Special Education Resources for Parents and Teachers

Websites for Special Needs Information and Support

• Special Education: Understanding Federal and State Statutory Requirements (MTA, 2008)
• Lifeworks (formerly the South Norfolk County ARC) - 789 Clapboardtree Street, Westwood, MA, 02090, 781-762-4001, lifeworksarc.org/. Provides supports for children with disabilities and autism through their center.  Have respite opportunities, community outings, and vacation week programs.
• Department of Development Services (DDS) – www.mass.gov/dds to apply for eligibility.  Our regional office is located at 125 West St, Walpole, MA 02081 and the Child Service Coordinator is Janice Cederquist.  She can be reached at 508-668-3679.
• Family Ties of Massachusetts provides support to parents of children with special needs.  They have a parent to parent program where parents that need support can call and ask questions of other parents of children with special needs.  You are contacted within 48 hours of your phone call so that you can receive the support you need.  Family Ties also has workshops during the year and information for families on their website.  The website is www.massfamilyties.org.
• The Charles River Center is another ARC in our area that parents can sign up for programs and get family support from.  The Charles River Center is located in Needham, MA.  Even if you utilize supports at SNCARC you can access programs at any other ARC in Massachusetts.  The website is www.charlesrivercenter.org.
• There is a wonderful Autism Specialist from the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center who sends out monthly informational emails to parents of children with Autism on what activities and resources are available in Massachusetts.  The Autism Specialist is named Bernadette Murphy Bentley, MPA.
• Another great website for information, education, and support for children with Autism in our area of Massachusetts is the Autism Alliance of Metrowest.  You can sign up on their website for their monthly newsletter.  The website is www.autismalliance.org.
•     If you are looking for used assistive technology items for free or at low cost you should visit www.getatstuff.org.   They have everything from speech output devices, medical equipment, adaptive equipment, sensory equipment, etc.  It services the whole New England area.
•     Want to try an Assistive Technology Device before you commit to buying one?  MassMatch loans assistive technology devices with assistive technology software loaded onto the devices for free.  They have everything from Ipads to Dynavox devices.  They have short and long term loan programs available.  The website is www.massmatch.org.
•     Another website to check out for Assistive Technology is Easter Seals of Massachusetts.  They also provide information about resources for the special needs community and offer some low cost loans.  They have an office in Boston where parents/children can try out Assistive Technology devices.  They also partner with MassMatch to provide the short and long term loan programs. The website for Easter Seals is www.easterseals.com and click on the link for Easter Seals of Massachusetts.
•     The Bridge Center in Bridgewater, MA offers summer camps, weekend programs, therapeutic horseback riding, and parent night out events for children with special needs.  Under registration there is a scholarship assistance form for those that might qualify for financial aid for a program.  The website is www.thebridgectr.org.

Websites for Parents

• Federal Department of Education: www.ed.gov
• Massachusetts Department of Education: www.doe.mass.edu
• Family TIES: www.massfamilyties.org
• Federation for Children with Special Needs: www.fcsn.org
• SNCARC and Family Autism Center: www.sncarc.org
• LD Online offers information on Language Based Learning Disabilities: www.ldonline.org
• Massachusetts Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (MABIDA): www.dyslexia-ma.org
• CHADD Children and Adults with ADHD: www.chadd.net/467
• Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress: www.mdsc.org
• Massachusetts Association for Parents of the Visually Impaired: www.mapvil.org
• For Hearing Impaired: The Decibels Foundation: www.decibelsfoundation.org

Resources for Teachers

• http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/resources.html - Visit the IRIS Center for Training Enhancements for free online interactive resources that translate research about the education of students with disabilities into practice. Our materials cover a wide variety of evidence-based topics, including behavior, RTI, learning strategies, and progress monitoring.
• The Access Center - a national technical assistance (TA) center funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs whose mission is to improve educational outcomes for elementary and middle school students with disabilities.
• A Parent's Guide to Special Education - The Guide contains the most current and accurate information available regarding the special education system in Massachusetts to assist families in obtaining the supports and services that their children with disabilities need to succeed in school.
• Barrier Free Education - A resource site helping students with disabilities gain access to math and science education.
• The Family Center on Technology and Disability
• Inclusion - This website is dedicated to promoting inclusive schooling and exploring positive ways of supporting students with autism and other disabilities.
• http://www.letsmotorskills.com/index.htm - Motor movement, movement and fun.
• http://www.iser.com/index.shtml - ISER is a directory of professionals, organizations, and schools that serve the learning disabilities and special education communities.
• http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Library/Special_Education/Individualized_Education_Plans/Individualized_Education_Plans.html- Wonderful Special Ed resources.
• http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_curriculumbe.html - CAST is a nonprofit research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through Universal Design for Learning.
• http://www.slideshare.net/tina.meyer1/a-guide-to-co-teaching - Co-teaching slideshows
• http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster2/sptherapy.html - Examples of materials that can be adapted for therapy.
• http://www.csie.org.uk/publications/publications-request.shtml - Studies on Inclusive Education
• http://www.speakingofspeech.com/IEP_Goal_Bank.html - Speech goalbank
• http://www.westcentraled.com/documents/SDI.pdf - Specially designed instruction manual.
• http://www.interventioncentral.org/ - Intervention Central is committed to the goal of making quality Response-to-Intervention resources available to educators at no cost--especially in these times of tight school budgets.
• http://www.bridges4kids.org/IEP/iep.goal.bank.pdf - The Goal Bank is designed to assist teachers with writing measurable goals.

IDEA Resources

• IDEA Partnership
• National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)
• Wrights Law
• Federation for Children with Special Needs
• LD Online - a website on learning disabilities for parents, teachers, and other professionals. They have links to a monthly newsletter with the latest news, perspectives and in-depth articles on learning disabilities.
• Learning Disabilities Worldwide - Learning Disabilities Worldwide, Inc. (LDW) is a non-profit, volunteer organization including individuals with learning disabilities, their families, and professionals
• Massachusetts Administrators for Special Education (ASE) - the lead association representing the special education administrators in Massachusetts. ASE provides a variety of services to its members - conferences, newsletters, information briefs, and representation of the membership at the federal and state levels.
• The Massachusetts Association of Special Education Parent Advisory Councils - MASSPAC
• Massachusetts Advocates for Children
• Massachusetts Department of Ed. Special Education Parent Information
• Microsoft Accessibility - Tools and Microsoft Products to make your computer easier to use.
• National Inclusive Schools
• Reach Every Child - A site of educational resources for teachers and students with links to many excellent resources.
• The Source Book for Teaching Science - Math and Science Resources
• Schwab Learning - A Parent's guide to helping kids with learning difficulties -Schwab Learning's primary focus is helping parents whose children have learning difficulties. This includes kids with learning disabilities (LD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), and other learning struggles.
• Special Education Resources on the Internet - SERI - SERI is a collection of Internet accessible information resources of interest to those involved in the fields related to Special Education. This site continually modifies, updates, and adds additional informative links
• TEC - The Education Cooperative - Provides member school districts with high quality, cost effective educational services.
• The Arc of the United States (with information on local chapters)