The evaluation is free of charge, and you might also want to include information including doctors evaluations or teacher recommendation

Here is a sample of what that letter might look like:

Sample Letter

Today’s Date (include month, day, and year)
Your Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Daytime telephone number
Name of Principal or Special Education Administrator
Name of School
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear (Principal’s or Administrator’s name),
I am writing to request that my son/daughter, (child’s name), be evaluated for special education services. I am worried that (child’s name) is not doing well in school and believe he/she may need special services in order to learn. (Child’s name) is in the ( _ ) grade at (name of school). (Teacher’s name) is his/her teacher.
Specifically, I am worried because (child’s name) does/does not (give a few direct examples of your child’s problems at school).
We have tried the following to help (child’s name): (If you or the school have done anything extra to help your child, briefly state it here).
I understand that I have to give written permission in order for (child’s name) to be evaluated. Before the evaluation begins, I have some questions about the process that I need to have answered (list any questions you may have). I would be happy to talk with you about (child’s name). You can send me information or call me during the day at (daytime telephone number). Thank you for your prompt attention to my request.
Sincerely,
Your name
cc: your child’s principal (if letter is addressed to an administrator)
your child’s teacher(s)

Can your Child Model?

The first thing to consider is if your child likes to be around strangers, have a bunch of lights flashing on them, and having random people putting make-up on them. If your child fusses over being picked up by a stranger then odds are you are probably out of the job.

Keep in mind; some agencies are looking for average looking kids. However, some agencies are looking that little extra something, either a devilish smile or a curl on their head.

Take Photos of your Toddler

Agencies generally require a few photos of your toddler. A headshot that shows their full face, a full body shot, and a shot that shows of their personality is needed in order to be considered. These do not necessarily need to be done professionally, just make sure they can see the toddler modeling. Also, keep the cute little props out of it, whether it is a cowboy hat or chocolate cake.

Avoid Scams!

A lot of agencies will like to take advantage of you if they can. In order to avoid these, here is a couple of things to keep your eye on. The first is money, if they ask for your money outright; odds are it is a scam. Most agencies won’t have you pay for any lessons until after your first couple of shoots.

Secondly, don’t pay hundreds or thousands of dollars on pictures. Some agencies will ask you to do this, but most of the legitimate ones know that toddlers grow at a quick rate and expensive pictures are pointless.

A couple of extra Tips

Where you live is a big concern for most modeling agencies. If you live in the middle of Kansas and apply for a gig in Los Angeles, the odds of you getting it are slim. Most photo shoots give parents and models a short notice, sometimes a few hours. You also have to get there on your own dime, so it is wise not to ask for them to fly you first class out to the site.

The last thing to keep in mind is you. Are you capable of coping with the stress that comes with toddler modeling? If you think the answer is yes then consider looking up the correct agency today.

The focus of the programs is to teach children the skills they will need to succeed in school.

The classes often have many adults in the classroom. There is always the teacher and should be an assistant. There should also be a speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, and social worker who service the program. These individuals may work with children in the classroom or may pull one or more children out of the classroom to work on the goals for that child. The teacher and therapists work together to plan how to best support each child.

Therapist services within the classroom are frequently the best way for each child’s goals to be addressed because they are then working on the skills within the context of how they will be using them. At this age, one skill often impacts another, so the approach of working on improving a skill while working on general learning of all skills is often the most effective.

Each child in the classroom will have an Individualized Educational Plan, or IEP. This is a plan that is written with the parents, teacher, therapists, and administrators. The plan lists the goals and objectives that the team wants to help the child work on. It also includes the services (time in the classroom and the time that each therapist will work with the child) the child will receive. Teachers and therapists use the IEP to plan for the child.

Early Childhood Special Education classrooms, which are designed for children ages 3 to 5, implement a preschool curriculum to build preacademic skills in all of the children. These skills include learning colors, numbers, letters, counting, patterning, and shapes. Preschool curriculum also includes learning how to participate in group learning experiences, fine motor skills (beginning writing, cutting, etc.), sharing, and other skills to help prepare children for school.

The activities should be hands on and play oriented. Play time, games, and interactive activities ate the best for helping young children learn. These are the most motivating for young children and lead to the mastering skills.

Step 1: Pre-Referral

The IEP process starts through a series of pre-referral interventions. The interventions implemented vary depending on the kinds of problems the student is exhibiting. The major purposes of this stage of the IEP process are to

-Document and explain students’ specific difficulties and challenges

-Test the effectiveness of the classroom setting, and how it can be changed

-Monitor students’ progress

Step 2: Referral

If pre-referral interventions are unsuccessful, an individual is referred for special education services. Referrals can come from many different sources, depending on how old your child is.

Step 3: Identification

Assessment is one foundation of the planning process. The purpose of this step in the IEP process is to determine whether a youngster has a disability, whether special education is required, and what types of services are needed.

Step 4: Eligibility

The information from the assessment step is used to identify students who actually have a disability and qualify for special education services.

Step 5: Development of the IEP

For those students who qualify for special education, the next step requires that parents and the IEP Team make decisions about appropriate education, services, and placement. The assessment results are used to help make these decisions.

Step 6: Implementation of the IEP

Once the IEP is developed, the student’s services and individualized program begin. The IEP now lays out what constitutes an appropriate education for the student, the extent to which the student participates in the general education curriculum, the accommodations the student receives both for instruction and for testing, and the array of multidisciplinary services from related service providers that support the student’s educational program.

Step 7: Evaluation and Reviews

The purpose of the IEP review meetings is to ensure that students are meeting their goals and making educational progress.

What Is Asperger’s?

Asperger syndrome or Asperger’s syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. Children or adults who suffer from it maintain linguistic and cognitive development, which makes it different from other autism spectrum disorders. Although not required for diagnosis, physical clumsiness and atypical use of language are frequently reported.

History of Asperger’s

There are many questions surrounding Asperger’s Syndrome, and at this point, there are few answers. It was labeled and defined in 1944, but it wasn’t until 50 years later that it became an official diagnosis. There are those who wonder if it is really distinguishable from high-functioning autism (HFA) and those who want to abolish the diagnosis all together.

Diagnosis

If you think your child might have Asperger’s Syndrome, take them to see a pediatrician. Depending on the severity of the autism, alternative education might be a possibility. There are hundreds of support groups and online facilities to get more information, as well as learn how other parents deal with their child’s Aspergers.

Today, children with disabilities routinely attend the same public schools as children without disabilities. But this was not always the case.

Prior to legislation requiring public education for children with cognitive or emotional disabilities, deafness, blindness or the need for speech therapy, among others, parents had few options other than to educate their children at home or pay for expensive private education.

The story of Special Education begins in the early part of the 20th Century. Parents formed advocacy groups to help bring the educational needs of children with disabilities to the public eye. These groups gained momentum mid-century. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation. The panel’s recommendations included federal aid to states. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provided funding for primary education, and is seen by advocacy groups as expanding access to public education for children with disabilities.

Despite these two important events, by the 1970’s, only a relatively small number of children with disabilities were being educated in public schools. Both enacted in 1975, two federal laws would change this: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). The EHA establishes a right to public education for all children regardless of disability, while the IDEA requires schools provide individualized or special education for children with qualifying disabilities. Under the IDEA, states who accept public funds for education must provide special education to qualifying children with disabilities.

The IDEA sets forth specific guidelines regarding Free Appropriate Public Education. Among these is the idea that education must be tailored to meet the needs of the individual child with a disability. This education must be of benefit to the child and should prepare the child for further education (i.e., college) or to live and work independently. The IDEA also requires that education occur in the least restrictive environment and requires schools to take a child’s disability into account when enforcing discipline.

Although not all children with disabilities are covered by the IDEA and EHA, these two acts have been instrumental in ensuring a free public education to millions of children with disabilities each year since passage. Prior to these acts, parents of children with disabilities had few choices as to the education of their children. Today, these children receive their education along side children who do not have disabilities.

But, at age 14, an administrator gave her a chance, setting her up with work as a student aide. Torres has remained an employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District for the past 16 years. She works as a special education assistant, helping children with autism adapt to mainstream classrooms.

With the financial stresses on education, though, she worries that the next troubled child to come through LAUSD’s public schools may not be quite so lucky.

“Kids have issues but we can work through them, they can graduate. You just have to have that push,” Torres told The Huffington Post. “We’re overworked, morale is low, there are furloughs and there are pay cuts. We all have to do extra. It’s hard on us but it’s even harder on the kids. What if those kids don’t have that somebody like I did?”

Torres says that’s why she plans to join about 100 other education service workers, from cafeteria servers to bus drivers to custodians, of SEIU Local 99 at midnight. They’ll hop on a bus in Los Angeles, planning to reach Sacramento by 7:30 Tuesday morning. There, they’ll give legislators a piece of their minds about Governor Jerry Brown’s budget.

They’ll meet with their state representatives, urging them to greenlight Brown’s proposal to extend temporary tax increases and to repay schools owed money under Proposition 98, a 1988 law that requires that a certain percentage of California’s budget be spent on education. According to SEIU Local 99, Brown’s May budget proposal would spend almost half of the $6.6 billion in increased state revenue on education. If legislators instead chose to cut taxes, the union says, they would cause about $5 billion in education funding cuts.

Though the midnight ride is but one instance of rallying for education spending around the country. Over the weekend, protestors in Wisconsin kicked off a slew of actions by erecting a tent city called Walkerville in honor of the governor, his budget and his plan to scrap collective bargaining for public workers. The rallies kicked off Sunday and featured speeches from education professionals.

On Saturday, hundreds marched on Milwaukee to protest education cuts. Also on Saturday, North Carolina Democrats staged a funeral march to protest what they called the “death of public education.”

The midnight ride comes after the California Teachers Association organized a State of Emergency Week of protests in Sacramento in May.

SEIU Local 99, a union for school service workers, is clear that its constituency is different.

“Our students need better schools and funding,” said Blanca Gallegos, a spokesperson for the union. “We’re on the same message as the teachers, but we’re trying to highlight the role that the classified employees play as part of the education team. You need to fund the entire team.”

Larry Sand, who runs the California Teachers Empowerment Network, says he is skeptical of actions like the midnight ride.

“They [the CTA] had the whole State of Emergency week,” he said. “If that didn’t do it, I don’t know what a bunch of SEIU people taking a midnight ride to Sacramento is going to do.” There are Republican holdouts to SEIU’s policy agenda, Sand said, that are unlikely to be flipped by the visit.

Still, Gallegos believes the trip can make a difference. “It gets legislators to listen one-on-one,” she said. “These are not just numbers, but they’re real people, real faces, real families.”

The school system is already stressed, she said. “Some of the largest cuts were to the custodial staff. We’ve seen bathrooms that are not cleaned as often,” she said.

Gamaliel Andrade, a Los Angeles cafeteria worker, has noticed as well.

“This trip is important to me because some people are trying to blame the education deficit on cafeteria workers’ health insurance,” he said. “They’re trying to put blame on a working-class guy like me, but I’m just trying to make a difference in people’s lives.”

He said he opposes next school year’s proposed furlough days, but is still giving up his wages on Tuesday to protest. “My goal is awareness,” he said. “We want people to know it all matters.”

In California, expenses on mental health in schools that use to be paid for by the counties, have now being taken care of by the school districts.

Board of Education Confronts New Mental Health Costs
Published: March 23, 2011 By Knowles Adkisson/The Malibu Times

Mental health services previously paid by the county have been shifted to the district. The board also explores ways to cut nursing costs.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District will be on the hook for approximately $1 million in special education expenses previously paid for by the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health for a period of approximately five months.

The school district’s Board of Education discussed the sobering news about the special education funding at its regular meeting last Thursday. Also, the board has come up with a new job description for Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) as the district attempts to provide better health services next school year.

Federal law requires state and local governments to pay for counseling and other mental health services for students with mental or emotional disabilities to keep them in school. Assembly Bill 3632, passed in 1984, required county mental health departments to pay these expenses for schools districts, but that changed in October when former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut $133 million in state funding for mental health. School districts made it to the end of January without having to foot the costs thanks to $76 million in federal funding, but starting Feb. 1 that expense was shifted to the school districts. School districts will have to continue paying for special education costs until June 30.

Jeanne Davis, who is part of a committee negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the county mental health department on behalf of the local school district and the districts of Beverly Hills and Culver City to determine how much they will pay, told the board, “School districts, by law, are the payer of last resort. We’re campaigning to point out the plight of the district and request assistance.”

School districts will be charged based on the cost of the services rendered. Santa Monica-Malibu has 15 students at residential treatment centers, with 59 students receiving outpatient services. The board approved a draft of the MOU, which would have the district pay $200,000 per month between Feb. 1 and June 30, as well as a monthly $50,000 administrative fee to the department of mental health. The vote was 5-1, with Board member Laurie Lieberman absent and Vice President Ben Allen voting against it.

Allen said he was “not under the impression that school districts have been dealt with in particularly good faith on this matter.”

The county’s decision to shift the expenses for mental health services that are required by law to the school districts had put the SMMUSD “between a rock and a hard place,” Allen said. “It’s another follow-on effect of the budget crisis and everyone seems to be kicking the can down the road in terms of responsibilities.”

Superintendent Tim Cuneo said that when the MOU expires after June 30, the district will negotiate a new agreement with the county in an attempt to bring down the costs.

District struggles with balancing health care vs. budget

The board also discussed the new job classification, LVNs, developed by a health task force appointed by Cuneo to study ways to reduce health costs within the district. The district gave layoff notices to more than five nurses at its March 8 meeting, which it can rescind by May 15, in order to have the flexibility to possibly replace the nurses with LVNs or health clerks.

The district currently employs 11 registered nurses with extensive training and master’s degrees. LVNs only have 12 to 18 months of training, but command lower salaries than RNs. Due to their lesser training LVNs cannot perform all the same tasks as RNs and would have to be supervised for some tasks. The district is trying to reduce health costs while simultaneously having more medically trained personnel on staff, even if they are not as highly trained as RNs. The health task force is expected to conclude its work in April and give recommendations to the board.

SMMUSD parent Lee Jones told the board she felt the committee’s work was being rushed, as it consisted of volunteers and had only been meeting for about a month.

“It’s unrealistic to expect there to be a recommendation from the group that is at the level it should be,” Jones said.

BOE Vice President Allen acknowledged that the process may be rushed, and suggested that the district could rescind some of the nurse layoffs and hire two LVNs for next year to allow the task force more time to study the subject.

BOE member Ralph Mechur, who was the only member to vote against the layoffs at the previous board meeting, said the board should not let its concern over budget issues lead it into accepting lesser care for its students.

“We need to be able to not allow this constant hammering [about budget issues] to become the new norm, where we say it’s OK to have less because we’ve just been beaten down about it,” he said.

http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2011/03/23/news/news4.txt