Founder of SibStrong and star of the 2017 Academy Award-nominated documentary Life, Animated. https://www.sibstrong.org
Walter will talk about life with Owen, his brother with Autism.
Executive Director of The Council of Parents, Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA)
https://www.copaa.org/member/denisestilemarshall
Denise will discuss how the Supreme Court case Endrew F affects appropriate IEPs for students with disabilities and the recent win for COPAA against the US Department of Education on disporportionality and special education students.
Hear from a panel of sibilings to discuss life with a sibling with disabilities.
The Ready to Read Act is being considered by the Maryland legislature as House Bill 60 and Senate Bill 734. Learn about what this bill means for reading screening and intervention strategies.
Presenters: Erin Parker and Stacy Brocker from Decoding Dyslexia Howard County
Do you ever find yourself feeling frustrated over your child’s behavior? Feel like you have worked on skills without seeing progress? Come find out why the behaviors we see are only the tip of the iceberg.
Presenters: Michelle Im/Kathy Alfonso
Participants will learn more about the importance of functional communication, strategies for building language skills, and simple ways to partner with school-based teams to obtain better communication outcomes.
Presenter: Dawn Trotter, MS Ed/CCC-SLP
The relationship between educators and students' family members is critical for the overall success of students' education. It requires honest and open communication, and a willingness to learn from each other. This session will focus on how to create and sustain effective home-school collaboration leading to positive change.
Presenter: Meghan Mulvenna, Special Travelers
The session will discuss special needs trust, estate planning for families with family members with special needs, guardianship, and alternatives to guardianship.
Presenter: Matthew Bogin, lawforchildren.com
This session will highlight early intervention services available to young children and their families prior to Kindergarten in Howard County. It will focus on: (1) the services and resources available, (2) the transition processes that occur, and (3) what is "Kindergarten Readiness."
Presenter: Shannon Roberts
Staff from the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts will discuss their special needs outreach programs.
Presenters: Amy Sontagg and Kim Bryant from Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts, cctarts.org
Have you ever struggled to find ways to help your child with math homework? Do you often find yourself having to “talk” them thru every step day after day? Come find out some tips to help break down math into manageable chunks to reduce everyone’s frustration level.
Presenter: Michelle Im, former HCPSS Math teacher
Have you ever wondered your special educator does? Take a walk through the day in the life of a special educator in HCPSS. The session will feature a panel of extraordinary special educators who will share how they balance their responsibilities for working with students, families & staff. The emphasis will be on serving our learners at all school levels.
Presenters:Whitney J. Hogans, HCPSS ES Special Educator
Christine Hoelscher, HCPSS MS Special Educator
Chris Mathews, HCPSS HS Special Educator