Special Education Parent Page

By Heidi Rudy

Special Education Parent Group:

Thanks to everyone who has previously been involved in this collaboration!  Your ideas strengthen us as a team and move us forward.  A Zoom might be in our future!  If you would like to suggest topics or presenters of interest to the parents of special needs students, please contact Heidi Rudy at [email protected] and we will arrange to meet- virtually of course.  Now more than ever, it's important to connect with others. 

We update our listserv annually.  However, if you do not currently receive the special education parent updates and would like to join in, please contact Heidi Rudy via email at [email protected] or phone - 630-257-2286 ext. 4611.

Help for Parents:

Questions regarding the special education process are not uncommon. While websites and literature have the potential of providing  excellent information, your child is an individual. If you have a question about your child’s school performance, it is best to start with his or her teacher; he/she is most familiar with your child. A frank and open conversation can go a long way toward building the collaborative relationships with teachers that augment your child’s success in school. The next person to approach to help you to sort out what is happening with your child’s school performance is your child’s principal or assistant principal. He/she has a broad view of the school and its functioning, and a wealth of experience with children from many different classrooms and backgrounds; additionally. your child may be known to him/her in a different way or across a number of school years.

If you have general questions about the special education process or would like to talk further about your child, please feel free to contact the Lemont-Bromberek CSD 113A Director of Student Services at any time (Heidi Rudy via email at [email protected] or 630-257-2286 ext. 4611).

The websites linked below are intended to provide further information for parents.

Response to Intervention:

Academics:

This section will be updated in the near future.  

Behaviors:

Specific district resources will be updated in the near future.

Illinois Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

Parent Home Page of ISBE’s Special Education section: offers links to a variety of specific departments that address parents’ question

This tends to address legal issues and can be used in conjunction with the Parents’ Guide (linked above), which offers a practical  understanding of the special education process.

Helpful general resources include the following:

The following resources are offered to assist parents' continuous learning.  Their presence on this page does not signify the District's endorsement.  

Rainbows – resources for children who are managing grief from trauma, loss, or other emotional upheavals

Parenting with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility by Foster W. Cline and Jim Fay

The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder, Revised Edition by Carol Kranowitz and Lucy Jane  Miller

The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder by Carol Kranowitz

“The Medicated Child,” a PBS presentation regarding children and medication.

Resources for parents with children who have Learning Disabilities:

Understanding Dyslexia - This ISBE site offers a plethora of information about students with specific learning disabilities

Resources for parents with children who have Other Health Impairments:

Council for Exceptional Children - This website contains direct links to a wide range of helpful sites for parents of students with Other Health Impairments including ADHD, Prader-Willi Syndrome, Epilepsy, Williams Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis - MS for parents, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and more.

Resources for parents with children who have Emotional Disabilities:

National Institute of Mental Health - general resource about child and adolescent mental health

Resources for parents with children on the Autism Spectrum

Autism Speaks

Visual Strategies for Students on the Autism Spectrum

The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger's by Temple Grandin.

Visual Strategies for Improving Communications: Practical supports for Home and School by Linda A Hodgdorn

Resources for parents with children who have Speech/Language Impairments:

http://www.speech-language-development.com/index.html - helpful information for parents about what to look for in children’s  speech/language development

http://www.asha.org/public - national organization dedicated to support for students with communications disorders

Resources for parents with children who experience deafness or impaired hearing:

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/ - informative site that includes research and health information

http://www.raisingdeafkids.org/ - support for parents who are raising deaf children

http://www.childrensmemorial.org/depts/rehab/resources.aspx

Resources for parents with a child who has an intellectual disability:

http://www.gigisplayhouse.org - a local support for families of children with Down Syndrome

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/ddmr.htm - Facts about Intellectual Disabilities

Special Education Advocacy:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/ - special education advocacy for parents

You are welcome to contact your child’s teacher for suggestions of other books/resources for helping you with the responsibilities of parenting. In addition, our special education cooperative (Southwest Cook County Cooperative, linked off the Student Services tab) offers parent and teacher resources through their library systems.

Again, your comments and additions will be most appreciated! Feel free to contact Heidi Rudy via email at [email protected] or 630-257-2286 ext. 4611.