The IEP  cover letter (N1) is a wonderful opportunity for the District to communicate to Parents in plain language what the IEP the parent is receiving says, doesn't say and what the next steps are. Writing a good N1 letter is a skill every special ed teacher and administrator should have. Learning how to read an N1 is a great skill for parents.  Listen in for some tips and advice no matter what role you have in the "Prior Written Notice" letter writing/reading process.  Here is the link to where it lives in the IDEA: https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/e/300.503/a

Happy Letter writing and reading!
Angela, Robin and Abby

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The Pandemic was tough for us all. But it was really tough for first year high school principal Amy Davenport. Give a listen to how she thinks about the role, being the working parent of three (!) young children and building a high school that meets the needs of a super wide variety of students.
Spoiler alert:  She did GREAT!

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Hello Everyone!
Just a quick pod this week to mark the One Year Anniversary of the Pod.  Thank you for listening in - we are always thinking about new ideas and topics so send along your input and ideas to: [email protected]


ALSO - we are preparing a MAIL BAG episode - so it is your chance to send in questions/items of interest/suggestions and observations! We can't wait to hear what you have to say.

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In this podcast Robin, Abby and Angela talk about this recent news event and the impact on people with disabilities.

ALEC program
Since 2004, retired Westwood Fire Captain Bill Cannata has been working tirelessly to help train emergency responders on how to deal with persons with autism during emergency situations. 

Through the Autism & Learning Enforcement Education Coalition training program (ALEC), Cannata has worked with public safety officials and emergency responders in all six New England states, as well as Minnesota, North Carolina, Washington D.C. and Texas, among other states.

In 2018, the ALEC program was chosen by The Arc Tank for a grant-and, was selected as “crowd favorite” through audience participation. Since then ALEC has provided training to First Responders throughout New England with support of The Arc Tank grant.

Massachusetts' law related to Memoranda of Understanding between law enforcement and schools.

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We are following current events on the specific topic of Ukraine. It got us thinking about the broader topic of how to educate students with disabilities about important social and political developments. We used these resources as part of our community and school outreach and got great feedback on them. Hope they are helpful to you.

Here are some resources about speaking to students about the invasion of Ukraine.

• How to Talk to Kids about the Ukraine Invasion (PBS)
• How to Talk with Kids about Ukraine (New York Times)
• How to Talk with Students about the Russia Ukraine War: 5 Teaching Tips (Education Week)
• Teaching the News: The Ukraine Crisis (Brown University’s choices.edu - Note this resource provides contextual information about the Ukraine crisis as well as information/activities that are more appropriate for older students.)

The reality is that students with disabilities (especially complex disabilities) often get left out of discussion of nuanced topics related to social/political events. We know that all our students are seeing and hearing news/social media/conversations on these topics so we hope that the suggestions and ideas in this podcast give you a starting place for planning those discussions in your school and classroom.

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Therapy Turkey? Quite possibly, yes.
Check out this great article:
Why Turkeys and Other Birds Make Great Therapy Animals from the Audubon society - featuring a full color cover shot of a legit Therapy Turkey enjoying the plane ride and view out his window seat on an airplane....

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The Olympics are back and Robin is SUPER psyched about that.  Tune in to this episode for a wide ranging discussion about representation of people with disabilities in the media, in schools and the community.  Somehow we got to Kim Kardashian and her advertising campaign for underwear but eventually returned to the topic of the pod....

If you are interested in the form we discuss, first  -listen to the pod for all the PROS and CONS of it and then check it out if you dare: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14T4j6nUc0siSIfjOiTycN7Ps_Dfx80fO/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106323109347884729452&rtpof=true&sd=true

Information and Resources on the History of the Disability Rights movement can be found in lots of places. Here is a quick overview with links to supporting organizations from the Anti Defamation League (ADL)'s website: https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/disability-rights-movement

Thanks for listening and thinking about the big ideas of special education along with us!
Robin, Angela and Abby

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Hello All!
The Massachusetts Chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children invited us to participate in their 2022 virtual State Conference.  The topic of this year's conference is Intersectionality and it caused us to think (and talk) a lot about how ableism is alive and well in schools and education.  Coined in 1989, the term began in the legal and academic realm but has been adopted by education theorists.  Check out this link for an article on the history of the big ideas inherent in Intersectionality:
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination
Here's an article from 2020 on the specific and more recent interpretation of intersectionality as it relates to disability:
https://disabilityphilanthropy.org/resource/intersections-between-racism-and-ableism/
We were thrilled and honored to be part of MCEC's conference and hope that the discussion is thought provoking. Joining a professional organization is something you can do to impact change in our field. It is also part of our ethical responsibilities as members of the profession. Check out Massachusetts Council for Exceptional Children (MCEC)'s website here:
http://www.masscec.org/

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Welcome back to S2 part 2. Robin, Abby and Angela are back from the holiday break and have a round table discussion of the current hot topics.

We are looking forward to the rest of the year - our first episode coming up is a special episode for the Massachusetts Council of Exceptional Children (MCEC)'s annual virtual conference.
We are thinking about the big ideas of Intersectionality especially where it connects to evaluation, IEP development and discipline. Lots to think about and work on!
Let jump into the rest of Season 2!
Also - stay tuned for an upcoming episode created just for the Massachusetts Council for Exceptional Children (Mass CEC) 2022 Virtual conference focusing on Intersectionality at the end of the month.
Angela, Robin and Abby

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Join Robin and Abby as they reflect on reaching the mid-way point of season 2. If you'd like to suggest a topic for a future podcast or ask a question, please reach out to [email protected]

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