Announcements

Announcment courtesy of Lisa Meyerson Marshall:

Arizona Center for Disability Law

Special Education STAT Advocate

Phoenix Office

This one year position will staff the STAT (Short Term Assistance Team) in the Center’s Phoenix office and respond to initial requests for assistance from persons with disabilities who have special education related legal issues. The purpose of this position is to provide up-to-date, accurate information and referral and advocacy assistance to callers to the Center, as well as to gather appropriate information, including all necessary federal reporting data, perform factual investigations, and assess issues. The Special Education STAT Advocate will work with the I&R Supervisor and Deputy Executive Director to refer appropriate cases to the Center’s Volunteer Lawyer Program. Our full job description is available on the Center’s website at www.azdisabilitylaw.org.

Qualifications: College degree in social work, justice studies, or a disability related field preferred plus a minimum of two years experience, or, alternatively, a minimum of four years experience directly working with persons with disabilities in a related area. Bi-lingual ability to speak and write English/Spanish is a plus. Full-time position is 40 hours per week.

Resumes will be accepted through 2/22/08. Please send resume and cover letter to:

I&R Supervisor
Arizona Center for Disability Law
3839 N. 3rd St., Suite 209
Phoenix, AZ 85012

Fax: (602) 274-6779

E-Mail: nfranklin@azdisabilitylaw.org

No telephone inquires please.

The Center values diversity in the workplace. People with disabilities are encouraged to apply. EOE.

Here’s a request from our SEPACs Program Director. Do you host or know of a great summer program for and that can be adapted for children and teens with special needs? If so, please contact Pam Murphy. Her contact info is at the end of her request.

Exhibitors:

I am so excited to announce our Second Annual SEPACs Summer Program Expo! We are scheduled for Wednesday, March 19 from 6:30-8:30pm at Mohave Annex in the Kachina room. We may move to the cafeteria for more room, but we will be at Mohave.

Please let me know if you would like to participate. We welcome all programs that are designed for children with special needs and those programs who make accomodations for children with special needs. The exhibit is free, and the exposure for your program and networking with other professionals and families is priceless! Plus, SEPACS really appreciates your participation and dedication to quality programs for our special needs kids!

So, please email me or call me (602-769-0825) to confirm your participation. And, if you know other programs who would like to participate just give me their contact info.

Thanks so much! We look forward to seeing each and every one of you again this year!

Pam Murphy
VP for Programming
SEPACS (Special Education Parent Advisory Council of Scottsdale)  

From Barb Ross at the Arizona Department of Education:

If you know of any parents interested in attending this Assistive Technology training please contact Bruce Kennedy with ADE/AT division on how to apply for those scholarships. Just scroll down for his contact information. The training fee will be waived, travel expenses, etc would need to be paid by the parents or another organization.

Barbra Ross
Parent Information Network Specialist
East Maricopa County
Arizona Department of Education
Exceptional Student Services
480-607-3030
FAX: 480-443-0351
Toll Free: 800-352-4558
Barbra.Ross@azed.gov
www.azed.gov/ess/pinspals

Just wanted to give you a reminder….

The AT Team would like to welcome up to 2 parents at this (see flier) TLC Training session on a “scholarship” basis. Naturally, any travel expenses will need to come from another source or paid by the attendees.

Thanks,

Bruce A. Kennedy, MPA
Assistive Technology Specialist
Arizona Department of Education
Exceptional Student Services
2384 Steves Blvd
Flagstaff AZ 86004
Ph: (928) 679-8107
Fx: (928) 679-8124
bruce.kennedy@azed.gov

Please join SEPAC tonight for our presentation and panel discussion:

Effects that Disability has on Family Function:

Tactics to Survive and Thrive

with

Marty Keller, PhD & Chris Nicholls, PhD

Wednesday, October 24th
6:30-8:30 pm

Mohave District Annex
Kachina Room
8505 E. Valley View Road, Scottsdale 85250-6768

Childcare provided by local high school service group.

This article from the East Valley Tribune was published almost a month ago, and just came up in my Google alert this morning.

Testing rules hamper special ed planners - September 23, 2007

My first reaction was one of disbelief, so I emailed Lois Healey, Director of Special Education for the Scottsdale School district, asking if it was indeed true.  She responded that unfortunately the rule change (disallowing accommodation during district and state testing) was true and that Tom Horne has filed an appeal with the Federal Government, but that there’s no knowing how long it will take to get a response.

Lisa Marshall emailed me that we have a new Director of Special Education (as of the beginning of 2007) at the Arizona Department of Education Exceptional Student Services. I’m not sure how we missed this announcement, but from reading the Arizona State Advisory Panel for Special Education meeting minutes, I discovered:

http://www.ade.az.gov/ess/SEAP/11-28-06.pdf

Dr. Busenbark announced that Superintendent Horne has reassigned Joanne Phillips to work on special projects for special education. She will continue to work on statutory revisions to the Arizona Revised Statues and Arizona Administrative Code. Ms. Phillips will also be concentrating on revising the Special Education AZTAS documents. At the time of the November meeting a replacement had not been announced.

.. and..

http://www.ade.az.gov/ess/SEAP/01-16-07.pdf

Lynn Busenbark, PhD, Deputy Associate Superintendent, Exceptional Student Services, introduced Colette Chapman, who is the Assistant Deputy Associate Superintendent, Exceptional Student Services. Ms. Chapman will take over the role of Deputy Associate Superintendent and State Director of Special Education when Dr. Busenbark retires in June. Dr. Busenbark also introduced Cyndi Bolewski, who is the Director in the ESS Tucson office. Ms. Bolewski is currently working with Dr. Busenbark on the Annual Performance Report and will continue to work on the report after Dr. Busenbark’s retirement.

 Contact Info for the Director of Special Education:

Colette Chapman – Deputy Associate Superintendent
Tel: (602) 542-4013
Email: Colette.Chapman@azed.gov

Epilepsy Conference  – Living Well With Epilepsy

Saturday, November 3rd

St. Joseph’s Hospital
Phoenix, Arizona

A one-day conference for people with epilepsy, their families and people who provide services to those with epilepsy.

For more information, please contact the Epilepsy Foundation of Arizona at 602-406-3581 or 1-888-768-2690 (outside of Maricopa County) or visit our local website at www.epilepsyfoundation.org/arizona or email at mmaclei@chw.edu

From the City of Scottsdale:

CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION SERIES: T.A.L.K. – LEARNING HOW TO INTERACT WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, OCT. 16 & 18

There are more than 50 million Americans with disabilities, according to federal government statistics.

Alicia Draper, a Scottsdale resident who has cerebral palsy, will describe what it’s like living with a disability and the challenges she faces. She’ll share with us the concept of “T.A.L.K.” — Touch, Ask, Learn and Know — when interacting with those who have a disability.

Most important, Alicia reminds us that “we’re all people” at noon Tuesday, Oct. 16, Civic Center Library Auditorium, 3839 East Drinkwater Blvd., and 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18 at City of Scottsdale’s Pinnacle Training Room, 7575 E. Main St.

For more information call (480) 312-7772.

I’ve created this blog as a way to keep parents more up-to-date than with our monthly e-newsletter.   The intention is for it to be more timely, and also a way for our readers to comments on articles, surveys, and more.   We will also have the option for multiple authors which will expand the kind of information that you receive.

For those of you that know how to subscibe to a blog through a blog reader, you make find this a more timely way to get update.  In the beginning, I will send out emails to let you know that an update has been made to the blog.  You can also bookmark this new site (sepac-scottsdale.org) and visit us often.

Welcome!