special needs

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The 10th Year Anniversary Gala, to be held on March 25, 2010, will benefit The Victory Center for Autism and Behavioral Challenges, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that works to provide education and services to individuals and families with Autism and similar disorders in a secure and stimulating learning environment.

Miami, FL, March 04, 2010 –(PR.com)– The 10th Year Anniversary Gala is to be held on Thursday, March 25, 2010, at Christine Lee’s Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Proceeds from the Annual Gala will be donated to The Victory Center for Autism and Behavioral Challenges. The mission of The Victory Center, a Florida non-sectarian, non–for-profit Corporation, is to provide children with Autism and similar disorders comprehensive individualized therapy. The students receive one-to-one/ two-to-one student- teacher ratio therapy within a classroom setting based on the principals pioneered by B.F. Skinner and his Applied Behavior Analysis.

Thalya Olmos, Executive Director, states, “Early one-to one and/or two-to-one Applied Behavioral Analysis intervention is the key to the future for our students who face serious challenges in their younger years of life. Is it this very intervention that is provided by The Victory Center which sets a stepping stone for our children to succeed in the future as members in our society. This is why our programs and services are so unique within our community.”

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New Name for Pioneer Group Reflects Broader Constituency and Services

NEW YORK, Mar 03, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — MetLife, the nation’s largest life insurer, announced today that its nationwide group of highly trained Special Needs Planners serving families and individuals will operate under a new name, the MetLife Center for Special Needs Planning(SM). MetLife has been a pioneer in serving families with special needs through the former MetLife Division of Estate Planning for Special Kids, or MetDESK (R), one of the first dedicated groups of its kind in the financial services industry.

“Awareness of the true scope of the special needs community has expanded dramatically in the past dozen years, and our services and expertise have evolved as well,” noted Lori Epstein, vice president, MetLife. “Families caring for dependents with special needs want guidance to help meet planning challenges. While caregivers are aging, dependents are living longer. We want to be there throughout life’s journey for special needs individuals, helping them to have a more secure financial future and giving the entire family a level of comfort,” Epstein said.

“MetLife has a central role in the special needs community as a financial services provider and trusted source of guidance,” noted Kelly Piacenti, director, MetLife. “We have heard the concerns from the families our Special Needs Planners work with, as well as from our non-profit partners. We want to be able to provide the most comprehensive service to all the families we touch.” In addition to meeting stringent training requirements, many Special Needs Planners are either parents of children with special needs or have close relatives with special needs, Piacenti observed.

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Part 1

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Donation in place for Placer and Del Oro high school programs

David Davison draws a heart for his mother on the “desktop desk” donated by the Auburn Host Lions Club. Davison, who has Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, had spent a year not having the dexterity and arm strength to write or draw on standard tables and surfaces.

The Auburn Host Lions Club and the 49er Lions Club have made schoolwork a little easier for students in the Functional Skills and Independent Living Skills programs at Placer and Del Oro high schools.

The “desktop desk,” a portable work surface for students with visual, orthopedic and Autistic Spectrum diagnosis, was given to the High School Special Education programs to assist students with needs that are not easily met with standard desks.

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Clinton Inn Hotel

All the glassware in the Alpine Suite at the Clinton Inn Hotel in Tenafly is unbreakable — the wine glasses, the water tumblers, even the glass in the cabinet doors.

The furniture has rounded corners with soft bumpers. A round table has replaced a square one. Flower vases and other décor have been glued down. The iron is stored behind a safety lock, and the windows are locked. The television is fixed securely to the wall, instead of sitting on a credenza, as in other guest rooms.

Everything in the suite has been designed to give peace of mind to guests who have children with autism.

Even the inside lock on the door of the suite is mounted high, out of reach of small grasping hands. Most important of all, the door has an alarm that sounds — beep, beep, beep — if a child attempts a hasty exit.

“Autistic kids tend to wander,” said Tony Morreale, the manager. “Parents need to know when they’re wandering.”

Clinton Inn manager Tony Morreale knows firsthand the challenges of parenting an autistic child.

Morreale believes he is the first hotelier to accommodate these children and their parents with their own rooms and a specially trained staff.

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SAN MATEO — A small private school serving students with learning disabilities aims to rebuild its campus to accommodate more special-needs children.

Stanbridge Academy — which currently has 101 students in kindergarten to 12th grade — plans to tear down two small buildings to make room for additional classrooms, said Marilyn Lynch, the head of school.

“We love where we are,” she said. “However, we’re getting to the point that we need more space.”

The buildings to be demolished mostly house offices and are not being used to their maximum potential, she said.

The project would create about 12,500 square feet of classrooms, 6,000 square feet of multipurpose space and a 17-stall parking garage, according to a San Mateo staff summary report. The renovation would bring 59 additional students and eight new teachers to the campus at 515 E. Poplar Ave.

“A lot of students with special needs want to go to this school because of our teachers trained (in personalized, diverse instruction) and we have small class sizes,” Lynch said. “We could be here for more students who need this type of education.”

However, the project has raised some traffic concerns from Christine Morgan, who owns a townhouse in the 400 block of North Claremont Street across from one side of the school.

She is worried that the project could increase traffic on the street, she said in an e-mail to the city.

“I am happy for anything

Stanbridge wants to do if it will improve the neighborhood,” she wrote. “My main and very real concern is the impact of traffic, both from a risk perspective and from the impact that added traffic would have on the property values on that block of North Claremont.”

Stanbridge is willing to take advice from the city to address neighborhood issues, Lynch said. However, she doesn’t think a renovated school will generate much additional traffic.

“A lot of our students use the train and carpool,” she said, “and we don’t have extended care.”

The school features a circular driveway for student pickup and drop-off that helps with traffic flow, she added.

Lynch did not have a project cost but said the school would need to launch a capital fundraising campaign.

Ideally, the rebuilt campus would open in the next couple of years, she said.

Moving difficult for those with special-needs children

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST Air Force Lt. Col. Elizabeth Schuchs-Gopaul is arguing for coverage for her son, Evan Gopaul, 2, who needs occupational therapy. The Marines and the Army are leading an initiative to address the extra challenges faced by special-needs military families.

WASHINGTON – When her husband, a Marine Corps colonel, was transferred last summer from the Pentagon to a base in Southern California, Karen Driscoll was forced to confront her autistic child’s new school district and the intricacies of federal special-education law.

Unified School District near San Diego offered Driscoll’s 11-year-old, Paul, the support of an aide for 10 hours a week – fewer than half the 21 hours that suburban Fairfax County, Va., had provided and said he deserved under federal law.

“They slashed his services in half and said, ‘We believe this is comparable,’” Driscoll said.

Until recently, Driscoll would have had to fight the school district alone. But under a new Marine Corps initiative, she had reinforcements: a case worker and a special-education attorney, provided by the military.

That initiative is part of a larger military effort, led by the Marines and the Army, to address the medical, educational and emotional challenges faced by special-needs families.

“The Marine Corps is really standing behind our military families and saying, ‘We will take care of you and help you through this process,’” Driscoll said. With the U.S. military in the room, she said, the Poway school district seemed more willing to negotiate. Without setting foot in a courtroom, Paul was assigned a full-time aide.

The Defense Department says about 220,000 active-duty and reserve service members have dependents with special needs, but only 90,000 are enrolled in the military’s main program to serve them. For the past two decades, the program has ensured that families are transferred only to bases that have doctors available to address their needs. That has prompted concern among service members that it will interfere with promotions and has caused the program to be underutilized.

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Newton’s Jennifer (Thompson) Springer has worked for the past four years as a special education teacher at Delaware Elementary School in the Southeast Polk School District. During her time as a teacher, Springer said she’s seen her students suffer from teasing, bullying and other cruel actions by fellow students.

“One of the more unfortunate things I have seen in my experience as a special education teacher are instances where my students are made fun of and rejected by peers,” she said. “I feel that the issue for most kids is not that they are just cruel children, but that they are not educated and do not understand why children with special needs do the things they do.”

After witnessing the hardships of the children she works with, she knew something needed to be done so she decided to write a book in hopes of sending a message for children.

Springer, who had never written a book before, developed a character named Jade who is featured in her new children’s book “My Friend Jade.” Jade is a 9 year old girl with special needs that is often misunderstood.

“I wanted her to display some of the most common social pitfalls I see in students with special needs and give children a sense as to why a child with special needs does some of the things they do and also point out how most other kids really do these things as well,” Springer said. “I also wanted to show kids the qualities that people with special needs have that first drew me in: compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love.

Springer developed the character of Jade and wrote the storyline and asked her grandmother Nancy Annee to do illustrations for the book.

“It was wonderful to work with her,” said Annee, who lives in Newton. “It kind of brought us closer together.”

Working as a team, Springer and Annee brought the character of Jade alive on the pages of the 21-page children’s book. The book was published by the Web-based Xlibris and Springer has sold several copies of the book.

The Newton woman said she’s hoping her children’s book teaches important message to all children.

“I want kids to realize that the rewards that come with having a friend with special needs far outweigh any of the differences they first see,” she said.

Springer and her grandmother will be having two books signings in Newton. The first is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 7 at Uncle Nancy’s Coffee House & Eatery, 114 N. Second Ave. W. in Newton.

The second will take place at the Newton Public Library at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 16. Books will be available for purchase at both book signings.

“It was important for me to write this book because I feel like the most important aspect of my job is to be an advocate for my students,” Springer said. “They mean the world to me and I want others to be able to see their wonderful qualities the way I do. I feel like this book is a step in that direction.”

Jessica Lowe can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 426 or via e-mail at jlowe@newtondailynews.com.