Buzz from the Hub

Twice a month, the CPIR shares news and resources with the Parent Center network and others via our e-newsletter the Buzz from the Hub.

Each Buzz spotlights an issue of importance to Parent Centers, identifies resources on the network’s priority topics, and includes resources Parent Centers can share with the families they serve.

Buzz from the Hub Archives

(Archive is listed reverse chronologically)

Buzz | Youth Transitions, State Assessments, and More

This Buzz is packed with info for you and the families and professionals you serve. We start off with a Dear Colleague Letter from the feds, share 3 resources for and about youth in transition to adulthood, and 3 others focused on state assessments, which are meant to be shared with families.

Buzz | Putting the Right Foot Forward

Getting the school year off on the right foot is important. To help you and families do just that, CPIR is pleased to share many new resources with you, including guidance for immigrant parents, early signs of learning challenges in children, IEP and 504 strategies, and warning signs of bullying.

Buzz | Back to School with Feeling

It’s that time of year again for school buses and carpools and bookbags. So, this Buzz focuses on resources that Parent Centers and others can use in their work with families and educators as the new school year gets underway.

Buzz | Lots of News to Share with You

This issue of the Buzz brings you lots of news and connections to sources of information that Parent Centers and others will find pertinent to working with families: updated guidance from OSEP, Native American news, a great new resource in town, and more info in English and Spanish.

Buzz | Summer Reading, plus Rare and Genetic Conditions

Schools are out for the summer, so reading for fun and learning is always an option for parents, children, and Parent Centers themselves. We’re pleased to connect you with more on that subject. This Buzz also shares resources on genetic conditions, testing, and rare disorders that families and professionals alike may find helpful.

Buzz | Parent Centers are Amazing!

The results of the Parent Center data collection for 2021-2022 are in, and they reveal the true depth and volume of what Parent Centers collectively accomplished and how many lives they touched in a year of nonstop action. CPIR is also pleased to highlight several resources that Parent Centers and other organizations will find useful when helping families and children, especially those with disabilities.

Buzz | Multilingual Resources

We know that Parent Centers are ever on the lookout for disability-related resources in languages other than English. This Buzz shares just that with you, with an emphasis on materials in Spanish. We hope these will help you engage with and inform the multilingual families you serve.

Buzz | Physical Activities for Children with Disabilities

Summertime fun, sports, and outdoor activities are almost upon us. That’s why this Buzz focuses on the importance of physical movement in our children’s overall health. For many children with disabilities, sports, games, and outdoor fun can be difficult due to their disability. The resources we mention in this Buzz can help families, friends, and community members involve children with disabilities in many kinds of physical activities, making adaptations suited to the children and the nature of their disabilities.

Buzz | Diversity and Mental Health Issues

This Buzz brings you resources focused on mental health amid the many diverse populations that Parent Centers serve. Culture and identity can play a profound role in shaping a person’s or community’s mental health challenges, strengths, and resiliency. To that end, we hope you find the resources in this Buzz illuminating, useful to you as Parent Center staff, and pertinent to the families with whom you connect.

Buzz | Profound Autism + Engaging with Underserved Families

This Buzz begins with a fascinating collection of articles on a proposed new category called profound autism, which CDC estimates affects 26.7% of children on the autism spectrum. We also connect you with the latest OSEP communication about evaluations under IDEA. We close with a focus on an area of Parent Center work that challenges and thrills us all—engaging with underserved families.

Buzz | Corporal Punishment, Informal Removals, & More

This Buzz brings you news of 3+ resources from OSEP and the Office for Civil Rights that collectively address corporal punishment in schools (including the March 24th Dear Colleague Letter) and the worrisome pattern of informally removing a student with disabilities because of behavior. We’re then pleased to connect you with 2 more disability-specific resources available in English and Spanish. And we close with news to share with your Native American families, especially youth from 18 to 24 years old.

Buzz | Need Resources in English or Spanish?

Parent Centers are often on the lookout for disability resources they can share with families who are English speakers and those who prefer or need resources in Spanish. This 2nd Buzz of March brings just that to you—resources about: PANS and PANDAS in young children, a video series that uses a telenovela to share info with parents about special education; and a family toolkit to support youth who are transitioning from pediatric health care to adult care.

Buzz | Planning Ahead, Raising Awareness

Every month of the year different health observances take place around the country to raise awareness about a health condition or disability. Knowing what’s on the calendar gives Parent Centers time to plan ahead, prepare resources to highlight that disability or condition, and take part locally. This Buzz gives you a taste of what awareness campaigns are going on this month (March) and in April. We’re pleased to close with 2 transition-to-adulthood resources from Parent Centers.

Buzz | On the Beauty and Challenge of Diversity

February honors Black history, and we are pleased to share with you multiple resources that spotlight not only the history of African Americans but also many current realities that affect many children, women, and men of color. To our enduring, inspiring diversity!

Buzz | Youth in Focus

Parent Centers, schools, and many community-based organizations work directly with youth who have disabilities, supporting their preparation for adulthood and all the excitement and challenge ahead. This issue of the Buzz will connect you with resources we hope you’ll find helpful in your youth-focused work.

Buzz | Dating, Romance, and Sexuality

The theme of this Buzz arises in recognition of upcoming Valentine’s Day, February 14th. Dating, romance, and sexuality are challenging, exciting, and on the plate for everyone, youthful and old, disabled or not. So let’s talk about it. Understand our normality. Prepare and protect. Accept what’s naturally part of us all.

This Buzz shares resources that shine a light on romance, sex, and dating for those with disabilities—and the rest of us, too!

Buzz | Kick Off 2023

This Buzz kicks off 2023 by bringing you a good handful of IEP resources to add to your collection, as well as two policy-related items.

Buzz | Video Libraries

Videos and webinars are good resources for professional development and for sharing with families. In this Buzz, we spotlight video collections on high-priority topics that you may find useful in the coming weeks and certainly in the coming year. Be well, enjoy the festivities ahead, thank you for all the hard and heartfelt work you’ve done in 2022. We’ll see you next year!

Buzz | Children’s Health

This Buzz focuses primarily on health issues such as RSV, children and the holidays, guidelines for medical care of adults with Down Syndrome, and how racism affects children’s development. We end with a resource connecting family engagement with inclusive technology practices.

Buzz | Potpourri of Resources

This Buzz brings you a diversity of resources to use in your work with families. Topics include culturally competent transition planning, the Dear Colleague letter on addressing the impacts on children and youth that losing a parent or caregiver has, and information for parents that will help them work with their child’s school.

Buzz | Children’s Mental Health

This issue of the Buzz brings you multiple resources in English and Spanish that you can share with the families you serve. First is the latest information on our children’s mental health, recommendations for treating symptoms of trauma, and guidance on where to get help, supports and services, and the school’s role in addressing mental health issues in students. The second half focuses on the upcoming holiday season and the issue of sensory processing disorders in children, as well as the most common food allergies, their symptoms and treatment, and how to prepare for eating out and dining in.

Buzz | Resources of the TA&D Network

Within the Parent Center network, we all work hard to develop resources and share our expertise with families, youth with disabilities, and professionals. The same is true of the Technical Assistance and Dissemination (TA&D) network, which is also funded by OSEP. While centers within the TA&D tend to focus their services on building capacity at the state level or within a specific topic area, the resources they offer to families can be very useful. We’ve highlighted several in this Buzz, as well as the centers that produced them.

Buzz | Back in the School Saddle

As the school year really gets going, it’s a good time to revisit several resources that will prove useful: talking about state assessments with parents, OSEP’s numerous reopening resources, and webinars about developing IEPs or providing compensatory services to children with disabilities. We’re also pleased to share with you two mental health resources relevant to schools and families.

Buzz | At School and At Home

Schools and parents working together on behalf of children can make a remarkable difference in the quality of education itself and our children’s overall well-being and sense of belonging. To that end, this Buzz shares resources that both teachers and parents can use to enrich school time and home time.

Buzz | As We Head Back to School

As we launch into a new school year, the physical and emotional well-being of our children is a top priority. Given all the changes that have occurred in the last 2 years, parents and schools alike recognize instinctively that addressing this priority is likely to be a year-long challenge. That said, this issue of the Buzz focuses on tools and knowledge you can use to chart a steady, compassionate, and informed course.

Buzz | Has the School Bus Arrived Yet?

It’s hard to believe that we’re now well into August! Yet here we are, many of us bracing for back-to-school issues and adventures, while for many others, that bus had already arrived. So this issue of the Buzz brings resources Parent Centers can share with families to help them get a new school year off to a good start. We also share tools for Parent Centers, to support the amazing, tranformative work you do every day.

Buzz | Summertime Learning and Play

For children and adults both, summertime holds out the promise of free time, fewer deadlines, and opportunities to stretch mind, body, and soul. This Buzz connects you with possibilities for those rare moments when you have a moment to spare for personal learning, physical fun, or just “visiting with yourself.”

Buzz | Supplies for Your July

This Buzz shares 2 new resources in Spanish from the CPIR, multiple resources on long COVID, and several recent products from federal agencies.

Buzz | Amazing Parent Centers!

This Buzz is a rare treat for Parent Centers nationwide. The results of the Parent Center data collection for 2020-2021 are in, and they reveal the true depth and volume of what you collectively accomplished and how many lives you touched in a year of nonstop action. CPIR is also pleased to highlight several resources that Parent Centers and other organizations will find useful when helping families and children, especially those with disabilities.

Buzz | Great Resources in CenterConnect

This Buzz is divided into 2 sections: (1) honoring the upcoming holiday of Juneteenth, a celebration of resilience and freedom since 1865; and (2) taking a whirlwind ride through CentersConnect, CPIR’s community square where Parent Centers gather with news, resources, questions, and content.

Buzz | “Bread and Butter” Topics of Parent Centers (& Parents)

What concerns and questions do newcomer families often tend to have when they learn that their child has a disability? These, shall we say, are the bread-and-butter of topics that Parent Centers so often address. This Buzz connects you with easy-to-share introductions to and explanations of what many newcomer families need to know. New Parent Center staffers may also find these materials a useful crash course in basic topics related to children with disabilities.

Buzz | Potpourri of News and Resources

There’s quite a mix of news to share in this issue of the Buzz: news and resources from the Feds; resources focused on supporting the physical and behavioral health of American Indians and Alaska Natives; and articles on helping children with disabilities coping with change. They are all yours for the coming, reading, and sharing.

Buzz | New PDFs for You

This issue of the Buzz announces a wave of new PDFs that CPIR has created for many of our most popular resources for parents. We know that Parent Centers frequently share resources with their families about bread-and-butter topics such evaluating children for disabilities, parental rights, IEPs, the steps involved in the special education process, and so on. Having accessible PDFs (yes, accessible!) that are easy to email, print, copy, and use as handouts makes it that much easier to share key information directly with parents.

Buzz | Understanding the Diverse Communities We Serve

This issue of the Buzz expands upon a theme we explored in February’s Buzz: working within diverse communities. Understanding the basics of a family’s or community’s culture or language is essential when providing them with information and training about disability-related issues and sensitive topics. We hope you’ll find the resources we’ve listed helpful in that regard!

Buzz | Data Basics and Recent Webinars

This issue of the Buzz brings you news of 6 new resources and is divided into three sections: data basics for families; webinar wisdom; and healing, community, and the power of purpose. We’re pleased to say that 4 of the 6 resources are available in both English and Spanish.

Buzz | Working in Diverse Communities

This issue of the Buzz connects you with multiple resources we hope Parent Centers and other organizations will find helpful in supporting outreach to and service provision within 3 specific communities: Black communities, Latino communities, and Native American communities.

Buzz | Webinar Riches and More

This first issue of the Feburary 2022 Buzz connects you with the recent flurry of webinars that CPIR and others have held, each of which enriches the field with much-needed tools to inform and support families of children with disabilities, the children and youth themselves, and the multiple systems concerned with improving their outcomes educationally and in life.

Buzz | A Deluge of News

We have lots of news to share with you in this Buzz, including Spanish versions of OSEP’s series of Return to School Roadmaps; how states are using funding from the American Rescue Plan to address COVID-19’s impact on schools, staff, and students; and transition-related info you can share with schools and the families you serve.

Buzz | On Evaluating Children for Disability

This first Buzz of 2022 shares multiple family-friendly resources about the evaluation process under IDEA. Use the resources as refreshers of what families already know and have experienced in the past, and share these nuts-and-bolts pieces with those new to the process.

Buzz | Revisiting the IEP

This Buzz brings you relevant resources that can help parents and other IEP team members revisit their student’s IEP and the core of what they know about that student’s social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs.

Buzz November Special: Double Trouble

No, this Buzz is not about twins. Rather, it’s a special double issue–2 Buzzes in 1. There’s so much news buzzing around this month and so much to do as the holiday season presses nearer, we thought you might appreciate one longer Buzz instead of 2 shorter ones, as well as many new connections to materials in Spanish.

Buzz | ABC: Advocacy, Behavior, Part C

This Buzz has the simplest of themes but a diversity of resources to support you in your work with schools, educators, and families of children with disabilities. We are especially pleased to share with you the latest webinar featuring OSEP’s guidance on development and implementation of IEPs as schools reopen to in-person learning.

Buzz | Disability Info to Share with Families

This Buzz focuses on info that front-line Parent Center staff and others can use when working with the families and professionals seeking information about autism, health conditions, or mental health issues. The connections you make with others and the support you give every day vibrate at the very heart of your Parent Center. May these few resources further support the great work that you do.

Buzz | Hot Stuff as We Head into Fall

Here we are, closing out one fiscal year and throwing ourselves into a new one. We have many new resources to share with you, including the latest roadmap for returning to school from the Feds.

Buzz | Ever Onward

Summer is merging into fall, and a new academic school year begins. With regret and excitement both, we climb aboard for the next part of this ride, take a deep breath, and look around us and ahead. Lots to do, and that’s nothing new. Stand tall, here we go. And may these resources (for families and communities; from the Feds) be of help and support along the way.

Buzz | Embracing Chaos

There’s so much going on! Information, news, and resources are flying off the shelves and buzzing around our heads. It’s a challenge to focus, grab the ones you can use, and then find the time to actually use them. This Buzz alerts you to 7 resources you may find helpful in “embracing the chaos.” And may they support your work with families and schools.

Buzz | Helping Our Mental Health

Keeping our wits about us is no laughing matter these days. Our own mental health and that of our children, students, and colleagues are priorities all too easily overlooked as we rush around with endless to-do lists. We’ve focused the resources in this Buzz on strategies for embedding mental health awareness and care at home, at school, and in the workplace.

Buzz | Using What We’ve Learned to Rebuild

This Buzz focuses primarily on recent FAQs and government funding sources available to guide how we return to school, reopen early childhood programs, provide child care, and undertake other child-benefiting endeavors.

Buzz | Happy 4th to You! Two New Resources, Too

This Buzz is short and sweet and to the point, so you can hurry onward to the 4th of July celebrations and gatherings. May you have fun, unwind, stay safe, and enjoy the weekend and festivities ahead.

Buzz | New Resources All Around

This Buzz shares several resources that speak to the challenges and opportunities ahead as we lay plans and adapt systems for our schools re-opening in the fall. Of course, not all education will take in-person, but a lot will, and hybrid models that allow for virtual and in-person instruction of students are also likely. Still, it’s a great opportunity to rebuild and retool with equity strongly in mind.

Buzz | Appetizers of What’s Ahead

Summer’s not the only thing about to happen. What does CPIR have bubbling on the stove right now for Parent Centers, the families you serve, and the school systems with which you work to improve outcomes for children and youth with disabilities?

Buzz | The Amazing Parent Center Network

This Buzz is the rarest of treats for us all: where we can clearly see the fruits of a year’s worth of labor. The results of the Parent Center data collection for 2019-2020 are in, and they reveal the true depth and volume of what Parent Centers accomplished in a year none of us will soon forget.

Buzz | Moving Ahead as a Community

This Buzz focuses on how we move forward with reopening our lives and schools. Developing sound reopening plans clearly needs to be grounded in and informed by the needs and voices of the community itself, with keen attention to those hardest hit by the pandemic. To that end, we share with you on-point resources about community involvement, strategies for engaging the full diversity of community members in planning efforts, and the role that data can play in informing those plans and how recovery funds are used.

Buzz | Spotlight on Young Children

This Buzz focuses on young children with disabilities and new resources that parents and professionals may find helpful in caring for the little ones.

Buzz | What’s New and What’s Updated

This Buzz brings you a quick list of updated and recently added resources at CPIR, including a guide to CPIR’s resource collections and suites (find key topics for families and staff fast!).

Buzz | Disability Resources Plus

The resources featured in this issue of the Buzz bring you some very welcome news from the CDC and multiple articles about specific disabilities, most written from a personal point of view.

Buzz | Connecting with Youth with Disabilities

The resources featured in this issue of the Buzz will hopefully enrich your Center’s work and collaboration with the young people with disabilities in your region. Youth have a lot to say and share that will benefit them directly and equip them to actively participate in decision making about their own lives and futures as well as the issues shaping their surrounding communities.

Buzz | Resource Treats for Valentine Sweets

We wish we could have sent you a Valentine basket full of chocolate, red hot hearts, and a mystery card from a secret admirer, but such things do not email well. Please accept the many resources listed below as substitutes that won’t make you gain weight, break out like a teenager, or undermine New Year’s resolutions. What the resources will do, we hope, is help you respond to the challenging issues that communities and families face.

Buzz | When Mental Health Frays

The toll that stress is taking on our collective and personal mental health cannot be denied. Who among us can say that their nerves aren’t getting right down threadbare at times? That’s why we’ve focused this Buzz on identifying resources responsive to an array of mental health situations and needs. May these tools help support our own emotional and mental well-being–and that of our children and youth, families and friends, and the many community members we encounter.

Buzz | The New Year Takes Off!

Well, 2021 is off and running, that’s for sure. CPIR has concrete plans and new tools in the wings to offer you, and that makes us bristle with energy and excitement. 2021 is going to be one active year! But we also recognize that the country still has a lot of cleaning up and catching up to do, lessons to keep learning, and difficult divides to span. The resources listed in this Buzz speak to several of the most challenging issues before us.

Buzz | Please DO Come in, 2021!

This last Buzz of 2020 focuses on the best of what we brought in 2020 to the Parent Center network. We hope you will take the time to reflect on the incredible things your Center achieved as well. What grit, ingenuity, and genuine caring can bring into flower!

Buzz | Addressing School and Holiday Challenges

Right now, as 2020 draws to a close, most of us are still buckled down over COVID and yet we’re gearing up for a marathon of continued schooling, holiday prep and planning, and anticipation of 2021, hopefully with vaccinations against COVID as the new year progresses. Here are several resources that you might find useful to you and yours in the days ahead, as well as helpful to the families you serve and the greater community in which you live.

Buzz | IDEA Turns 45

This issue of the Buzz celebrates the 45th anniversary of the passage of the nation’s special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, as it is now known). Additionally, join us in biding farewell and fair journeys to Debra Jennings, who has served as CPIR’s Project Director since the project’s very beginning. Debra hands off this challenging role to highly capable and well-versed Carolyn Hayer, who will lead the project forward. We are also pleased to announce the 2020 revision of training modules on Disproportionality in Special Education that Parent Centers and others can use to inform stakeholders and community members about this important issue and decades-long concern.

Buzz | Bridging the Distance

We are journeying through this pandemic together–at a distance. How very odd it all seems, when we want to be close, enjoy the holidays together, visit friends, and hug (and be hugged) tight. So we’ve focused this Buzz on ways to cope with as well as bridge the distance without jeopardizing individual or collective well-being.

Buzz | Home-School Collaborations During COVID

We hope you enjoyed lots of treats and scary, imaginative decorations of late, and now we’re back to the tricky new normal, with its challenges and complexities. This Buzz connects you with resources for supporting parents during COVID and for cultivating strong home-school collaborations.

Buzz | Buzzing into Autumn

We hope you can squeeze in time to check out the many new resources and tools appearing on the autumn scene, because they are timely and highly relevant to the work we do and the people we care about.

Buzz | Three for All: 3 Resources for 3 Groups

This issue of the Buzz bulges a bit more than normal. It’s organized into 3’s: 3 new resources relevant to each of CPIR’s 3 most important audiences: Parent Centers, children and youth with disabilities, and their families and educators.

Buzz | When Gigantic Issues Collide

Doesn’t it feel like too many huge issues are simultaneously colliding? It’s August, it’s back to school time, yet the pandemic rages on and schools may not be where our children actually, physically go. So… remote learning? Students will go back to school online, from their homes? What about the families who don’t have reliable Internet access, or any Internet access? This Buzz provides you with new resources across each of these issues as they collide and entangle: COVID-19, back-to-school worries, and how we address racial inequity in our communities and nation. Challenging times, these.

Buzz | Tools for Our Next Steps

School reopenings are top of mind for all of us. When? How? For whom? As Parent Centers we are being asked to help parents make decisions about various reopening models and how they will or will not work for children. We wish that we had clear answers or a simple solution we could put in your hands. We don’t. But we can point you to several resources that can help. That’s the main focus of this issue of the Buzz.

Buzz | Serving Native American Families

CPIR cares deeply about the welfare of the indigenous peoples who were here long before anyone else. It’s an honor to support Parent Centers as they reach out to one of the nation’s most underserved communities. This Buzz brings you exciting news that the 3rd learning tier of the Native American Resource Collection is now up on the Hub! We spotlight 3 resources in Tier 3 you will find especially useful when working with Native youth with disabilities.

Buzz | Flip Flops and School Buses

This Buzz mixes pleasure and planning. It’s summertime, after all, and we’re snapping around on flip flops, eating corn on the cob, and firing up our BBQ grills. Fall seems a long way off. It’s hard to summon energy or interest enough to plan ahead. But who says we can’t play now, enjoy summer’s treats, and also plan ahead to the reopening of schools?

Buzz | Talking about Race

This Buzz has been very painful to write, and we expect that it will touch a lot of already raw nerves. Still, we must take the time and have the courage to talk honestly about race, especially to our children, and to work individually and together against the inequities and injustices that African American men, women, and children confront every day. This Buzz will connect you with the new series we have humbly begun: Talking about Race. We also share with you less disturbing information about the goings-on in the Parent Center network, summer camp information, and other resources you may find useful.

Buzz | Off to Work and Out to Play

Summer’s nearly upon us, the need to school at home has ended for the moment, and children and adults alike want to play in the sun and have cookouts and get-togethers. Yet COVID-19 remains very much in the picture. How do we safely combine that reality with reopening venues and workplaces, beaches and camps, and choosing between all the opportunities and responsibilities that come into play as a result?

Buzz | Advancing Equity in Our Communities

The issue that drives the deepest wedge into the well-being of our communities is the glaring inequity that so many people and groups of people confront every day. As individuals and organizations, how can we address, let alone reset, the imbalances that exist and do so much lasting harm? The resources in this Buzz offer a window into those inequities and let you drill down from our profile as a nation, to state-level profiles, and even the particulars of a given town or zip code zone. Such data can greatly inform and fuel Parent Center planning, activities, and equity of services.

Buzz | Oh, the Places You Can Go Online

The resources we share in this Buzzfocus on our new normal–getting our work done virtually, whether that’s schooling our children, meeting with planning teams or committees, helping families, or exploring topics of personal or professional interest. It’s astounding how much fascinating and useful material is available online.

Buzz | Are We There Yet?

The resources we share in this Buzz focus on keeping our wits, mental health, humor, and stamina intact during these tough times with the coronavirus, and seeing to our children’s (and our own) emotional and physical well-being.

Buzz | Multilingual Resources on COVID-19

As the nation scrambles to contain the spread of the coronavirus and address the health care needs of people now and in the foreseeable future, we imagine that Parent Centers might find the resources listed in this Buzz quite relevant. We’ve made sure to include multilingual items you can share with the families you help, with schools in your area, and with your staff.

Buzz | Supported Decision Making

As young people with disabilities grow into adulthood, they also grow into many new decision-making responsibilities–money management, living arrangements, and health care. For many, taking charge of their own lives is downright challenging. This is where supported decision-making (SDM) has much to offer. It “allows individuals with disabilities to make choices about their own lives with support from a team of people they choose.” Learn more about SDM in this issue of the Buzz and how it can be used to give people with disabilities a “voice and a choice” in how they live their lives.

Buzz | Cultural Matters

This month’s launch of the Native American Resource Collection brings cultural matters into sharp focus. Because Parent Centers interact with an amazing diversity of people, it’s clear why being culturally aware and responsive are prized qualities in our network. May the resources spotlighted in this Buzz be useful to Center staff as they work with families and professionals from all walks of life.

Buzz | Our Labors in 2019 Bear Fruit in 2020

The New Year always seems like a good time to reflect on the work accomplished in the previous year. In this issue of the Buzz, we would also like to share with you how our work and enthusiasm of 2019 will result in some new exciting products for you in 2020.

Buzz from the Hub | Video Resources

This Buzz from the Hub connects you with videos across a range of disability subjects, beginning with several you can share with families. The remaining videos in our list may be best suited for individual learning, staff development, or program planning. Here’s hoping these give your Center useful, relevant information in a multimedia format!

Buzz from the Hub | Active Listening and People Skills

This Buzz from the Hub focuses on the importance of having and continuously strengthening the “people skills” that we as Parent Centers bring to our work with families and others. Skills such as active listening and questioning play a vital role in our ability to establish rapport and create a safe space where parents and others can share their questions and concerns.

Buzz from the Hub | Tackling Touchy Topics

We’ve divided this issue of the Buzz from the Hub into two parts: (1) resources on issues that many may find “touchy” or controversial; and (2) resources that aren’t controversial at all, just plain new, needed, and likely to be quite useful to Parent Centers, schools, and families.

Buzz from the Hub | Activating the Student Voice

The theme of this issue of the Buzz is on encouraging and enabling students with disabilities to speak up and participate in decision making that affects their education and their lives now and in the future. We are also pleased to spotlight 2 data resources that Parent Centers may find relevant to their work with families and their collaborations with others at the state, regional, and national levels.

Buzz from the Hub | What’s New and Newsworthy

As always, there’s so much news to share about what’s new, redesigned, improved, or otherwise noteworthy. This Buzz brings you but a sampling from each of those categories across such diverse key topics as transition to adulthood and postsecondary opportunities for youth with disabilities, state and local report cards, sexual behavior problems in children, student data, and parent-teacher conferences.

Buzz from the Hub | IEP Resources for Sharing and Training

The IEP is one of the crown jewels in the education of children with disabilities and the primary vehicle for each child’s individualized program. CPIR has a large number of IEP resources that your center can use in capacity building, meetings with families, and workshops for families and professionals, we’ve put together this Buzz to make it easy for you to find those resources. Most are available in English and Spanish.

Buzz from the Hub | Back to School We Go

It’s that time of year again for most of us–back to school. You’re probably up to your neck already in resources to use and share, so we focused this Buzz on materials and information that both families and Parent Centers can use right now and continue to use throughout the school year. Best of beginnings to you!

Buzz from the Hub | Looking After Our Own Well-Being

Consider this Buzz as a messenger enticing you to pursue whatever you find fun, relaxing, exciting, or restorative. It’s not selfish to carve out moments to take care of yourself. And there are so many creative ways to do so!

Buzz from the Hub | Everyone in the Pool!

Nice fantasy, isn’t it? All you hard workers lounging by the pool, in the pool, anywhere near a pool! While you’re there, we thought we’d revisit several key issues of our network and pass along updates and resources that you might find useful now or in the near future.

Buzz from the Hub | Summer Fun and Sun

Everyone’s heard about the “summer slide” that can erode student progress and key skills. This Buzz highlights resources families can use to help children and youth slide into fun this summer instead, while keeping them learning and engaged. Find suggestions and perspectives on how to keep our children up and running–and ourselves, too. Enjoy this summer!

Buzz from the Hub | Who’s at Risk?

This Buzz focuses on resources and recent data that Parent Centers, community organizations, and social service agencies may find useful in planning their outreach to and services for populations that are at risk: namely, young children, students of color, Native communities, and students with disabilities. What is being done–and what can we ourselves do–to support the most vulnerable children, youth, and adults?

Buzz from the Hub | Parent Centers in Action

This Buzz shares resources about Parent Centers and the tremendous work you do, resources for Parent Centers (did you miss the OSEP webinar on FERPA and IDEA Privacy Requirements?), and resources that Parent Centers can use with the families you serve.

Buzz from the Hub | At Home and in the Community

This Buzz shares tools that families can use in supporting their children’s well-being at home, at school, and in the community. You’ll also be pleased to know there’s a new learning module available on writing high-quality IEPs that meet the much higher standard set by the Supreme Court in the 2017 Endrew F. decision. Great for staff training!

Buzz from the Hub | Fostering Self-Determination Skills

This issue of the Buzz shares resources to help foster young people’s self-determination and self-advocacy skills. Self-determination skills are important to us all; they are a vital part of making choices, setting goals, and speaking up for ourselves. This is certainly true for our children with disabilities.

Buzz from the Hub | Considering Employment

This Buzz shares a variety of resources that youth, families, schools, and Parent Centers can use to explore the world of work with youth who have disabilities, both during high school and as they prepare to graduate. Knowing the resources that are out there can help ease the way and smooth out potential bumps in the road ahead. Starting early is highly recommended!

Buzz from the Hub | Here’s to High-Quality Resources

This Buzz shares recent resources that received a Highly Rated review from CPIR’s teams of Parent Center reviewers. We’re pleased to spotlight six such resources–3 from CPIR itself and 3 from other organizations.

Buzz from the Hub | Accommodations to Support Student Learning and Assessment

This Buzz spotlights resources of high priority to Parent Centers, families, schools, and students themselves: supporting student learning and performance by providing accommodations in the classroom and during state assessments; and promoting school safety by ensuring that school resource officers (SROs) in our schools are appropriately trained and clear about their roles and the limits of their authority.

Buzz from the Hub | New to Children with Disability?

This issue of the Buzz spotlights three resources you may find appropriate for sharing with parents, family members, and professionals who are new to the disability journey that begins when a child is born with or diagnosed at some point as having a disability. What to do? Who to call or turn to for guidance?