Summer 2004
Learning
Disabilities Association Of America (LDA)
Learning Disabilities Associationof
Oregon (LDA of OR)
NEWSLETTER
LDA National now has a brand new computer set up and LDA of OR has
a link to it. There is more information now available to you than ever before.
You can access it by going to their site. ldaamerica.org. A special hint,
if you become a member there is a member section just for you with lots more
information. You can be kept up to date with what is happening in Washington
D.C. Speaking of Washington D.C. LDA now has a second office right near the
Capitol. This helps us become more involved at the grassroots level and gives
our legislaturors accessibility to us as well.
LDA of Oregon
PO Box 1221
Portland, OR 97207
IDEA REAUTHORIZATION
H.R. 1350 was passed by the House and went to the US Senate. In
the Senate it was changed to include the language of S 1248. Since the language
in HR 1350 differs in the house and senate versions, the US Senate and US House
need to have a Conference Committee where a few Senators and a few House
members will attempt to decide on the final language. The Senate defeated the
major amendment to the house bill, which would have made funding of IDEA
mandatory. Instead it adopted a meaningless Gregg amendment which
“authorizes” (but does NOT require) specific amounts of money for
IDEA. Paperwork Reduction: waive IDEA and State Laws and would allow 15 states
to seek waivers of IDEA and IDEA regulation and State laws and regulations. The
US Secretary of Education would be able to give waivers to 15 states who apply
with a list of any IDEA statutory requirements of, or regulatory requirements
relating to, this part that the state desires the Secretary to waive or change,
in whole or in part, to carry out a waiver. Also, a list of any State
requirements that the State proposes to waive or change to carry out a waiver
granted to the State by the Secretary. The only parts of IDEA that could NOT be
waived are its “civil rights requirements” and Notice and Due
Process in Section 615. Nothing is intended to “affect the right of a
child with a disability to receive a free appropriate public education under
this part.”
Although Senator Ted Kennedy actively supported this amendment,
he also stated, “If States interpret these waivers as a license to set
aside these important pieces of a disabled child’s education, we have
completely undermined the focus on academic and functional achievement in this
bill.” The “paperwork reduction” language in the House
version of HR 1350 would allow almost all paperwork to be waived, even the IEP.
The Senate language may allow it.
For Your Information: Did you know that 35% of
students identified with learning disabilities drop out of high school! This is according to the National
Center for Learning Disabilities. Yet, Federal and State laws such as
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, also known as IDEA ’97
ensures that children and youth with disabilities not only have access to a
free appropriate public education, but also provides measures that strive to
improve results of that education for all children with disabilities. We need
to band together to change the statistics. Are we providing what our youth need
in order to want to finish their education?
We have applied for a grant to make it possible to get fliers
and information to our pediatricians to give to new mothers. This is to alert
them to the toxins that we have around us and really effect your children. They
need to know of the mercury and lead and many other toxins that are effecting
the health of our children. We plan on putting this information on our wed site
so everyone can be better informed. In our laboratories we have produced over
800 new chemicals from our test tubes and only 2% have been researched as to
what each ones does to our environment. There’s much work yet to do for
years to come to make us more aware of ways to protect our growing
children.
Some terms applied to LD:
Executive Functioning skills – These relate to time
management and organizational skills. They are important for success in school
and will carry over into the workplace in later years. They are also important
in achieving successful interpersonal relationships as well.
Behavior Management – Children with Learning Disabilities and language
difficulties and with sensory motor deficits often exhibit inappropriate
behavior in the classroom: immaturity, difficulty sharing, low frustration
tolerance, often poor social skills, poor impulse control, difficulty with
competition for they often feel they are losers. Proper behavior has to be
shown to them and taught.
Language Development For Reading and Writing – We now know that children
need to be taught phonological awareness, semantics, syntax, analytical
thinking, synthesizing new information, cause and effect relationships in
reading, sequencing ideas, predicting outcomes and abstract thinking. All of
these areas must be developed in the student both to read and to write, which
have similarities and yet they are separate.
Are You Having a Hard
Time Getting Your Student to do School Work? Parents at home or
teachers here are a few tips.
LEVELS OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
Highest Level – Democracy
Develops self-discipline
Demonstrates initiative
Displays responsibility
Democracy and responsibility re inseparable
Internal
motivation
Cooperation/Conformity
Considerate
Complies
Conforms to peer pressure
External motivation
Bossing/Bullying
Bothers and bullies others
Breaks laws and standards
Must be bossed to behave
Lowest Level: Anarchy
Absence of order
Aimless and chaotic
Lowest Level: Anarchy
Absence of order
Aimless and chaotic
Think of students as lacking
skills – rather than as
noncompliant. Teach them,
Show them, Talk to them,
Explain so they know.
Now it is easier to reach us. We now have a phone, a
receptionist and a place to come and get materials and information. Call us.
Our new phone number (503)
626-4622