Hi Families,

Thank you for your continuous support of the Parent Resource Center and our Parent Training Events. This month our focus will be GIVING. Giving is a gift that benefits the receiver as well as the giver. We are challenging our families this month to share pictures of their family giving to others this holiday season. Share love, peace, and joy as we end 2022, and welcome a New Year. Enjoy your winter break from December 19, 2022 - January 3, 2023.

We wish each of you a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Different Roads to Learning: This site features not only articles and other sources of information for parents and others who work with kids on the Autism spectrum or with any sort of developmental delay, but also has toys and tools, including apps, that encourage and build on all types of abilities.

Fat Brain Toys: Fat Brain sells all types of learning and educational toys for children from birth to young adulthood, but their store also features a guide to picking out toys for any child with special needs. The guide covers a range of challenges, from ADHD to vision impairments to paraplegia. Explore their site for ideas about gifts for anyone, child or adult, with challenges.

Melissa & Doug: Melissa & Doug makes toys for all children, but they also feature a menu option that allows you to hone in on toys for special needs children as well.

Target Toy Guide for Differently Abled Kids: More and more national retailers like Target are practicing more inclusion in their approaches to both advertising and merchandising. This guide from Target has suggestions for kids with all types of challenges as well as tips for both selecting toys and playing safely.

Learning Resources: Learning Resources is another website for finding educational and learning toys for all children; they also feature a section for shopping for children with special needs. They even feature a section where you can select toys based on how your child learns.

The CISD Police Department would like to invite you to help us make a child’s dream come true. On Monday, November 14th, 2022 the CISD Police Department will start collecting “NEW” unwrapped gifts for boys and girls of all ages. These gifts will be wrapped and given to families who, without our support, may not otherwise have a wonderful Christmas.

All gift donations should be made by Friday, December 7, 2022, to ensure the gifts will be wrapped in time for Santa to deliver.

Toy collection bins are available at your campus or district administration building.

The holidays can be an especially difficult time for people with developmental disabilities. And who can blame them? Changes in routine, different demands, new foods, sounds, and textures — what a challenge!

Tips to make the winter holidays better:

1. Try to keep your child in his or her usual routine as much as possible.

2. Sensory overstimulation — the lights, sounds, smells, and even the relatives who want to hug your child — are the main culprits during the holidays. Eliminating or minimizing these culprits is your best bet. Plus, you may want to talk to your family about how to greet your child when they arrive, too.

3. Instead of limiting the holiday decorations, some families who have children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders wait until Christmas Eve to put up their tree and decorate.

4. Some families let their children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders do all of the decorating. Children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders may line up or stack decorations rather than decorate in the traditional way, but so what. Let them enjoy the activity in their own way.

5. Rather than try to do Christmas shopping with children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders in a crowded, noisy mall, many families shop by catalog or online and let the child point to or circle the toys he/she wants. Websites, such as www.stars4kidz.com, offer a variety of toys for children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders. Just type “autism toys” in your search engine.

6. Tactile toys are often a better choice for children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders. Toys that make sounds or involve too much stimulation or are too complex may not cause an aversive reaction in the child. As mentioned above, there are websites that sell toys designed for children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders. Try ordering some of these toys and then let your child select the ones to play with as they are unwrapped.

7. Talk to relatives before they come over about the best way to behave with children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders.

8. Generally, kids with autism or other neuropsychological disorders do better in the morning than in the late afternoon or evening when they are tired. It may be better to schedule Christmas events at these times.

9. And last but not least, realize that you are probably not going to have perfect food, perfect decorations, and perfect gifts. Christmas with children with autism or other neuropsychological disorders may not be traditional, but it can still have real meaning.

Beth Finke

Interactive Community Coordinator

Easterseals Headquarters (Chicago)

Hi, my name is Nikole Crowder. I am the Parent Liaison at the Parent Resource Center for Conroe ISD. This is my second year with Conroe ISD. I have 4 years of SPED experience and over 10 years of Early Childhood Development experience working with students from preschool, elementary, and middle school grade levels. I graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2012 with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. I am currently working on my Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership with a specialization in Higher Education Administration. I am passionate about Special Education and assisting families with the resources and support they need for their children. As a mother of a child with ADHD, I understand how important it is for parents to have resources and the proper knowledge early on to understand how to help a child living with a disability. I look forward to assisting not only families but my fellow Conroe ISD faculty members in any way I possibly can. We are a team and my top priority is providing support for the students. Please view my contact information below and if there is anything I can assist you with I am happy to help.

Nikole Crowder, MBA
Prof Sp Ed/Parent Liaison
Special Education
Conroe Independent School District

936-709-8209 parentresourcecenter@conroeisd.net

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Marisol Rubio (Bilingual Parent Liaison)

My name is Marisol Rubio and I am a Parent Liaison at the Parent Resource Center for Conroe ISD. I have been in education for over 10 years. I am a Bilingual Certified teacher and have enjoyed teaching for the past several years. I have experience working with PreK, Kindergarten, First Grade, and the Dual Language program. My husband is a teacher and I have two daughters. My oldest daughter was recently diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, ADHD, and Autism. I hope that with my experience as an educator and parent, I can understand and help parents through the special education journey.

Marisol Rubio
Prof Sp Ed/Parent Liaison
Special Education
Conroe Independent School District

936-709-8171 parentresourcecenter@conroeisd.net

Prof Sp Ed/Parent Liaison

Special Education

M-F from 9 AM to 3 PM.

Email: parentresourcecenter@conroeisd.net
Website: www.conroeisd.net
Location: 701 North 3rd Street, Conroe, TX, USA
Phone: 936-709-8209

The Conroe Independent School District (District) as an equal opportunity educational provider and employer does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in educational programs or activities that it operates or in employment matters. The District is required by Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as Board policy not to discriminate in such a manner.

For information about Title IX rights or Section 504/ADA rights, contact the Title IX Coordinator or the Section 504/ADA coordinator at 3205 W. Davis, Conroe, TX 77304; (936) 709-7752.

The resources shared in this newsletter are for informational purposes only and do not constitute approval by the Parent Resource Center, Conroe ISD.