In the fall of 1984, three brave moms approached the Director of Special Education requesting a specialized information and referral program for parents of children with disabilities. They also asked that the program use “veteran parents” – parents who had collected some knowledge of resources and strategies for working with agencies – to offer the support to families.
Their final request was that a home for the program be found outside of the DOE, so families would feel comfortable sharing confidential information about their child’s experience at school. The Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB), a state agency within the Department of Health offering information and technical assistance on a wide range of disability issues, accepted the offer to partner with the Department of Education. That partnership – the Special Parent Information Network – SPIN – has lasted for thirty years, thanks in large part to our loyal parents and helping professionals who read our newsletter, attend our conferences and advocate for systems change to benefit children with disabilities and their families.
Given our elderly age, we decided SPIN needed a face lift, and are excited to announce the launching of our new web site in October 2014, with a 21st century look, interactive calendar and lots of family friendly resources. Of coarse, we are still available by phone or email to offer personalized information and parent-to-parent support. We are happy to announce a new Program Specialist, Amanda Ka’ahanui, who joined us October 1st to work side by side with veteran SPIN-ster Susan Rocco. With 16 wonderful SPIN Advisory members representing 14 agencies, guiding our activities and conference planning, we are looking to have a great birthday and banner year!
