My mother works in administration at a University that trains students in all sorts of fields of study including special education.  In her 20 plus years there, she’s had a few chances to share a parent’s perspective of the special needs education system to prospective teachers.  One such opportunity came this week. 
Working with the developmentally and [...]

I posted on Tuesday that we were going to limit blogging to once a week and only for very pertinent topics of interest… then I opened the local newspaper!  Headline reads in today’s Ocala Star Banner: “School district: Teacher and aide verbally abused disabled student.”  The 7-year-old child’s mother caught the whole thing, at least one day of [...]

As a little burst of cool air came through Florida this week, I began to think of how much I love and miss really seeing the seasons change.  It also caused me to reminisce of how people seem to come in and out of your life for seasons, too.  One such person that came to [...]

In September a Florida father, James Willie Jones, was arrested and later charged with two second degree misdemeanors for storming onto his daughter’s school bus and yelling and threatening students who were bullying her.  He has since repeatedly apologized to the children affected who weren’t involved as well as the manner and tone with which [...]

I recently read an article about a family touting the special education their autistic son was receiving in his new school.  The family had moved from another state (not mentioned in the article) to a city in Tennessee, and their son was receiving exemplary care and education in his new location.  His skill set had [...]

The University of Florida in Gainesville is receiving a federal grant to improve the special education training for doctoral students seeking to become professors and researchers for students with severe disaiblities.  I’ve stressed before how impressed I am with my undergraduate institution for their research and training in the area of special education, and I’ve [...]

When I was a child, my sister attended public school, just like I did.  We were so fortunate to have a great forward thinking school system that helped her a lot in my hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee.  However, during the summer months, parents of disabled children look for things for their kids to do just [...]

The last couple of posts I’ve made refer to parents holding their developmentally and intellectually disabled children back from activities and participating in society as a whole at times.  The segregation has not only impacted the lives of those with disabilities, but it has impacted communities of people who don’t quite know how to act [...]

I have to privilege to work alongside wonderful individuals at ARC Marion who care deeply for the clients served here.  They take great pride in their work and rejoice in every “victory” in a client’s life and feel pain and anguish when clients are hurt and sad.  Great things happen here every day.  Too many [...]

Over a decade ago when autism was rarely talked about except among parent circles with like-minded children, educators at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee started a new project with the autistic child of a Lee alum in Florida.  In 1999, Lee students traveled 500+ miles to interact and help the child and family, who eventually [...]

April is autism awareness month, and I can think of only a few causes that have caught on as quickly as the color blue and the blue puzzle pieces representing Autism Speaks, an international organization of advocacy and research for the disease.  The Empire State building turned “blue” last week in honor of the month, [...]

I came into work one day this week so excited about something I read the night before.  When one of my little guys was ill, I turned to The American Academy of Pediatrics, “Caring for your Baby and Young Child” book that I received as a member of the Publix supermarkets Baby Club.  While nearly [...]

Day in and day out I have the opportunity to witness little miracles, and by “little” I mean in the literal sense as the children about whom I’m speaking are all under the age of three.  In the ARC Marion Early Intervention Program(EIP), children with varying intellectual and developmental disabilities attend classes five days a [...]

In recent weeks I’ve shared stories of my school days, stories about my family, and stories from my hometown.  As I ponder the topic for this end of year message during this holiday season, my thoughts keep returning to how things are there, and how they are quite different here where I live now, in [...]

The other day, I had the wonderful opportunity to tour one of our community’s sometimes hidden gems.  But what I left with were more questions in my own mind than answers.  The local county public school system has a wonderful school devoted solely to those with developmental disabilities.  Students range in age from the sixth [...]