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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.