Seven
Schools for Troubled Teens
Say your teenager has skidded off the college-bound
track, and you’re worried about everything from substance-abuse issues and
inappropriate sexual activity to behavior problems and emotional struggles.
If you’ve reached the stressed-out point of considering a boarding school
designed to help turn your child’s life around, Dave Marcus has assembled
this short list of boarding schools he thinks do a particularly good job of
helping kids get back on track.
U
of M Recruiting Children w/Autism for Speed Processing Study
The Adapted Cognitive Assessment Laboratory (ACAL) at the University of
Michigan is now recruiting children, between the ages of 8 and 16 who have
been clinically diagnosed with autism using the ADOS, for our Processing
Speed Study.
Peeking
at the Negative Side of High School Popularity
Prom time has come and gone, and while it didn’t affect me or my sons
this year, it still caused a reminiscent tightening in my stomach.
The prom, along with its endless pre- and post events, is just one
more social trial that adolescents face in their school years and yet
another test of their relative popularity, of fitting in, of being accepted.
And it got me thinking about popularity. It’s important for most teenagers,
but sometimes even more so for their parents.
MI
Career & Technical Institute Officially Opens in
Detroit
The Michigan Career and Technical Institute (MCTI) East campus
officially opened today to provide state-of-the art vocational and technical
training services to adults with disabilities in Southeast Michigan. MCTI
East will primarily serve Michigan Rehabilitation Services customers in
Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb counties, Ann Arbor and Flint.
Bridges4kids
Featured Resource:
Miracle League of
Plymouth
"Because every child deserves a chance to play
baseball."
'Phantom
Tumors': Painful Epidemic in Children Linked to
Obesity
It's a Friday night, and Lauren Ashley just wants to hang out with
friends. But instead, the 15-year-old high school freshman is at home buried
in homework. At age 5, she was diagnosed with a rare condition that causes
massive headaches that strike without warning. Since then, the Gahanna,
Ohio, teen has missed so much school that she is forced to spend most
weekends and every summer bent over her desk to keep up with classmates.
Jamie
Oliver's Food Revolution: Sign the Petition
Sign Jamie Oliver's petition to save cooking
skills and improve school food. By signing the
petition, you are saying "I support the Food Revolution. America's kids need
better food at school and better health prospects. We need to keep cooking
skills alive." Jamie would like to take his
petition to the White House to show the President and First lady how many
people really care and ask for their support.
MI
The Adapted Cognitive Assessment
Lab (ACAL) at U of M
The Adapted Cognitive Assessment Lab (ACAL) at the
University of Michigan has a new website
and opportunities for children with cerebral palsy (CP) to participate in
research. Over the past five years the ACAL
has focused its research on adapted cognitive
assessments for children with
CP. Through the ACAL, researchers have
effectively assisted parents and educators of children with CP by providing
them with accurate information about each child's
cognitive abilities. These findings contribute to
promoting appropriate supports in school, home, and community
settings for these children and their families.
Visit the new website to find
consumer-related and scientific resources as well as information
about participating in one of the ACAL studies.
A
'Watershed' Case in School Bullying?
At first, it seemed like a morality play: school
officials stand by as an innocent high school freshman, new in town, is
harassed into suicide by a pack of older teens. A week after criminal
charges were filed, the case of Phoebe Prince seems more cloudy and
complicated, much like the insidious national problem that may have helped
kill her: school bullying.
Legal
Rights of Juvenile Offenders
The American Bar Association has a new guide for attorneys who
represent or advocate for juvenile status offenders. The
document, called “Representing Juvenile Status Offenders”,
is now freely available for download.
Draft
of National Math, English Curriculum Released
A draft of common national standards for English and math was
recently released. The
proposal includes specific benchmarks that students should achieve at each
grade level. For example, by the end of eighth grade, students should be
able to "informally explain why the square root of 2 is irrational." The
effort -- endorsed by 48 states -- is being praised for its attempt to bring
an "ambitious and coherent" curriculum nationwide, while others are critical
of a "one-size-fits-all" approach. [Source: edweek.org]
New
Army Study Released on Children and Deployment
Adolescents who believe that America supports the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan and that Soldiers are making a difference in the world are less
likely to suffer from anxiety and stress when their parent deploys,
according to research released Thursday by the Strategic Studies Institute
at the Army War College. The study examined the
effects of multiple deployments on military adolescents. The research
revealed that strong Army families and increased activity by children also
reduced the level of stress. More than 2,000 Soldiers, 700 Army spouses and
550 Army adolescents were surveyed and an additional 100 Army children (ages
11-17) at eight Army installations across the country were interviewed.
MI
Children's Hospital of Michigan
Seeking participants for
a study of Pediatric Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder (OCD)
David R. Rosenberg, MD is seeking
participants for a research study to look at the brain chemistry and
genetics of children with OCD, and children without OCD.
The study uses Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and genetic samples
(blood and/or saliva) to learn more about how different treatments affect
the brain. For more information,
call 313-745-4645. Financial compensation will be provided to those
children that qualify for the study.
AZ
Wi-Fi Turns Rowdy Bus Into Rolling Study Hall
Students endure hundreds of hours on yellow buses each
year getting to and from school in this desert exurb of Tucson, and
stir-crazy teenagers break the monotony by teasing, texting, flirting,
shouting, climbing and sometimes punching. But on this chilly morning, as
bus No. 92 rolls down a mountain highway just before dawn, high school
students are quiet, typing on laptops.
MI
Resolving Special Education Disputes: Complaint
Process
Check
Off IEP Issues With Free iPhone App
I thought IEPs went high-tech when case managers in our district started
filling in the blanks online instead of waiting for a secretary in the
special-education office to type everything out. I thought it was cool when
they started feeding in goals from a computer database instead of flipping
through gigantic notebooks full of lists. Today, though, I spotted a gadget
that not only puts a new-tech spin on those big piles o' paper, but does it
in a way that particularly empowers parents. Meet the IEP Checklist app for
iPhone and iPod Touch."
Administration
Outlines Proposed Changes to ‘No Child’ Law
The Obama administration said on Monday that it would ask Congress to
raise education spending by about $3.5 billion, a 7.5 percent increase, for
the 2011 fiscal year, even as it sought to limit other categories of
domestic spending.
CPS
Tactics Found To Violate Civil Rights: Ruling from
9th Circuit
This is a new published 9th Circuit civil rights case from Oregon
holding common CPS investigation tactics to be unconstitutional under either
the 4th or 14th Amendment despite evidence that the child they sought to
protect was at risk.
WI
State
Rejects Seclusion
Rooms for
Students with Disabilities
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has rejected the
Greenfield School District's plan to use federal stimulus dollars to
construct seclusion areas for students with disabilities and informed
districts statewide that federal special-education funds should not be used
for such purposes.
AR
Arkansas Fifth Grader with Autism Facing Felony Charges
Carole Reynolds is desperate to help her 11 year
old grandson, Zakhqurey Price, who faces multiple counts of
felonious assault against school district employees.
Free
e-Book
My Brother Has Autism (2009)
This book was written by an 8 year old girl whose brother has Autism. It
describes her feelings and what life is like for her and her family. The
entire book is illustrated by her brother, Michael. The book is dedicated to
all of the boys and girls out there who have autism and the siblings who
love them.
Mother of Autistic Boy Proud of Siblings' Appearance on
TV
A surreal feeling came over Jackson resident Jackie Igafo-Te'o the moment
she saw two of her children on television last week. Melody, 13,
and her brother, Michael, 15, were featured in a two-minute Disney Channel
segment called "The Time I Realized My Brother was Different."
The siblings had been filmed in July to illustrate Melody's
experience of what it's like to live with a brother with autism.
MI
Anti-Restraint Bill Introduced in Michigan
Schools could no longer use restraints or a locked, secluded room to
punish children under legislation introduced today by Rep. Deb Kennedy (D-Brownstown
Twp.). According to a new report by the Michigan
Protection and Advocacy Service, restraint and seclusion practices in
Michigan's schools are unregulated, underreported and potentially fatal. In
2003, two Michigan students died while being physically restrained by school
officials. "This is a widespread problem that
affects students with disabilities and their families across the country,
including many who live right here in Michigan," said Elmer Cerano,
executive director of the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service.
[MIRS 12-2-09]
Bridges4kids
Featured Resource:
Michigan Law School Program
MI
Michigan
Administrative Rules for Special Education
Supplemented With
IDEA Federal Regulations (4/09)
MI
Highly Recommended! The Education
Law Center
A one-stop resource for information on the laws
that apply in a school setting. ELC lawyers have years of practical
experience and include John Brower, Bridges4Kids’ resource attorney.
SketchUp:
Kids With Autism Love This Software
A program from Google, created for architects,
is an unexpected hit with children on the autism
spectrum.
10
Tips for Good Advocates
Wrightslaw's Pat Howey says parents need to
understand that the law gives them power to use in educational decisions for
their children. Parents should not be afraid to use their power. But, there
are better ways to obtain positive results than to roar through IEP meetings
in a Mack Truck. Here are Pat's newest tips for effective, successful
advocates.
Reexamining
Rowley: A New Focus in Special Education Law
Three important events have occurred since the Rowley decision that
impact the validity of the "some educational benefit" standard and change
the nature of educational services that schools must provide to students who
receive special education services under the IDEA.
