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