Attention Parents! This Thursday evening (1/16/14), the Modesto City Schools Special Education Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and the Family Resource Network will present a FREE parent training on financial and estate-planning issues for families of children with special needs. Merrill Lynch will provide information on financial planning, protecting government benefits, conservatorship, and personal estate planning. For further details on location, time and contact information, go to the Calendar tab on our website and click on “parent financial training” event for the 16th. Don’t miss this important workshop! Open to public. SNIMC Team (source: The Modesto Bee)

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Often the missing link in a child’s educational progress could be an Assistive Technology (AT) tool that can help a student complete a math problem quicker, read a story better, use a computer with greater ease, or track text more accurately; increasing a child’s confidence, independence and motivation to learn. Often a child with multiple developmental delays is trying to overcome other existing challenges while trying to satisfy a task at hand.  This is especially true for a child who has multiple deficits such as physical, speech and language, gross motor, fine motor and cognitive delays. For example, take a.

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We recently received an email from an experienced and caring resource teacher about the negative effect on students’ emotional and educational progress when consistently placed in wrong educational environments. “If a child is placed in an educational level that is too low, it is detrimental, likewise; if a child is placed in a level beyond his/her capacity, it is a crime. This year I am faced with a different dilemma that I have never had before. I have four students that I must now move to a Special Day Class (SDC). One student has an IQ of about 70, he.

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Facilitate Independence One of the most important things we can do for our children with special needs is to facilitate independence.  It is often easier to do things for them rather than spend the time to teach them to do it for themselves, and sometimes we believe it is more loving to do it for them than to watch them struggle.  The truth is that a little struggle builds strength and a little independence feels great!  In every way possible teach your children to do things for themselves and share in their joy when they are able to do so..

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