A District Update and IEP Words of Wisdom. . .

If you’ve read my previous post, you’ll know that I’ve sent a letter to the district regarding placement options for my sons for this school year. I sent the letter and immediately received a phone call from the principal and an email from the district person to whom I referred in my letter.
I had a [...]

A Letter to the District. . .Your Input Welcomed

I apologize for this long post but if you’re reading it, I hope you’re someone who will benefit from it. I would very much appreciate comments from other parents, teachers and SEAs. Am I going too far, not far enough? Is this a losing battle? My plan is to mull over this for a long [...]

Your secret’s safe with me. . .

This will be brief. And hopefully resolved soon. School starts in 10 days. I still don’t know who will be working with my sons. In the inclusion model practiced in our district, kids are given a certain number of ’support’ hours, placed into typical classrooms, and assigned a Special Education Assistant based on their need. [...]

There’s a lot of money to be made in autism. . .

While at an autism conference attended by school district employees and teachers a few years ago, I overheard an attendee say, completely without irony, that “there is a lot of money to be made in autism.” She was quite serious and I wonder if she realized “a parent” was seated at the table with her.
Over [...]

Is your brother retarded?

That question was asked to my oldest son, 9 at the time, of his younger brother who has autism. In that particular elementary school in Florida, kids with autism were, literally, sequestered in a series of self-contained classrooms at the back of the school. Their only interaction with ‘regular’ students was in the large hallway, [...]

What’s your IQ, Premier Campbell?

Last week, while I was worrying about the inflammatory comments of an ignorant and uninformed “radio entertainer” named Michael Weiner, the government of British Columbia announced a policy that would cut off Family and Community Living Supports (ie funding) for individuals with an IQ over 70. You can read this Vancouver Sun article dated July 24, 2008 [...]

If I won the lottery. . .

About two weeks ago, I was invited to take part in a parent panel by the clinical director of a proposed new autism center in our area. After two hours of discussions with 8 other parents and representatives from the center, I left feeling completely overwhelmed. The center would be one of the first of [...]

The Great Debate – Vaccinate?

Today I wanted to talk about a proposed new autism center in our area but a headline caught my eye instead:
Celebrity Showdown on Vaccines for Kids – Amanda Peet Joins the Fray in Public Debate Over Childhood Vaccination
When my sister-in-law was diagnosed with autism in the mid 1970s, about 1 in 10,000 kids shared her [...]

Companies read blogs?!?

I was beginning to feel remiss when I noticed interest waning in Michael (Savage) Weiner’s remarks about kids with autism (that their disability is a fraud, over-diagnosed, the result of over-indulgent parents, etc). But then I received a comment to my first post from a company originally listed as one of his advertisers. It reads, [...]