Special Education Law Blog

You Know You’ve Been a Parent of a Child with Special Needs Too Long When (Part II)…by Lori Miller Fox

This is the second part of the earlier post to get your new school year off to a humorous start.

You choose your child’s medical specialists by whether or not their waiting room has an accessible outlet for your portable DVD player.

You get pulled over by a police officer and automatically pull out your insurance card.

You volunteer to give blood, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the only time you can have some peace and quiet and then enjoy an Oreo cookie alone.

You can’t even remember your own name, but can recite your child’s current medications and brief medical history in your sleep.

You call having the time to shave your legs, a makeover.

You stare into the ice cream freezer at the grocery store just a little too long, and don’t give a damn what the neighbors think.

Your accountant just assumes you’ll need an extension on your taxes.

You end up putting Pediasure in your coffee, because that’s all you’ve got.

At night you dream of going on a vacation with Oprah and Gayle.

Locking yourself in the bathroom is considered respite.

You wish you only aged in dog years.

You consider shutting off the room monitor “ a night away.”

You request frequent school meetings just so the staff won’t notice how much weight you’ve gained over time.

Your child’s case manager highlights the AM listings on the TV Guide and calls it a transition plan.

You consider your coffee maker durable medical equipment.

You use the timer on your coffee maker as a snooze alarm.

To you, drinking decaf is considered an alternative lifestyle.

You classify having your child get coughed on by another child in the doctor’s waiting room, as a playdate.

You embroider the number “666” on your child’s t-shirt just so unwelcome strangers don’t come up and “bless” your child.

Robotic "Skin" Is a Significant Advance Towards Artifical Eyes and Assitive Robots

One of the things that up to now has held back robots is the ability to have a pressure sensitive "skin" which feels and moves more naturally. A team of Tokyo University researchers has revealed a break through in material science; a rubber material that conducts electricity which would potentially allow for the development of robotic "skin." This new material is described:

"Another possible use being discussed is in robot development. The material would allow for robots to be much more responsive and life-like because their entire surface could have sensors since the electrical power source is everywhere. The day when robots match humans is even closer, as this material could be the "skin" of the robot human since it can be maneuvered to do virtually everything our skin does when it reacts with our surroundings. It seems quite surreal and perhaps scary, but we are closer to an "I, Robot" type world than some of us think."

Perhaps a nearer term application of this new material science is the development of a functional artificial eye according to researchers. I believe in the foreseeable future that many motor tasks which create significant obstacles for  individuals with disabilities can and will be remediated with the use of robots or robotic components, if not Rosie from the Jetsons.

Tropic Thunder Protests Grow

The deserved furor is growing against the degrading movie Tropic Thunder. Click here and here for more information and how to participate in the national protest against this movie. Here is a pledge against the use of the 'r' word.

Buzz Words and Lingo in Special Education

Every field has its lingo and jargon. Special education has more than its share and sometimes the language contains coded or veiled meanings that are hard for parents to discern or decipher. The following link is a useful and sometime humorous decoder ring for the phrases, jargon and lingo used everyday in schools and at IEP meetings. It might be good to bone up on this table of buzz words just in time for the new school year in the Fall.

Thanks to a friend and dedicated advocate Jean Kulcyck for bringing this link to my attention.

Webinar on RTI

Here is a webinar on the every popular topic of RTI from Council for Exceptional Children.

Milwaukee Public Schools Cited for Excessive Use of Suspensions

Milwaukee Public Schools have been cited in a recent report  for the overuse of suspensions.  Over reliance on suspensions reflect a lack of effective positive behavioral interventions in favor of "remove the child, remove the problem." The reality is that when the student comes back to school he or she is even more likely to offend again because he or she is now behind in work, class is not relevant and so the cycle goes. The process too often ends with students with special needs dropping out or becoming involved in criminal activity while out of school on suspension. I fully appreciate that order and discipline need to be maintained in school but more constructive and positive means need to used to prevent this harmful cycle that does not help students, schools or the larger community.

Good Resource on a Rare Seizure Disorder

I am presenting tomorrow at a conference on Dravet's syndrome which is a rare type of seizure disorder.  Here is an excellent resource on this rare disorder.  If your child has Dravet's it is important that you work to educate the school, especially the nurse and the SLP, since schools are often  slow to accept new information even on more well-known disorders such as autism or similar conditions.

Gaming to Support Childhood Cancer Treatment

Video games are being cast in a different light than simply activities which encourage becoming couch potatoes. A new company has come out with a set of video games to encourage and educate children and young adults as to the importance of taking their chemotherapy medications. In a real turn of events some insurance companies are considering covering the cost of these programs if they can be shown to make a measurable difference in the costs and outcomes for patient.

Movie "Tropic Thunder" Appears to Cross Lines of Decency for People with Disabilities

I have never been much of a Ben Stiller fan. Now is another reason for me and perhaps others to dim his star as an actor. The  Dreamworks movie Tropic Thunder, which stars Ben Stiller who also wrote and directed the film, due to be released next week apparently uses many outdated and degrading terms and depictions of  people with disabilities. I have not seen the movie yet so I can not register a full opinion.  It appears from preview information that again the mainstream community still has no realization that denigrating descriptions of the disabled are as hurtful, hateful and outdated as similar statements against groups based upon age, religion, gender and race. It appears, however, that executives from Dreamworks are willing to meet with disability rights groups to discuss their concerns which to me should be obvious based upon available information. Dreamworks has also taken a website that was promoting the movie off the internet. That million wheelchair march is sounding more important by the day!

Senate Press Release on ADA Amendments

The following is a press release from Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah who along with Senator Harkin of Iowa have sponsored a bi-partisan bill to overturn the Supreme Court's narrowing of the scope and application of the  ADA. Here is an un-annotated version of the pending bill. Download ada_restoration_bill.doc The bill has already passed the House. The reforms in the bill would also apply to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.  (Nod to Jess Butler of COPAA for making both the draft bill and press release available)