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Articles include: SPIN is co-sponsored by the Disability & Communication Access Board and the Special Education Section of the Department of Education. Services include a phone line for information referral and support, a quarterly newsletter, an annual conference and community workshops. Guiding SPIN is our Advisory Committee: Ruth Akiona, Maggie Baxter, Mike Fahey, Amy Hogan, Laura Kealaiki, Steve Laracuente, Thalia Lehano, Donna McLanahan, Scott O'Brien, Christina Pilkington, Millie Rogers, Gurbachan Singh, Richele Thornburg & Lori Tokuhama. SPIN PHONE FAX E-MAIL WEB
UNCERTAINTY OVER FELIX FUNDING The rising costs of satisfying the requirements of the Felix Consent Decree are under close scrutiny by the Hawaii Legislature. In 1994, the year that the Consent Decree went into effect, the Department of Education and the Department of Health were spending a combined total of $97 million on roughly 13,000 special education and 504 students. The number of students swelled to over 23,000 this year with a price tag of almost $250 million. That amount is projected to grow to $363 million by next school year. The Legislature had conducted two audits of the system in the last two years to get a handle on what it sees as runaway spending. The most recent audit, presented to the Legislature last month, recommended that DOE and DOH adopt a "best practice" approach to meeting the needs of students. That means funding programs and practices that have been proven to be effective. The audit also pointed out the need for outside evaluation. Both DOE and DOH agree with these recommendations. The Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division spent the last year researching effective practices and held a conference in December that featured national experts in the field. Two other recommendations by
the auditors-limiting the definition of the Felix class and issuing
vouchers to families for services-were considered illegal and
impractical respectively. Both DOE and DOH have repeatedly stressed
to legislators the need to fully fund required services and personnel.
Dr. LeMahieu said that the State "needs to finally provide
the supports to make it possible for schools to finish the job"
and create a system of care that is both accountable and effective. KNOWLEDGE
IS POWER Being parents of a child with special needs is not an easy task, and living on the neighbor islands makes it even harder. Our son, Chase, was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome. Angelman Syndrome is a partial deletion of the maternal 15th chromosome. It causes developmental delays, and is related to Autism. The up side of Angelman's is that they have a happy demeanor. My wife and I knew we needed to get help, and learn more about how we could help our son live a fulfilling life. We talked to many people, but were getting nowhere. One person told us to look up every agency in the phonebook and ask what type of services they could provide for Chase. There was not many open doors, and the people who knew of these open doors were not willing to share because it would mean fewer services for their child. It was because of our frustrating experience as new parents coming "in to the system" we decided to find ways to educate ourselves. The SPIN newsletter was our first step in opening doors for us. In the newsletter was a article about the annual Conference. I called to find out more information, and I was stunned to find out that they would provide airfare for us to attend. Unfortunately, my wife was expecting our second child during the same month, and was unable to attend. However, she did encourage me to attend. I was impressed with the Conference and all that it had to offer me. I also met another family with a child who has Angelman Syndrome, and we have become friends. The Conference has opened many doors for us. My wife and I attended the Conference together the following year. Since then, we have gotten involved with Partners in Policymaking, AmeriCorps, the Learning Disabilities Association of Hawaii,the Children's Community Council, and the State Improvement Grant (SIG). We have met a lot of people willing to help, and many have become good friends. Our mission now is to provide other families with information that we know of, and help them to open doors for their child and family. We encourage everyone to get involved with SPIN, and attend the annual conference. It was the best thing that happened for us, and we recommend everyone with special needs, work with special needs people, or have a family member with special needs to get involved. The road is much easier and smoother when you have the tools and knowledge. Knowledge is power! Hope to see you all at the upcoming SPIN Conference , 2001: A SPIN Odessey, on April 21, 2001. Don't miss it or it may be a missed opportunity! Editor's Note: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) now requires Hawaii and other states to include practically all students with disabilities in general statewide and district-wide assessments given to students in specific grades. IDEA wants to be sure that students with disabilities are making progress toward the academic content standards set for ALL students. The only students IDEA has exempted from the general assessment program are students with disabilities serving time in adult prisons. Students receiving special
education are expected to participate in one of three ways: In April the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards (HCPS II) State Assessment for grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 will be conducted in all public schools. HCPS II combines a standards based assessment with the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT9) and emphasizes reading and math skills. The IEP team determines how
(not whether) an individual student in those grades will participate
in HCPS II. If testing accommodations or an alternate assessment
is determined to be appropriate, that decision will be reflected
in the IEP. The IEP team also uses the information gained from
these statewide assessments to fine tune a student's IEP goals
and objectives. POSSIBLE TESTING Timing Accommodations PO'OHALA FAMILY SUPPORT COUNCIL OFFERS MINI-GRANTS We are a group of individuals with disabilities, family and community members who recently received a federal grant through the State Council on Developmental Disabilities and other partnering agencies. Our community-based Council will be awarding a minimum of six mini-grants to groups of two or more families who have organized to identify an innovative approach of providing services for their son and/or daughter with developmental disabilities. These innovative approaches should demonstrate a collaborative effort of families to support individuals with disabilities and their families. We are asking families to begin
to brainstorm, get together with other families in your community,
and gather your ideas. We are in the process of developing the
guidelines, which should be available April 2001. For more information
or if you'd like to arrange for a speaker to meet with your family
group, call Noe Dela Vega, Project Coordinator at 586-8100 or
e-mail at poohalaproject@netscape.net. The Therapeutic Recreation Unit of the Department of Parks and Recreation will be holding the 6th Annual Family Camp March 23-25 at Kualoa Regional Park. The purpose of the camp is to provide an opportunity for individuals and their families and friends to have an enjoyable camping experience. Costs of the camp are only $20 for 13 years to adults, $12 for 8-12 years, and $10 for 3-7 years (2 & under are free). Deadline for registration is February 16! For more information and a registration form contact Joan Yamanaka, 522-7034 or Colleen Casey, 522-7096. KEIKI CARE is a project of the Hawai'i Early Intervention Section for children age 3-5 years who have special needs (particularly those with emotional or behavioral problems). Its primary goal is to promote quality child care and inclusive preschool programs through training, consultation, and information. If families of preschoolers
are having a difficult time finding a community preschool program
that can accommodate their child's special needs, KEIKI CARE
may be able to help. For more information call Donald Piburn
at 973-1114. Ke Ala Holomna, a project of
Winners at Work, has a number of FREE workshops available for
parents and youth. The workshops provide information and training
that will assist persons with disabilities to meet their vocational
and independent living goals. Making Choices is a popular workshop
about learning how to make informed choices in our lives and
finding out more about community resources that are available
to assist us. Other workshops available are: Workshops are offered free statewide. For more information please contact Christine at 532-2110 or Irma at 532-2112. The Tourette Syndrome Support has reorganized. Members have scheduled a series of speaker presentations over the next year. Meetings are held at the City Hall Annex from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The following is the meeting schedule for 2001: February 26 Positive Behavioral
Supports by Dr. For more information and calendar
updates and to reserve your seat to assure that there are enough
handouts, please call SPIN or check the SPIN website: spinhawaii.org.
If you would like to talk to another parent of a child with TS,
SPIN has a list of parents who are willing to share their experiences
and expertise. PARTNERS IN POLICYMAKING STARTS IN AUGUST If you are a person with a developmental disability or if a family member has a developmental disability you are eligible to apply for this training. Partners in Policymaking is an innovative program for self-advocates and parents. The program is designed to provide information, training, resources and skills, which will develop productive partnerships between people who need and use services and those in position to make policy and law. This program will support individuals to lead self-determined lives. Over 160 individuals have gone through the Partners program since the State Council on Developmental Disabilities started this statewide program in 1994. Partner's graduates are serving on many boards, commissions and councils throughout the State. Partner's graduates have also participated in Legislative Advocacy and created community awareness through the news media. Applications are being accepted for the Eighth Academy, which will meet once a month from August through November. Final session and graduation will be in January 2002. For more information and applications
contact Patti Inoue on Oahu at 586-8100. 17th Annual PAC RIM Conference, March 5th & 6th Since the first Pac Rim Conference in 1985, this inspiring event has grown to include folks from Australia,the Mainland, Alaska, Japan, the Philippines and many Pacific Island countries. Persons with disabilities, family members, researchers, and service providers join policymakers and nationally recognized speakers in the field of disabilities to learn from each other and to share resources for communities to fully accept and support persons with disabilities. Workshop strands for this year's conference include: Supporting All Students to Succeed, Genetics & Ethics, Positive Behavioral Supports, Financing and Insurance, Early Intervention & Preschool, and Secondary Transition & Postsecondary Supports.
For a listing of pre and post conference events, see our calendar on page 8. 12/16/00 Transition Planning Conference, 1/9-1/10 Best Practice for Children
Conference 2/9-2/10 2001 Learning 2/12-2/16 OSEP Validation Data Collection Visit 3/3-3/4 Symposium on Diversity & Disability, location to be announced, call Valerie (956-2673) or Martha (956-3242) 3/5-3/6 PAC RIM 2001, Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, call Valerie (956-2673) or Martha (956-3242), or go to www.cds.hawaii.edu 3/7-3/8 Autism Spectrum Disorders, location to be announced, call Valerie (956-2673) or Martha (956-3242) 4/21/01 2001: A SPIN Odessey, 8:30
am -3:30 pm, UH Campus Center, call 586-8126 ("0",
Enterprise 5270) 6/16 HFAA Statewide Family Conference Ilikai Waikiki Hotel, call 487-8785 for more information FLIGHT PLAN FOR APRIL 21, 2001 1. SET YOUR SIGHTS ON THE STARS. 2. RESERVE YOUR SPACE ON THE
SPIN 3. BLAST OFF FOR A GREAT TIME
AT
8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Registration/Networking/Displays
in the Gallery 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Galaxy
1 The X Files- Mental health assessments/evalua-tions Babylon 6- IDEA basics Twilight Zone - Standards based educational reform Inter-dependence Day- Quality
of life through self-determination 12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Galaxy 2 Beam Me Up Scotty - A sampling of assistive technology Galaxy Quest - Basics of the IEP Live Long & Prosper -Techniques to reduce stress Star Trek: The Final Frontier
-Transitions & options for adult living 2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Galaxy 3 Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Human sexuality & raging hormones StarshipVoyager -Transitions across the life span May the Force Be with You -The process of positive behavior supports The Outer Limits - School-based
mental health services |