Director's Update

On December 2nd, National Special Education Day recognizes changes in federal legislation that led to the nation's first federal special education law. On December 2, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. In 1990, the name of this act changed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA granted access to children with special needs to free and quality public education. Prior to this law, children with special needs received very little education ro no education al all.

IDEA resulted in many changes beyond bringing student's equal education. The integration of students with disabilities also helped to remove the stigma of disabilities. Another result of the IDEA was the development of technologies for student with disabilities for use in the classroom that improved the education of all students.

How Can We Observe National Special Education Day:

• Raise awareness to end the stigma around disability-Children with disabilities are often stereotyped based on their disability and assumed to be unable to do anything rather than focusing on their strengths. Today, make time to talk about it with family and friends to help them understand about inappropriate labels and end this stereotype.

• Show gratitude to special education teachers and students-Celebrate this day by thanking a teacher or teaching assistant who works towards empowering special children and their education. Call them or write them a thank you card for their efforts. It is a challenge teaching children and it can be more challenging and takes special patience when teaching students with disabilities.

• Thank the special education advocates-Another way to celebrate the day is by thanking the advocates working towards supporting and guiding students and families in need of special education.

• Share the story of Special Education Day on Social Media- Share inspiring stories about special children and their education with friends and family on social media to celebrate Special Education Day. Use hashtags #NationalSpecialEducationDay and #SpecialEducationDay to post on social media.
  

I was having a conversation with our SEPAC chairs about accommodations for students with IEPs, 504 Plans and for students without disabilities. It came to my attention that parents require more information about our District Curriculum Accommodation Plan.

Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71 Section 38Q 1/2 requires that a school district adopt and implement a curriculum accommodation plan to assist principals in ensuring that all efforts have been made to meet students' needs in regular education. The plan should be designed to assist the regular classroom teacher in analyzing and accommodating diverse learning styles of all children in the regular classroom and in providing appropriate services and support within the regular education program including, but not limited to, direct and systematic instruction in reading and provision of services to address the needs of children whose behavior may interfere with learning, or who do not qualify for special education services under chapter 71B. The curriculum accommodation plan shall include provisions encouraging teacher mentoring and collaboration and parental involvement.

Many times, parents believe that they must go through an evaluation process to determine if their child has a disability in order for them to receive accommodations in the classroom. That simply is not true. Bedford Public Schools has a comprehensive district accommodation plan. This accommodation plan outlines all of the supports, services and accommodations available to students within general education and without the need of an evaluation or a disability.

The DCAP can be found on the district's website.

https://www.bedfordps.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif2786/f/uploads/bedford_final-dated_dcap2018_1.pdf

Teachers often differentiate instruction or accommodate for individual students needs in the moment. However, if you feel your child requires any of these supports or accommodations, please speak with your child's teacher, guidance counselor, assistant principal or principal.

I want to share a great resource for parents and caregivers of students with special education needs. Its a website https://www.understood.org. It is an interactive website that will guide you to the resources you need with the issue you face in the moment. Or, you can simply review all the resources. There are short articles, blog posts and podcasts for issues you are experiencing in the moment. They have a section called "Through your child's eyes" that I find particularly interesting and helpful. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/through-your-childs-eyes#Explore_more_resources

If you haven't already found Understood.org, I recommend you take a look. Many parents, including myself, have found it very helpful.

Annually, DESE is required to identify each school districts specific needs for technical assistance. To ensure that the Department’s Special Education Accountability system is a transparent process focused on data that most impacts outcomes for students with disabilities, the LEA determination process was revised in 2021. The Department developed the LEA determinations Rubric to calculate each LEA’s determination level. The rubric specifically considers the following:

• 5-Year Cohort Graduation rates for students with disabilities;
• Annual Dropout rate for students with disabilities;
• Public School Monitoring special education compliance data;
• Problem Resolution System special education complaint data;
• Performance on Special Education State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) Indicators; and
• Data and findings of Significant Disproportionality.

For the full LEA Determinations Rubric, see the Special Education Policy Memo SY2022-2023 — 3: 2022-2023 Determinations of Need for Special Education Technical Assistance or Intervention.

The Special Education Department in Bedford Public School District earned 30.5 out of 34 possible points on the rubric, or 89.7%. This puts us in the Meets Requirements category indicating that we do not need technical assistance or interventions

As a follow up to my last newsletter where I wrote about wrap around services, I think it's important that I provide information about the Department of Mental Health. DMH is a state agency that works with providers and health plans to help people in Massachusetts with their mental health related needs. DMH also provides additional services for children, youth and adults with the most serious mental health needs.

Some of the services offered are Child/Adolescent Case Managements, Individual and Family Support Services, Day Services, Caring Together Services, Clinical Intensive REsidential Treatment (CIRT), Intensive Residential Treatment Program (IRTP), Parent and Family Support Services, Transition Age Youth, School and Community Therapeutic Support, Information and Referral and Consultation and Education, Juvenile Forensic Court Services, Continuing Care Inpatient Services and Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Program (MCPAP).

More Information about these services or to apply for DMH services, please visit their website https://www.mass.gov/service-details/dmh-child-youth-and-family-services-overview.

For Emergency/Crisis Help, call 1 (877) 382-1609

Have you ever wondered about the role of an occupational therapist or a physical therapist in the school setting? Our occupational therapists and our physical therapists have provided descriptions about these related services.

In Bedford, we have four occupational therapists (OT) and two certified occupational therapy assistants (COTA). We have one physical therapist.

Here are the dates and Zoom links for your December and January SEPAC meetings.

December SEPAC Meeting

Time: Thurs Dec 15, 2022 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86397582044?pwd=SmdNWjBxWlVnUEhoRGFnNUY0elJ5dz09

January SEPAC Meeting

Time: Wed Jan 18, 2023 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86404810950?pwd=bWRSdnNSeDhseU5BOXJhUDlpQ25BUT09

Tuesday, December 13 from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

The Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) hosts their next Family Partnership Forum. Expand your knowledge about MRC and the services we provide, and be part of a discussion about the unique needs of families across the Commonwealth.

Topics include:

Accessing Disability Benefits for Your Child & Family

The Transition to an Adulthood Program

December 8th: Ask The Guru Live!

Have insurance questions about Autism and Behavioral Health? Don't miss the chance to ask the Insurance Guru live! Register for the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health's FREE December Online Lunch and Learn today!

Click here to register for the 12/08 webinar

Registration required. Spanish translation available. All presentations will be recorded and posted on the the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health website.

This session will be on Facebook Live to watch! Follow us on Facebook: The Autism Insurance Resource Center