A Brief Overview Full Article Parents or guardians are the first and primary sexual health educators of children. What parents and caregivers believe, say, and do can have a powerful influence on the development of healthy sexuality in children. This article provides resources to support healthy sexuality for families and youth, including standards and instruction Read More
Category: Your Young Persons Disability
Information on different disabilities to better inform you.
Advocacy Tips for Parents
When a child has a disability, parents often learn that getting their child’s needs met requires persistence, organization, and advocacy. Advocacy is an action. A person is an advocate when they organize the work and press onward until a goal is achieved. Laws that protect the rights of students with disabilities also protect parents as Read More
Adolescent Health Care Act Provides Options for Families Seeking Mental Health and Substance Use Help for Young People Resistant to Treatment
A Brief Overview The Adolescent Behavioral Health Care Access Act, passed into law by the Washington Legislature in 2019, gives parents and providers more leverage in treating a young person who will not or cannot independently seek medical help for a behavioral health condition. The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) hosts website links with information about Read More
Supported Decision Making is an Option for Adults with Disabilities
A Brief Overview Full Article When a young person turns 18, most decisions are now up to them. In Washington State, age 18 is the “age of majority,” which means a person 18 or older has the right to make their own decisions about education, work, money matters, voting and more. Note: In Washington the Read More
Families Who Receive In-Home Care Services: Take Note of 2022 Changes
A Brief Overview Everyone who gets state-funded in-home care in Washington is affected by a new employment structure for Individual Providers (IPs). The Consumer Direct Care Network of Washington (CDWA) is the new Consumer Directed Employer (CDE) for all individual providers of state purchased in-home care. The CDWA website offers support in multiple ways by Read More
Willa Discovers Telehealth
Students: Get Ready to Participate in Your IEP Meeting with a Handout for the Team
Students of all abilities have the right to a solid education to get ready for adult life. Students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) have a right to participate in IEP meetings to make sure the program is a good set-up for higher education, vocational training, work—whatever comes next after graduation. Schools are required to invite Read More
I want the kind with the people and the pictures
By John O’Brien After a Difficult Start… Institutionalized from age three to twenty-three in a place where “they treated us like animals”– Mike has composed a good life, taking many valued roles: husband, father, worker, home owner, friend, organizer, advocate, mentor, teacher, neighbor.[1] Anticipating the changes that come with aging, Mike requested funding for a person-centered Read More
A Mother Shares her Personal Journey of Welcoming a Baby with Down Syndrome
By Elizabeth Paschich The news that my son had Down syndrome came at a bad time. I was pregnant with our 6th child, and my husband and I were not on the same page about my pregnancy. Age 37, I qualified for extensive genetic testing that could identify the gender of my child at 11 Read More
DDA Access Series 1 Eligibility
Things I Wish I Knew on Folic Acid
As a mom of a child with Spina Bifida there are a lot of things I wish I knew. Like I wish I knew I was going to have such a sweet little GoGo (that’s the name for her wheelchair) user before I bought a house with 15 stairs straight up. I wish I knew that it was Read More
My Child, the Athlete: Coaching a Child with Hidden Disabilities
Over 30 million youth between the ages of 5-18 participate in youth sports every year. Some of the most common hidden disabilities are Specific Learning Disabilities, Speech and Language, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Athletes with these disabilities can experience similar difficulties in understanding and developing a specific skill such as understanding Read More
Positive Behavior Supports: Continuing the model at home and in the community
By: Dr. Vanessa Tucker, PhD., BCBA-D What is Positive Behavior Support? Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is a special education initiative that informs school districts, schools and classrooms regarding prevention and intervention practices designed to teach and reinforce pro-social behaviors. Behavior supports, as we parents well know, do not end at the schoolhouse door. Interfering behaviors Read More