ONLINE NEWSLETTER

In this issue:
1.    Support Group Speakers This Month
2.    National TSA Conference Coming to Alexandria, Virginia
3.    Upcoming Conferences
4.    Link of the Month - www.rfbd.org
5.    President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education - Public Hearing
6.    Teens and TS Video
7.    Reseach Study - Volunteers needed
8.    Virginia Advocacy Conference
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1.  Support Group Speakers - We are very pleased to be able to bring you some excellent speakers in Baltimore, MD, Silver Spring, MD, and in Fairfax, VA at our March support group meetings.  Please feel welcome to attend any of our support groups meetings - they are open to all and are free of charge. Directions to meeting locations can be found on our chapter website - www.tsagw.org.

Thursday, March 14 - Montgomery/Howard County Support Group hosts guest speaker, Ms. Ruth Golomb, M.Ed., LPC, of the Behavior Therapy Center of Greater Washington.  Ms. Golomb will speak on the topic of preparing for the IEP meeting.  She'll help parents: better understand the IEP process; get prepared in advance to take on a more significant role in the either the annual review or initial IEP preparation; and advocate more effectively for needed services and accommodations.  The meeting will be held at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Private Dining Room 1, at 7:00 pm

Wednesday, March 20 - The Baltimore Support Group welcomes Eliza Stewart, Feldenkrais Practitioner to their meeting.  Feldenkrais uses physical movement to re-educate the brain to help organize movement patterns which in turn organizes the brain for other activities.  Additionally, it is helpful in relieving pain related to motor tics associated with Tourette Syndrome.  The meeting will be held at Johns Hopkins at Green Spring Station at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, March 20 - The Northern Virginia Support Group is very pleased to have Dodi Christiano, a professional counselor with 20 years of experience, facilitating the meeting.  She will share stress management and self-healing techniques.  She emphasizes the importance of attending to the mind/body connection and incorporates the use of relaxation, meditation and imagery to facilitate this process.  The meeting will be held at the Inova Fair Oaks Hospital conference center at 7:00 p.m.

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2.  TSA National Conference is Coming!  Those of you who are members of TSA have probably received your National Conference mailer which details the program for the TSA Conference to be held in Alexandria, Virginia from October 31-November 3, 2002.  This is a great time to become a TSA member or renew your membership, since paid members receive a $75 break on the registration fee.  Special features include:  keynote address by Dr. Oliver Sacks; full day workshop presented by Dr. Ross Greene on behavioral management using collaborative problem solving; a seminar for those newly diagnosed or parents of newly diagnosed children; and a youth program for children of registrants.  Mark your calendar and contact TSA at 800-237-0717 or check the website, www.tsa-usa.org for registration information.  

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3.  Upcoming Conferences -
Ross Greene, author of The Explosive Child returns to Chevy Chase, Maryland on Thursday, March 21, 2002, 8:30 am - 4:40 pm to present a program entitled "Explosive/Noncompliant Students: Meeting the Needs of all Members of the Classroom Community.  The conference will be held at theNational 4-H Center, 7100 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland.  The cost is $95 advance registration by March 14. $105 after March 14 and on-site registration (if available)  Sponsored by the Jewish Social Service Agency and more information is available on their website, www.jssa.org.  Recommend this one to teachers and administrators!


Peter Wright , Esq. And Pamela Wright, M.A., M.S.W. will present  a full day seminar entitled, "Helping Educate Children with Special Needs: From Law to Action" at the University of Maryland, Shady Grove Center in Rockville, Maryland on Saturday, April 13, 2002 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  The cost is $45 and includes their publications and lunch.  This is a terrific opportunity for any parent to become better equipped to advocate effectively for their child.  For more information contact the Learning Disability Association of Montgomery County at 301-933-1076 or check their website, www.ldamc.org.

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4. Link of the Month - www.rfbd.org - Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic.  RFB&D is the nation's largest nonprofit organization providing textbooks and educational materials in accessible formats for students of all ages who cannot read standard print effectively because of a disability.  For more than 50 years, people with print disabilities have been learning through listening with RFB&D's library of more than 90,000 taped and electronic textbooks.  RFB&D's unique collection of accessible textbooks in every academic subject area and grade level-from elementary school spelling primers, to high school algebra texts to its large selection of reference and professional materials - opens doors to educational success for students with print disabilities. This organization can also arrange to record books at your request. To learn more, visit their website at www.rfbd.org.

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5.  President's Commission Hearing in Falls Church, VA -  The President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education (PCESE) has organized a meeting to address the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and to obtain further public input on policy modifications needed to improve the educational performance of students with disabilities.  There will be a panel available to give a summary of the Commission's progress thus far, and to take public comment.  The panelists will include Robert Pasternack, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services; Cheri Takemoto, PCESE Commission Member and Executive Director of VA PEATC, and Todd Jones, the Executive Director of the President's Commission. 

DATE:  Tuesday, May 14, 2002
TIME:  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
LOCATION:  Luther Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road, Falls Church, Virginia

The Commission is particularly interested in the following areas:

*         Cost-Effectiveness: 
*         Improving Results: 
*         Research: 
*         Early Intervention: 
*         Funding Formula: 
*         Teacher Quality and Student Accountability: 
*         Regulations and Red Tape: 
*         What Models Work in the States: 
*         Federal v. Local Funding: 

Consider providing testimony to the Commission on your experiences with special education - or plan to attend to learn more about the reauthorization process for IDEA.  For more information about the Commission, visit the Commission's website at: www.ed.gov/lnits/commissionsboard/whspecialeducation;index.html.

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6.  Teens and TS Video - It's not too late to get involved!  The first working meeting of the video project team will be held on Saturday, March 23 at 4:30 pm at North Bethesda Methodist Church in Bethesda, MD .  We have a great group of teens assembled, but there's always room for more.  For details on the project, please call the TSAGW office at 301-681-4133. 

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7. Research Study Volunteers Needed - Nancy Fredine is a graduate student who is conducting a study that examines the sibling experience related to TS.  In order to qualify you must have a son with a diagnosis of TS (He can also have OCD and/or ADHD, but TS must be his primary diagnosis) and he must have a younger brother or sister, aged  9 to 15 and within four years of age of the boy with TS, who does NOT have any symptoms of TS or OCD (ADHD is ok).  Parents and both children will be asked to complete questionnaires and the mother will be asked to participate in a 20-30 minute phone interview to discuss the younger sibling's adaptive functioning (how he/she gets along with others, takes care of him/herself, etc). This study has been reviewed and approved by National TSA.  For more information (which in no way obligates you to participate), please contact NANCY FREDINE AT (203) 676-8461 OR (203) 269-2359 OR nancyfredine@hotmail.com

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8.  Advocacy Conference - "Call to Action: An advocacy conference to develop strategies for improving the education of Virginia's students with disabilities" will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2002 from 9:00 am-4:00 pm at the University of Richmond Law School, Richmond, VA.  After a morning session that will include a briefing by Cheri Takemoto about the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education, breakout session topics will include: preparing for due process and complaints, impacting local policies and procedures, and curriculum access for students with cognitive disabilities.  Brochures and registration information will be available after March 19.  Please contact Cheryl Ward of the Independence Center at 757-461-8007 for more details.
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