Childcare

I have been having a great deal of difficulty with childcare for our meetings. Our Americorps worker became very ill for our October meeting and I wasn't informed of this until the night of. For our November meeting the Americorps worker had assured me she would be able to provide care and then did not appear; I still have yet to discover why.

I have two families that are volunteering their time with me as group leaders. The solution to the childcare problem has been to send a parent to the gym to provide care. This is not an ideal solution for anyone for many reasons.

One solution that I have is to ask a couple of teachers at the Little Huskies Child Development Center to help the group out. I would in turn ask parents to make a donation of whatever amount they are comfortable giving to help pay for the childcare. I would also make a donation to help out.

I understand that for a majority of our parents to attend our meetings, childcare is necessary. I welcome and appreciate any solutions that anyone can offer. In the meantime, I will continue to be in touch with Americorps and attempt to bring in workers who are looking for extra hours.

December 15th, 2010 Meeting

Our next meeting will be held on December 15th, 2010 from 6-8 at the BHK Houghton Center. At this time, we will not be hosting a speaker or workshop. This will be a regular meet and greet for parents; and is closed to the general community and professionals.

If anyone would like to do something special for the December meeting, please let me know as soon as possible.

Cheers!

November 17th, 2010 Meeting Wrap-Up

Thank you to Evan Dixon for speaking at our group about Special Education Law. It was a very informative presentation. Thank you to our Regional MAF Parent Mentor, Lisa Kahnke and Michigan Alliance for Families for hosting and sponsoring the event.

November 17th, 2010 Meeting

Michigan Alliance for Families is sponsoring Attorney Evan Dixon, for our November meeting. Evan will be sharing his experience and knowledge with Special Education Law.

The meeting will be held from 6-8 at the BHK Houghton Center in Houghton. The presentation is open to the community and professionals. Please join us in welcoming Evan.

Currently childcare is pending. I will notify everyone via email if we will not be able to provide childcare. In the meantime, please RSVP no later than November 16th, by 12pm.

Cheers!

October 20th, 2010 Wrap-Up

There was a lot accomplished at this months meeting. The other parent group leaders and myself had the opportunity talk at length about future meetings. A few areas that were covered were:

• Bringing in an attorney to discuss Special Ed Law (Evan Dixon will be coming to the November 17th, meeting to cover this topic.)
• Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) will be coming to discuss the work they do with parents and to talk about the IEP process ( a date has yet to be determined).
• John and Julie Dumprope will be covering Virtual Home Schooling at our December 15th, meeting.
• Brainstormed how to bring awareness/outreach to other families about our group.
  

These were just a few topics of conversation during the evening.

Our Americorps worker that has been helping us out with childcare at our meetings was very ill the night of our meeting and she was hospitalized. Lets hope that she is feeling better and doing well.

Group Leaders

This is a call to all the parents of neurodiverse children that attend our meetings. I talk constantly of parents having ownership of this group. A few of you contact me through email or phone and talk with me about ideas that you have.

I've had a long standing goal for this group to be run by all the parents for parents. I've been watching for a long time now and the group has several parents that are very committed. If any of you are interested in being a group leader (along with me) for your group, please contact me.

Your position as a group leader can look however you want it to. You can commit as much or as little time as you are comfortable with. Same for tasks, you can do whatever you are comfortable doing.

Some areas I would like some help in are:

• Food and beverages
• Childcare (when AmeriCorps can't help us)
• Community outreach
• Pulling in community resources
• Workshops
• Putting together a walk

These are just to name a few areas. If anyone has an interest in any of the above, or if you have some different ideas, please, please, please contact me.

Cheers!

August 31st, 2010 Meeting Wrap-Up

We had a great meeting with Heidi Knuuttila this month. Heidi did a Power Point presentation and discussions revolved around the IEP process, building a strong support team for your child(ren), working together and keeping the air positive (even when there's conflicts), and what parents can do to empower themselves to advocate for their child(ren). This was a great way to kick off the new school year. Thank you Heidi!

Heidi also shared with us that she is working on a website that will help parents and teachers navigate an IEP more successfully. Heidi would like feedback from parents on how to make an IEP a positive and productive process for the entire team. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave your comments hear on the blog or you can contact Heidi Knuuttila or Heather Poll.

I want to send out a HUGE thank you to John and Julie Dumpprope and Jason Poll for helping out with the childcare during the meeting. They did a great job, the kids had a blast, and the meeting was able to run smoothly because of them. Thank you!!