Besides our Winter Holidays, December celebrates Inclusive Schools. This annual event recognizes the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population. December 2^nd represents the 36th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which was reauthorized in 2004.

 

To recognize these events our Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) and the Student Services staff hosted several events:

 

On Tuesday December 6^th , our SEPAC  sponsored the workshop, “Sensory Strategies for Making it Through the Holidays: Strategies That Work”.  The workshop was presented by Beth Beaudry,OTR of South Shore Therapies at Paul Pratt Library, and provided parents with many useful strategies for helping children cope with changes and disruptions that typically occur around holiday and travel events. 

On Weds, November 30^th, The Student Services Parent and Professional Partnership Series will provide a workshop on Managing Stress and Anxiety: Building Resilient Children, at the Osgood School Library. The workshop was presented by Michele Henderson, our licensed independent clinical social worker, who has been practicing since 1994.  In addition to work in Cohasset Public Schools, Michele provides supervision, consultation and trainings at the Trauma Center and in the Community.  With the increasing demands placed on children and families, Mrs. Henderson has seen an increase in stress and anxiety in her practice and has focused on the strategies which build resiliency in children. 

The 2^nd workshop of The Student Services Parent and Professional Partnership Series: "Speech and Language Who?:  Here's What We Do!” was held at the Deer Hill School Library on Wednesday December 14^th. A panel of Speech and Language pathologists reviewed common and uncommon speech and language disorders, educational eligibility criteria, various school service delivery models and provide answers to frequently asked Q's.

 

If you missed these workshops and are interested in the information which was presented, please contact SEPAC http://www.cohassetsepac.org/Cohasset_Special_Education_Parent_Advisory_Council_%28SEPAC%29/Welcome.html (SEPAC tab at the top of the district web page)

or contact Student Services (781 383 6104) for follow up.
Holiday Greetings 

In this celebration of lights, may yours shine brightly and be carried to others

May the merry-making of the season’s celebrations and the peace and tranquility of a winter’s night be with you all year long

May you have some of what you want and all that you need

May all the good you do come back to you

May you and all your dear ones laugh much and be loved well in 2012

 

On light - 

 

"When two rooms are adjacent to each other and one room is flooded with light and the other is in the deepest darkness, and the door between them is opened, the darkness does not enter the light, but the light spills into the darkness and illuminates.”

 

“There is a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in.”

Recently, I saw this as the headline on a summer magazine cover as I walked out of the supermarket. The piece was about health and lifestyle choices in today's hectic world.   The article made a point about how competing demands on our time can lead to unhealthy choices and result in an 'unbalanced' life.  While the article was not in reference to families who care for a member with a disability, it gave me pause as I thought of our families and the challenge for a balanced life.  Healthy choices and a 'balanced life' allow for vacation and periods of respite. For many of our families, finding 'balance in life' and raising a child with a disability seem incompatible. For some of our families it may seem an unreachable goal or ideal.

Holidays and vacations and even simple outings can require additional effort, energy and complicated preparation. The vacation may have been approached with trepidation rather than with the excitement that comes with a planned respite. The requirements of additional planning time and preparation can result in undue stress, and the vacation may not provide the expected or needed respite. There are additional expectations, demands and stresses on siblings and family members. Environments and travel options must be considered for compatibility and altered to address the child's needs.  In these circumstances, vacation does not provide the expected respite because the demands may be overwhelming and may drain the family's emotional reserves, let alone material resources. 

My own extended family vacations with a child with complicated physical, cognitive and behavioral challenges.  Although so much decision-making and preparation falls on the primary family, it requires extended family to step in, share the responsibility and play a part in the necessary accommodating.  We strive to ". . . minimize the impact; maximize the opportunity", but we come to recognize the barriers which prevent full participation, limiting the experience of respite.  A family member recently commented how it takes a village to raise a child, but how it takes several villages when vacationing with a child who has a disability.  Whether and how we step up as extended family, as neighbors, and as community members is what lies 'in the balance'. It makes the difference on whether or not raising a child with a disability is a family matter or a matter for the whole village, and whether families who care for a member with a disability can find balance.

As the school year begins, and we all adjust to the transition back to the routine of the school calendar year, it occurs to me that the routine of school may come as a welcome relief for families with a child with a disability.  Summer and family vacation get-aways may not have provided the expected or needed respite.  Both the planning and the experience may have been exhausting.  Finding 'balance in life' means being able to make healthy lifestyle choices and being able to count on support and resources for meaningful respite.  I am not sure if it takes several villages, but to support our families raising a child with a disability, it certainly takes a whole entire village - a caring and inclusive community.  In school and in the community, all of us play a part.

The importance of parent and school partnership is well understood. The Cohasset Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is a parent organization which partners with the district in addressing student needs and provides support to our familes.  The SEPAC has a website www.CohassetSEPAC.org.  I encourage you to check the SEPAC weblink, there is wealth of information and support available to our families.

National Annual Inclusive Schools December Event

Powerpoint on Special Education. IEP eligibility, process, services, procedural rights, safe guards, etc. for parents and interested parties.

Information regarding Cohasset's Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC): Promoting and fostering knowledge and understanding between parents, schools and community.

Listing of special education staff including team chairs/school psychologists, special education teachers, counselors and therapists.

Annual Review of Student Services, Special Education, Student and Employee Civil Rights