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Do you have a rolodex? A palm pilot? Think that is a stupid question? How many Indians do you know with Blackberrys or a Palm Treo? In Hollywood, they used to say that you could tell a person's power by the size of his rolodex. The advice to small businesses is to find a venture capitalist with grey in his hair and gold in his Palm, and they don't mean his hand. |
What is this all about? Does it mean we should all go out and buy $300 palm top computers? Not at all. It means that the more personal connections you have, the more power you have to make things happen. It does not matter if you keep your information in a notebook you bought at Wal-Mart for 39 cents or a three-ring binder. In all seriousness, we recommend a planner like children have in middle school, with pockets and loose leaf notebook paper.
The important thing for parents is to build a network of people. Keep a listing of these names in a file with other necessary paperwork on your child’s disability. If you meet someone from the Client Assistance Program, take their card home and staple it to a page in your notebook or copy the information. If you meet a person in the IEP meeting, either a special education teacher, school psychologist or even your child's teacher for that year who you think really understands your child's needs, ask for their business card or that they write down their contact information. It will take 30 seconds or less. Over the years. you will collect a lot of contacts who can be resources for you.
Identify resources early in the child’s life, including school and community options. Write down contact information for any resources, even if these are for supported employment and your child is four years old. Your resource list needs to be established early and continually reviewed and updated.
It would also benefit yourself and your child to get involved in community support programs or active in community coalition or boards. Not only can these support groups and coalitions have more effect on the school or community than one person acting alone, but you will also gain valuable information about your rights, your child's disability, available services and, need we say it, more contacts. You will also gain more knowledge on how to better assist your child in living life more independently and productively.
With a referral process and community support system in place, the individual with a disability will have better chance to live independent and productively.
Student Involvement in the IEP