Important Announcement!

Some of you know one of my current volunteer jobs is the Special Needs Committee Chair of the DeKalb County Council of PTAs. This blog does not represent the DeKalb County Council of PTAs.

I do want to share the blurb I wrote for the February newsletter.

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From the Special Needs Chair:

On March 1, the Annual Education, Resources and College Fair for Families with Students with Special Needs will be held at Tucker High School. This event is a combination of the Transition Fair and the Special Education Fair.

The term “Students with Special Needs” is used by the Council because it is more inclusive than the term “Special Education.” A large number of students struggle in school due to any of a number of reasons. The Council strives to provide access to resources to help those students as well as the traditional "Special Education" students.

To that end, several of the planned sessions for the fair are speaking about childhood trauma, eliminating homework headaches, and executive function issues in the classroom.

What is executive function? According to the National Center for Learning Disorders, “Executive function is a set of mental processes that helps connect past experience with present action. People use it to perform activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and managing time and space.”*

I encourage all teachers, parents, and guardians of Dekalb County Students to attend the Annual Education, Resources and College Fair for Families of Students with Special Needs.

In addition to dozens of vendors, there will be three tracts of break-out sessions.

• One tract will focus on transitioning beyond K-12 and accessing adult services.
• Another tract will provide information for families and caregivers of younger children who are not actively transition planning.
• The third tract will provide information to teachers to help them better serve students with special needs.

* http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/executive-function-disorders/what-is-executive-function

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There will be a link to register on the DeKalb County Council of PTAs website soon. Please pre-register so we can have food and materials available for everyone.