IEP Tips for Parents and Teachers
DOL911 FEATURE DISABILITY: AUTISM
Advocacy News: ACTION ALERTS! FOA moves to Senate - Please Contact Your Senator
SSI: UPDATE NEWS FLASH!
April:2001 RECALLS
WOMEN's ISSUES
U.S. SENIOR ISSUES & UPDATES
Social Security & Medicare Issues & Updates
DOL911:Archives
DOL911: LINK CONTEST (win a homebased job!)
DOL911: Managed Care Poll- UNITED STATES

Its IEP Time Again! So in support of both teachers and parents who are prepairing for this annual task let me restate a few of the main tips for IEP preparation.

1) Keep the child's needs as the main focus in all your actions.

• PERSONAL NEEDS:

1. To feel valued and respected
2. To be listened to and understood
3. To contribute to the discussion
• PRACTICAL NEEDS:

1. OT, PT, SPEECH THERAPY
(how many hours needed per week)
2. Feeding, mobility, grooming problems
(wheelchair, walker,etc)
3. Adaptive Equipment to be provided
(tape recorders, visual aids, etc)
• APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS:

1. Student/teacher ratio.
2. Types of other students in classroom.
3. Environment of classroom.
4. Mainstreaming for needs not addressed in Special Education Environment
(Art, Sports, Computer Education,etc)
5. Is drivers education appropriate?
• GRADUATION NEEDS: Starts in Kindergarten

1. Understand the graduation standards for your state
2. Make appropriate accomodations to insure the best assessable outcome for the student.

---

Parents:

---

Sit down and make a list addressing these issues and whatever else you deam necessary.

Invite those who can best help you clarify your child's wants and needs at the meeting.
(Social Worker-Case Manager, Advocate, etc)

Bring child to the IEP meeting.

Take notes at the IEP meeting.

Don't be afraid to disagree, you know your child's wants and needs.
(REMEMBER: You don't have to sign the IEP if you don't agree, unless you feel it is right for your child.)

BEFORE you go to bed, read over your notes (to your spouse) and jot down any further information you want to remember.

SLEEP-ON-IT.

FOLLOW UP: If you truly feel that your child's present school is not appropriate, there are always alternative education programs that may be more appropriate. You and your child have the right to check them out. Until your child turns 18, you also have the right to place your child in another school.

---

Teachers:

---

Understand, that new regulations are very upsetting for both parents and their disabled children. Preparation for future assemssments begin with Kindergarten. For students with disabilities to participate in assessments, there is the need to determine which students are capable of taking the assessment without accommodations, which students are capable of taking the assessment with accommodations, and which students will need a different assessment. You the teacher are best equipped with first hand knowledge of your district requirements and of the abilities of your students. You will be the tool that shapes the future for each of your students. (No stress, eh?)

PREPARE FOR IEP MEETINGS:

1. Get feed-back reports from PT, OT, Psychologist, any involved Mainstream Teachers, and Speach Therapist, if appropriate.
2. Take out last years IEP and progress reports for each student, and combine the two.
3. Sit down and make a list addressing new IEP issues for each student based on current education standards set by your district.
4. Type up new IEP proposals to be addressed at meetings and make copies and an extra 3 copies for you.
5. Combine your two extra copies and insert carbon paper between matching pages. (This way you can make changes and give a copy to the parent to take home with them)
6. Make a list of parents to be invited to IEP meetings and send out invites to each.
7. Get feed-back from parents and invite requested individuals (PT, OT, etc) to meeting.
8. Get a good nights sleep before the IEP meetings.

AT MEETING:

1. Understanding your district's requirments, aproach the meeting as the mediator between district and parent/child.
1. Be prepared to explain new district policies in regards to assessments and testing procedures.
2. Inform parent and child of their rights, have them read them over, explain what they don't understand and procceed with the meeting.
3. If a parent disagrees, listen to what they are saying, take notes, and give feedback (do not argue).
4. Ask for feedback from your co-workers.
5. Include disabled individual in meeting conversation.
6. Write in changes to IEP where appropriate.
7. Have IEP signed by all.
8. Give carbon-copy of changed IEP to parent.
9. Take a nice hot shower, treat yourself to something your really like, and get a good nights sleep. (REMEMBER: As long as you did what you feel was best for your student, you've done all you could.)

FOLLOW-UP:

1. Type ammended IEP and make copies.
2. Send copies to appropriate persons and files.

Students may only be exempted for one of three reasons.
1) their cognitive ability is limited to the degree it prohibits taking the test.
2) taking the test would be detrimental to the student beyond a reasonable level of stress or anxiety.
3) the student�s 504 Plan or IEP does not expose the student to the material covered by the test. Your child�s educational plan (IEP) should outline any specific accommodations or modifications needed to help your child succeed.

Does this only impact high school students?
No. Preparation for high school graduation and life beyond school begins the first day children enter a classroom. During kindergarten through eighth grade, student work is measured against the Preparatory High Standards. During kindergarten through eighth grade students will also be developing the basic skills they need to pass the Basic Standards tests. We must start now to prepare students for the future. Third and fifth grade students participate in statewide tests called the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments.

What are the Basic Standards?
The Basic Standards ensure that no student leaves high school without learning basic skills that every adult needs in order to live and work in today�s society. Statewide tests are given to measure student achievement of the Basic Standards. The reading and mathematics tests are first given in the eighth grade and the written composition test is given in the tenth grade. Students scoring below the required passing level must retake the appropriate test subject.

What are High Standards?
High Standards define what students should know, understand and be able to do to demonstrate a high level of achievement. The High Standards are organized into ten learning areas. Preparatory Standards focus kindergarten through eighth grade learning opportunities on important concepts, skills and ideas needed to achieve the High Standards.
Public high school students from the class of 2002 and beyond must complete 24 of 48 possible standards from the ten learning areas. Some standards are required for all students, while in some learning areas students may choose the standards they wish to complete. For example, students choose two of five different science standards.

How do students complete the High Standards?
Students complete a standard when they complete a performance package for that standard. A performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills outlined in the standard. These assignments ask students to apply their knowledge in real-world situations.

Can students with disabilities meet the High Standards?
Yes. Many students will be able to complete performance packages and meet the standards without accommodations or modifications. However, such adjustments are available for students with IEPs or 504 Plans. Your child�s educational plan will outline any specific accommodations or modifications needed to help your child succeed.

Accomodations allowed by states, thusfar:

ACTION ALERTS!
CONTACT YOUR SENATORS: VOTE "NO" ON TAX CUT FOR THE RICH

We know that the vast majority of Americans with disabilities join us in appreciating the President's recognition of the disability community as a first class constituency. He has invited our leaders to the White House on the 12th day of his administration. He has pledged a New Freedom Initiative and full support for the ADA, the IDEA and the empowerment of people with disabilities across the board.

But our conscience demands that we oppose his administration's proposal for a massive tax cut. We understand that 43% of the cut would benefit the richest 1% of our population. The working poor and the unemployed -- including most people with disabilities -- would receive no tax benefit at all.

The 1.6 trillion dollar tax cut would make it impossible for the government to fulfill its most fundamental responsibilities to people with and without disabilities: Medicare; Medicaid; Social Security; independent living; community based services; accessible, affordable housing and transportation and other essential investments in the empowerment of citizens. It would be difficult to avoid deficits _ meaning that taxes would go up to pay interest rates on the increased debt.

Decades of hard won progress toward justice and prosperity for all is at risk.

We urge you to join us in asking each Senator to vote "NO" on the President's 1.6 trillion dollar tax cut.

Americans, let us transcend partisan arguments, and unite in that which we all agree - reverence for individual human life. Instead of cutting taxes for the fortunate few, let us invest in the empowerment of all to live their God given potential. Rich and poor will profit, economically, and in quality of life.

---

ACTION ALERTS!
People For the American Way urges George W. Bush to withdraw his nomination of John Ashcroft to be U.S. Attorney General The Attorney General of the United States is one of nation's most important of public officials, with enormous power and influence over the lives of all Americans. The position requires a person who has demonstrated a commitment to equal justice under law, a person of fairness, judgment, and integrity. According to the information gathered by the People for the American Way John Ashcroft's records makes it clear that he is not that person.

Last week, funds for the Family Opportunity Act were included in the House budget resolution passed by the House Budget Committee. Having money in the budget resolution is an important step in building support for a bill's passage. In the Senate, the budget resolution situation is murky. Because of the 50-50 Republican-Democrat split on Senate committees, the Senate Budget Committee will be able to pass its own budget resolution. All budget action will take place on the Senate floor and the baseline bill will be the budget blueprint that President Bush released a few weeks ago. This is unfortunate from the FOA perspective because funds for it were in the budget resolution that Sen. Domenici (R-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, had drafted. Now, funds for FOA - just like for many other things - will have to be fought for on the Senate floor.

More Republican co-sponsors are needed in both the House and Senate. But, there are a number of important Republican Senators and Representatives who were co-sponsors last year who are not on it this year. They need to be brought on the bill immediately.

Senate Issues: Good targets are those Senators who were co-sponsors last year. More Senators need to come on the bill for several reasons:

1. So funds for FOA are included in the Senate Budget Resolution. This is going to be slugged out on the Senate floor and Sen. Grassley and Sen. Domenici (R-N.M.) need all the support that they can get to overcome the opposition of Republican leaders Lott (R-Miss.) and Nickels (R-Okla.).
2. So it can get a mark-up in the Senate Finance Committee - where Sen. Grassley is Chairman -- and overcome the vocal opposition of Sens. Lott and Nickels who are both Finance Committee members.

The Republican Senators who were co-sponsors last year who are not on this year are:

Senate Action Needed:

1. Contact your Senator and ask him/her to co-sponsor the Family Opportunity Act; to support including money for it in the Senate Budget Resolution; and to push for Finance Committee action.
2. If your Senator was a co-sponsor last year thank him/her for the support in the past and make the point that they should be one this year also. (It would be a shame if he/she only supported the FOA because it was an election year.)
3. Share the attached "Family Profile" sheet with families who would benefit from FOA and ask them to fill it out and return - with a picture if possible -- to The Arc Governmental Affairs Office. It is essential that we have stories about "real" families who would benefit from this bill. "Putting a face on the issue" is a powerful tool that can both move the bill along and turn aside opposition.
4. Please share any letters, emails, faxes, and results of phone conversations with Kathy McGinley, Director of Health Care and Housing, The Arc of the United States, 202-785-3388, [email protected]

The Family Opportunity Act (FOA) - now also called the Dylan Lee James Act (S.231/H.R.600) after a young boy with Down Syndrome who died because he could not get proper medical care -- was re-introduced in February by the same bi-partisan group of Members of Congress that led the effort for its enactment last year. Sens. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Kennedy (D-Mass.) are the two major sponsors in the Senate and Reps. Sessions (R- Texas) and Waxman (D-Calif.) are the two major sponsors in the House.

As of 3/28/2001 the Senate bill has 65 co-sponsors and the House bill has 133.

Autism is the third most common developmental disability in the United States and affects over 26,000 people in New York state. This condition is the result of a neurological disorder. Autism knows no racial, ethnic or social boundaries and is four times more prevalent in boys than girls; and interferes with the normal development of the brain in the areas of reasoning, social interaction, and communication skills, causing persons with Autism to have difficulty relating to others.

The incidence of autism is increasing at an alarming rate. Unlocking Autism states only 10 years ago, it was estimated that autism affected one out of every 10,000 children. Two years ago, it was estimated that autism affected one out of every 500 children. Current estimates are that autism affects one out of 300 children nationwide and, in some areas of the country, the rate is as much as one out of 150 children, affecting boys on a ratio of 4 to 1. Scientists cannot agree on the incidence, except to say that is appears to be growing.

Autism is a mysterious biological/brain disorder that usually appears between the ages of two and five. Most children appear to be developing normally up until this point and research is looking into finding a reason why this happens.

The increase of this disease is in addition to other disorders within the spectrum which are also increasing at an alarming rate (ADD, ADHD. Aspergers, Bipolar, Dyslexia, Hyperlexia, Apraxia and Dyspraxia).

A study performed by the California Health and Human Services Agency this year found that the number of people with autism in California had nearly quadrupled (up 273%) between 1987 and 1988, a time when the population based increased 19%. Other studies have placed the increase as high as 500 or 600%.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, have been investigating whether an unusually high incidence of autism in Brick Township, NJ could be related to environmental causes or is simply a statistical artifact. There have been 40 cases of autism diagnosed among the 6,000 three to ten year old children living in the township, a rate that has at least tripled the estimated national average.

This disease impairs a child�s ability to form language and relationships, and strikes at the very heart of being human � the ability to connect with other people. Autism affects imagination, communication, social interaction and reasoning ability, creating a spectrum of impairments. Children may develop odd ritualistic behaviors, quirky language patterns, or hyper-sensitivities to stimuli, such as sounds.

Autism has sometimes been called �mind blindness�, an attempt to describe how difficult it is for children affected by autism to be able to imagine or �see� what�s going on in the minds of others, an essential task for forming social relationships. Many children with autism don�t know, anticipate, or react to what others are thinking. This makes the world a confusing, unreadable unpredictable place and contributes to the child�s isolation.

Whatever the cause, the overall rise in the incidence of autism nationally has been dramatic.

The most likely explanation is that there are multiple causes and that some interaction between genetic and environmental factors causes brain development to go awry. What is agreed upon is that research is definitely needed since the increase is growing so alarmingly.

Typical autistic child�s behavior is likely to include some of the following:

No speech
Non-speech vocalizations
Delayed development of speech
Echolalia: speech consisting of literally repeating something heard
Delayed echolalia: repeating something heard at an earlier time
Confusion between the pronouns �I� and �you�
Lack of interaction with other children
Lack of eye contact
Lack of response to people
Treating other people as if they were inanimate objects
When picked up, offering no �help� (feels like lifting a sack of potatoes)
Preoccupation with hands
Flapping hands
Spinning
Balancing, e.g., standing on a fence
Walking on tiptoes
Extreme dislike to certain sounds
Extreme dislike of touching certain textures
Behavior that is aggressive toward others
Lack of interest in toys
Desire to follow set patterns of behavior/interaction
Desire to keep objects in a certain physical pattern
Repetitive behavior (perservation)
Self-injurious behavior
�Islets of competence� : areas where child has normal or even advanced competence. Typical examples: drawing skill, musical skill, arithmetic, calendar arithmetic, memory skills, perfect pitch.

Social Security Trust Funds Gain One Additional Year of Solvency

Social Security ran a surplus of $153 billion in 2000 and ended the year with $1.049 trillion in assets. Annual Trust Fund revenues are projected to exceed expenditures until 2016, a year later than estimated in last year's Trustees' report.

Acting Commissioner Halter stated, "Social Security is the major source of income for two-thirds of older Americans and virtually the only source of income for one-third of older Americans. In a real sense, Social Security is the most important income security program in American history. We should utilize this period of Social Security surpluses to fashion the legislative changes necessary to extend the solvency of the system for future generations."

Beginning in 2025, assets of the combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds will be drawn down to pay benefits until the funds are exhausted in 2038. Over the 75-year long-range actuarial period, the projected actuarial balance is a deficit of 1.86 percent of taxable payroll, compared to 1.89 percent projected in 2000.

WORKED IN SOUTH KOREA, ANYONE?

Have you worked in both the United States and South Korea? A new Social Security agreement between the U.S. and South Korea is effective April 1. It coordinates benefits and eliminates double taxation. It may help you if you don't have enough credits to qualify for regular benefits from one or both countries. Or, if you are still working and paying Social Security taxes to both the United States and South Korea, you and your employer will now pay to one country or the other, but not to both.