Donna Earnest, M.Ed

Module 4: Monitoring Progress (and Why Data is Everything) is up on the Refine Disabilities website! 🔗➡️ Whether you are thinking about hiring an advocate or just want to know what your child’s ARD committee or IEP team is saying, “Monitoring Progress (and Why Data is Everything)” will help you know if the school staff is really working with your child on IEP goals, or just shuffling paperwork and “paying you lip service.” Do you feel like your child’s school is just shuffling papers and paying you lip service?

The Refine Disabilities Parent’s Guide to Special Education Advocacy Module 2:8 is out now! This module explains the evaluation process when your child is first identified as a student who MAY have a disability, what diagnosticians test, and how they determine whether or not your child has a disability and can receive special education services. Module 2 also explains the PLAAFP- your child’s Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance. It is the first part of the IEP. It describes how your child is doing in school right now, and how having a disability affects his or her ability to learn. Module 2 is available independently as a stand alone digital product. It will be available to bundle with other modules once they are uploaded.

I thought the Google form I was creating was going to take me about five minutes or so. I was getting frustrated so I reached out to ChatGPT five and asked for micro steps to make the process easier. Apparently this five minute Google form is going to take an entire day to create and publish…. For the children… for the children… for the children…

As a veteran special education, resource teacher for 6th-12th graders for 13 years, I bought books for my students with my own money to stock my classroom library with some of the most compelling book titles from the most talented authors over hundreds of years. I read almost every book title in this image and taught from them to my high school students. A few titles, such as A Wrinkle in Time, were appropriate for my middle school students. The point of teaching from now classic, mostly American literature, was to prepare my high schoolers for living in the adult world… To allow them to participate in the Great Conversation. Banning these books from school libraries speaks volumes. The misunderstanding of the general public is based on an agenda of disinformation. These titles are inappropriate for elementary school. Most of them are inappropriate for middle school. If the general public had read these jewels, they would know this, have discernment, and allow their older children to read these books, or ask the teachers to select an alternative that aligns with the state standards for that class. In my opinion, banning these books serves to strip the next generation of exposure to a variety of cultures and historical experiences. Banning books the public hasn’t read also whitewashes the public school curriculum and dissolves trust in the professional educators who serve their children. This creates an uninformed, dumbed down, and intolerant generation.

Happy ! I am reversing muscular dystrophy. I get physical and occupational therapy five days a week. I have been fortunate to have the most talented professionals work with me over the past five years. Without them, I would probably be completely immobile by now. With them, the potential to stand, walk independently, and do all of my activities of daily living is within reach. All of them have encouraged me and cheered me on with every gain. Thank you to all who dedicate their lives to helping people live again.. I love y’all. ❤️

Refine Disabilities dot Online 🔥

My easy to read FREE Parent’s Handbook to the IEP will be available for you ❤️ on the website this evening! By then the link should be live in the usual place.