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South Florida Parent Center Resources
~Assistive Technology
Technology: Becoming an Informed
Consumer
The Center for Special Education
Technology,
The Council for Exceptional
Children, Reston, Virginia.
~Building the Legacy
The Building the Legacy /
Construyendo el Legado training curriculum was produced by NICHCY at the request of the Office of
Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education. The curriculum is intended to help
all those involved with children with disabilities to understand and implement the IDEA 2004, the
nation's special education law.
~Center for Effective
Collaboration and Practice
It is the mission of the
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice to support and
promote a reoriented national preparedness to foster the
development and the adjustment of children with or at risk of
developing serious emotional disturbance.
~Center on Positive
Behavioral Interventions & Supports
The TA Center on Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Supports has been established by the Office of Special Education Programs, US
Department of Education to give schools capacity-building information and technical
assistance for identifying, adapting, and sustaining effective school-wide
disciplinary practices.
~Communicating with Your Child's School Through Letter Writing
Letters provide both you and the
school with a record of ideas, concerns, and suggestions.
Putting your thoughts on paper gives
you the opportunity to take as long as you need to:
~Council for Exceptional Children
The Council for Exceptional
Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the
educational success of individuals with disabilities and/or gifts and talents. CEC advocates for
appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides professional development,
advocates for individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain
conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice.
~DisabilityInfo.gov
Disability.gov is an award-winning
federal government website that provides an interactive, community-driven information
network of disability-related programs, services, laws and benefits. Through the site, Americans with
disabilities, their families, Veterans, educators, employers and many others are connected to
thousands of resources from federal, state and local government agencies, educational institutions
and non-profit organizations.
~Disability Policy Center
The Center for the Study and
Advancement of Disability Policy (CSADP) provides public education, leadership development and
training, technical assistance and information dissemination, and conducts action-research and
analysis of public policy issues affecting individuals with disabilities and their
families.
~District School Board of Collier
County
Collier County Public Schools
Everglades City, Immokalee, Marco
Island, and Naples Florida
~DREDF -
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
The Disability Rights Education
and Defense Fund, founded in 1979, is a leading national civil rights law and
policy center directed by individuals with disabilities and parents who have children with disabilities.
~ERIC - Educational Resources
Information Center
ERIC - the Education Resources
Information Center - is an online digital library of education research and information. ERIC is
sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. ERIC
provides ready access to education literature to support the use of educational
research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching,
educational decision-making, and research.
~Exceptional Student Education
We hope this information is
helpful and informative and will familiarize you with the services and procedures of
Exceptional Student Education (ESE) in the Collier County Public
Schools. Collier County has 5,980 students
with disabilities. If you do not find the information that you are looking
for, please contact us at 239-377-0130.
~Expanding
Opportunities for Inclusion Children Birth to Five
Early childhood inclusion embodies
the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every infant and
young child and his or her family, regardless of ability, to participate
in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families,
communities, and society.
~Florida Center for Reading Research
The Florida Center for Reading
Research was established in January, 2002. It is jointly administered at
Florida State University by the
Learning Systems Institute and the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Center’s Four Part Mission:
•To conduct basic research on
reading, reading growth, reading assessment, and reading instruction that will contribute to the
scientific knowledge of reading and benefit students in Florida and throughout the
nation.
•To disseminate information about
research-based practices related to literacy instruction and assessment
for children in pre-school
through 12th grade.
•To conduct applied research that
will have an immediate impact on policy and practices related to literacy
instruction in Florida.
•To provide technical assistance
to Florida’s schools and to the State Department of Education for
the improvement of literacy
outcomes in students from pre-K through 12th grade.
~Florida
Department of Education Clearinghouse Information Center
The Bureau of Exceptional
Education and Student Services administers programs for students
with disabilities and for gifted
students. Additionally, the bureau coordinates student services throughout the state and
participates in multiple inter-agency efforts designed to strengthen the quality and variety of services
available to students with special needs.
~FDLRS - Florida Diagnostic & Learning
Resources System - Local
Island Coast Serving Lee & Collier
Counties
~FDLRS - Florida Diagnostic & Learning
Resources System - State
FDLRS, pronounced fiddlers, is a
statewide network of nineteen state and federally funded associate centers and 4
specialized centers which provide support services to educators, families of students with
exceptionalities and/or, professionals, and community agencies through-out Florida.
~Florida Directory of Early Childhood
Services
The Florida Directory of Early
Childhood Services (Central Directory) has provided services to
thousands of families and
providers seeking advocacy, education, training, resource and referral, and information on
disability services available in their communities.
~Florida's Family Care Councils
In 1993 the Florida State
Legislature established the Family Care Council The Family care
Council (FCC) advises the Agency for Persons
with Disabilities (APD) on the needs of self-advocates and their
families.
~Florida
Inclusion Network
The mission of the Florida
Inclusion Network (FIN) is to provide learning opportunities,
consultation, information and support to educators, parents, and community members resulting in the inclusion of all
students.
~Florida Response
to Instruction/Intervention
The Florida Response to Intervention
(RTI) website provides a central, comprehensive location for Florida-specific
information and resources that promote school wide practices to ensure highest possible student
achievement in both academic and behavioral pursuits.
~Florida School Choice
School choice strengthens the
availability, accessibility, and equity of educational options for
parents to secure a high quality education for their
children. Positive outcomes take place when families have educational options for their
children. Parents have a right to make a choice for their child.
Florida leads the nation in
providing its families with options.
~HEATH Resource Center
Since 2000, the HEATH Resource
Center has served as a national clearinghouse on postsecondary education for
individuals with disabilities,
~"ICE"
Intractable Childhood Epilepsy Alliance
ICE Epilepsy Alliance
is a member of the American Epilepsy Society’s Vision
20/20 Task Force, a group of advocacy
groups committed to improve the lives of patients with
epilepsy.
~IDEA 2004
IDEA 2004 at Wrightslaw includes
information about IDEA topics such as child find, eligibility,
evaluations, reevaluations, high stakes
testing, IEPs, IEP teams, IEP meetings. accommodations, alternate
assessments, placements, transition, parental
rights, and more.
~IRIS Center
Visit the IRIS Center for Training
Enhancements for free online interactive resources that translate
research about the education of students
with disabilities into practice. Our materials cover a wide variety of
evidence-based topics, including behavior, RTI,
learning strategies, and progress monitoring.
~Learning Disabilities Association of
Hawaii
Parent Training & Information
Center (PTI) for the state of Hawaii. It is our mission to enhance education, work and life
opportunities for children and youth with disabilities by empowering them and their families
through information, training and mentoring, and by public outreach and
advocacy.
~Lighthouse of Collier, Inc. - Center
for Blindness & Vision Loss
As the only Center for Blindness
and Vision Loss in Collier County, Lighthouse of Collier needs to help the estimated
14,000 local children and adults be independent.
~MyFlorida.com
Official information Portal for
the State of Florida
~National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)
Director: Kathryn Leib-Hunter
6216 Trail Blvd., Bldg. C
Naples, FL 34108
Phone: (239) 434-6726
Fax: (239) 434-0974
Email:
collierami@aol.com
Website:
www.namicollierco.org
NAMI
of Collier County was originally named AMI: Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
AMI
officially
commenced operations on May 1, 1986 and was incorporated on November 20, 1987
in
Florida. The Board of
Directors subsequently changed the organization's name to NAMI of Collier
County following directions
from NAMI National.
The
NAMI membership is comprised of people with serious and persistent mental
illnesses, as
well as their parents, children, spouses, siblings and friends. The original
founders of NAMI were primarily family members of people with chronic mental illness. These
individuals met the goal of building a movement to refocus inadequate research and services available to
people with mental illness.
~NCLD -
National Center for Learning Disabilities
NCLD provides essential
information to parents, professionals and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research
and programs to foster effective learning, and advocates for policies to protect and
strengthen educational rights and opportunities
~National Center on Response to
Intervention
Response to intervention
integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention
system to maximize student achievement
and to reduce behavior problems.
~NICHCY - National Information Center
for Children and Youth with Disabilities
NICHCY's publications are all
available here, for free, on our Web site. Our publications cover the many topics related to children
and youth with disabilities. We hope you find them helpful.
~National
Institute of Mental Health
The mission of NIMH is to
transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through
basic and clinical research, paving the
way for prevention, recovery, and cure.
~NRCLD -
National Research Center on Learning Disabilities
NRCLD's goal is to help educators,
policymakers, and parents understand the complexity and importance of making sound
decisions regarding whether a child has a specific learning disability.
~No Child Left Behind
The Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (also known as the No Child Left Behind Act).
~Office
for Civil Rights
The mission of the Office for
Civil Rights is to ensure equal access to education and to promote
educational excellence throughout the nation
through vigorous enforcement of civil rights.We serve student
populations facing discrimination and the
advocates and institutions promoting systemic solutions to civil rights
problems. An important responsibility is
resolving complaints of discrimination.
~OSERS - Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
The Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
understands the many challenges still
facing individuals with disabilities and their families.
Therefore, OSERS is committed to improving
results and outcomes for people with disabilities of all
ages. OSERS supports programs that serve
millions of children, youth and adults with
disabilities.
~NFPC - North Florida
Parent Center
~Pacer
Center - Champions for Children with Disabilities
Founded in 1977, PACER Center was
created by parents of children and youth with disabilities to help other
parents and families facing
similar challenges. Today, PACER Center expands opportunities and
enhances the quality of life of children and
young adults with disabilities and their families. PACER is staffed
primarily by parents of children with
disabilities and works in coalition with 18 disability organizations.
~Parent Center Network
Parent Centers, comprised of
Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs), provide
training and assistance to the families of the nation’s 7 million
children with disabilities. These are
funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Every state has at least one PTI,
and those with larger populations may have more. The CPRCs provide services to underserved families
in smaller geographic areas. There are currently 106 Parent
Centers in the United States.
~People First Language
People first language is used to
speak appropriately and respectfully about an individual with a disability. People first language
emphasizes the person first not the disability. For example, when referring to a
person with a disability, refer to the person first by using phrases such as: “a person
who …”, “a person with …” or, “person who has…”
~Questions & Answers on Least Restrictive Environment (LRA) Requirements
of the IDEA
U. S. Department of Education,
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
The least restrictive environment
(LRE) requirements of Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have been
included in the law in their present form since 1975. However, these requirements continue to generate
complex and interesting questions from the field. In particular, questions have been raised about
the relationship of IDEA's LRE requirements to "inclusion."
~Questions Often Asked by Parents About
Special Education Services
When children are struggling in
school, it’s important to find out why. It may be that a disability is
affecting your child’s educational
performance. If so, your child may be eligible for special education and related services
that can help.
~Related
Services
The IEP must contain a statement
of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services to be provided
to the child, or on behalf of the child. We've split up the discussion
of each of these important elements, because
there is so much to say about each. This article focuses on related
services.
~State Specific Information
The offices listed on NICHCY state
sheets are primarily state-level offices. Even if an office is not close
to your home, they can usually put you in
touch with resources in your community, as well as provide you with information and assistance about
disability issues in your state.
~Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers
The Technical Assistance ALLIANCE
for Parent Centers (the ALLIANCE) is an innovative partnership of one national and six regional parent
technical assistance centers, each funded by the U.S. Department of
Education’s Office of Special Education
Programs (OSEP). These seven projects comprise a unified technical
assistance system for the purpose of
developing, assisting, and coordinating the over 100 Parent Training and
Information Centers (PTIs) and Community
Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs).
~Transition Tactics
TACTICS - Transition Action
Communication Team Interagency Council Support
Transition services means a
coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that is designed
to be within a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and
functional achievement of the child with a disability, and to facilitate the child’s movement
from school to post-school activities.
~Waiver
Provider
WaiverProvider.Com is a directory
of medicaid waiver providers. We provide detailed information about each provider including: services
provided, areas covered, special skills, and experience.
~Your Child's Evaluation
You may ask the school to evaluate
your child, or the school may ask you for permission to do an evaluation. If the school thinks
your child may have a disability and may need special education and related services, the school must
evaluate your child before providing your child with these services. This evaluation is at no cost to
you.
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