeries in the past 18 months or so, which resulted in an extended time at home. So maybe that’s why I’m not as worried…