How Georgia Ranks in Providing Services for People with Disabilities

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) releases The Case for Inclusion each year, tracking the progress of community living standards for Americans living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). The report examines data and outcomes for all 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), ranking each on a set of key indicators, including how people with disabilities live and participate in their communities, if they are satisfied with their lives, and how easily the services and supports they need are accessed. By taking these factors into account, UCP is able to develop a comprehensive analysis of each state's progress or failures in providing critical services to individuals living with disabilities.

The findings for 2013 reveal that: 1) All states have room for some improvement, but some have consistently remained at the bottom of the rankings; 2) Despite economic strains, many states have made real improvements in the quality of services being provided; 3) There is still work to be done in ensuring that people with ID/DD can enjoy the same freedoms and quality of life as all Americans. 

I am pleased that Georgia is not in the bottom ten but we remain in the bottom 20!  In many areas, our progress is flat and services to get and keep people employed in the community are actually declining.  You can see the rankings and other data here:

http://www.ucp.org/the-case-for-inclusion/2013/state_scorecards.html

Is Teaching Spelling Important?

This is a very interesting article about whether or not we should be concerned about children learning to spell in school.  I myself have said several times that with our current technology it seems not to be as important as it used to be.  However, as the author of the article nicely illustrates, spell check is not that accurate AND a child with poor spelling will fall behind in other skills such as written expression which affects learning in all subjects.

http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/to-spell-or-not-to-spell-is-it-important/

Does Your Child Struggle With Reading?

Lately, I have heard from several parents that while their children struggle with reading they have been unable to get their school to provide accommodations since they "are doing grade level work".  However, when I talk further with these parents it becomes clear that their child is doing several extra hours of work at home with a great deal of frustration in order to keep up at school.  Their children do not like to read, and avoid it at all costs.  They often guess at parts of words, omit words, or substitute with similar sounding words.  They often scream with frustration when asked to complete seemingly simple tasks.

These children likely have dyslexia, and parents do NOT have to wait for their child to fall behind in school to receive services.  The earlier accommodations are provided, the more likely the child is to succeed.  Children with dyslexia need a systematic, multi-sensory, assessment-based reading program to successfully master reading.

Here are two links that provide parents the information they need to take to their school system to both explain dyslexia, and to advocate for appropriate accommodations. 

http://blog.reallygoodstuff.com/the-lowdown-on-dyslexia/

http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/putting-the-d-in-to-the-iep-why-advocating-for-a-child-with-dyslexia-is-so-difficult/