Children with Disabilities

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Children With Disabilities: Other Resources

ELC publications

• Click here for ELC's manuals and fact sheets on children with disabilities.

Other resources: all disabilities

• U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) – Federal agency that administers federal special education funds.
  • My Child's Special Needs - Disabilities: Parent-friendly information from USDOE.
  • Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students With Disabilities: Information from USDOE on assessment and teaching methods.
• Pennsylvania Department of Education - PA agency responsible for overseeing the state's public education system, including education of children with disabilities.
• Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PATTAN): Information, resources, professional development opportunities relating to instruction of children with disabilities. Includes official forms (such as the IEP form), annotated and unannotated, and available in multiple languages.
• Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania: Non-profit PA public interest law firm that provides legal assistance and other services to persons with disabilities, their organizations, their families, and their advocates.
• National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities - Offers information on topics ranging from autism to U.S. education laws to information on current research; also offers great information for children with disabilities themselves, as well as Pennsylvania links (information on disability organizations throughout Pennsylvania).
• TASH - International association of people with disabilities, their family members, other advocates, and professionals fighting for a society in which inclusion of all people in all aspects of society is the norm.
• Children's Advocacy Project of Philadelphia - Resources for parents and children in Philadelphia.
• Education Advocacy: A Self-Help Tutorial for Parents - Excellent guide to parent advocacy.
• Meeting the Educational Needs of Students with Disabilities in Short-Term Detention Facilities (National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice): Information on issues and strategies involved in the delivery of special education and related services in jails and detention centers.

Other resources: specific disabilities

For more information on disability advocacy groups in your area, see pp. 67-69 of our publication, The Right to Special Education in PA: A Guide for Parents.

Attention Deficit Disorder

• Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD): Offers articles and information about attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Provides information on support groups for parents with children with AD/HD.
• About ADD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Provides articles and resources for parents, family members and children regarding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Autism

• Advisory Board on Autism and Related Disorders (ABOARD)
  Supplies a wealth of information on autism and provide links and lists of various resources including support groups and related research.
• Center for the Study of Autism
  Offers links to various sites and articles relating to autism.

Blindness and Visual Impairments

• American Foundation for the Blind
  Presents a wealth of information on blind and visually impaired individuals, as well as links to organizations that provide services to the blind and visually impaired.
• National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania
  Offers information focusing specifically on organizations and resources available in Pennsylvania for the blind and visually impaired.

Cerebral Palsy

• United Cerebral Palsy
  The leading source of information on cerebral palsy; also provides state-specific information as well as links and resources on various disabilities.

Epilepsy

• Epilepsy Foundation of Western/Central Pennsylvania
• Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania
  Provides information on programs for individuals with epilepsy as well as information and resources geared towards specific age groups.

Learning Disabilities

• National Center for Learning Disabilities
  An effective, easy-to-use resource for people seeking authoritative information on learning disabilities.
• Learning Disabilities Online
  This web site offers extensive resources for a variety of learning disabilities with a different focus for each month.

Mental Health

• The Parents Involved Network of Pennsylvania maintains an excellent list of resources and publications available to parents of children with mental health issues:

Mental Retardation

• The ARC of Pennsylvania is an organization that works to include all children and adults with cognitive, intellectual, and developmental disabilities in all aspects of community living.

Speech Disorders

• Pennsylvania Speech-Language-Hearing Association (PSHA)
  Presents information on legislation regarding speech and hearing disabilities. Provides resources for individuals diagnosed with speech, language, and hearing disabilities.

Tourette Syndrome

• Tourette Syndome Association, Inc.
  Resources for Individuals with Tourette Syndrome.
  

How many students in PA have disabilities and where are they being served?

During School Year 2004-2005, 284,126 students between the ages of 3 and 21 received special education services from their local education agencies. More than half were classified as "learning disabled," and 14% were educated outside the regular classroom for more than 60% of the school day. For more statistics on who these children are, where they are being educated, and more, see Pennsylvania Department of Education, Special Education Statistical Summary, 2004-05. For national comparisons, see National Center for Education Statistics.

How well are students with disabiliites achieving?

In general, children with disabiltiies continue to lag far behind their non-disabled peers as measured by the PA statewide assessment (the PSSA), and the longer they are in school, the worse they perform. In the 2004-05 school year, almost 60% of 3rd graders with IEPs scored proficient or better in math, but less than 10% of 11th graders with disabilities met or exceeded the proficiency standard. 35% of 3rd graders with disabilities met or exceeded standards in reading, but only 17.9% of 11th graders scored at or above the proficient level. For more information, see PA Dept. of Education, PSSA Results.

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