National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
National clearinghouse for information regarding disabilities in children, babies and toddlers. NICHCY publishes many articles about special education, disabilities, understanding and applying the IDEA, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and other important topics.
Special Needs Rights
Useful blog detailing how to write assessment request letters, review assessment plans, prepare for IEPs and better advocate for your child with special needs. Authored by The Law Office of Janina Botchis.
Team of Advocates for Special Kids
TASK is a Parent Training and Information (PTI) center that provides educational workshops and peer support for parents and professionals seeking early intervention, educational, medical or therapeutic support for children. TASK services the Southern California area. Check the Calendar of Events link in the upper left-hand corner of the website for most current listing of Workshops and Seminars.
Invaluable resource for parents of children with disabilities. The website is founded and maintained by Peter and Pam Wright both of whom are adjunct professors at William and Mary Law School where they teach special education law and advocacy. Their publication "From Emotions to Advocacy" is an essential tool for parents and advocates.
TASH is a non-profit agency that advocates for human rights and inclusion for people with significant disabilities. TASH oversees The Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion (APRAIS) which works to eliminate the use of aversive interventions, restraints and seclusion on children with disabilities. This website is a wonderful resource for finding the latest legislation regarding inclusive education, minimum wages, restraints and seclusion and other issues that are vitally important to all children and parents.
Los Angeles Families for Effective Autism Treatment
LA FEAT is a non-profit organization for the parents and families of children with autism founded by parents of children with autism. This is a useful resource for the newly diagnosed with an emphasis placed on early intervention using evidence based therapy such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). LA FEAT has free meetings every month where parents can interact with others and compare notes.
The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates
Membership based organization that provides parents with timely information about special education rights and helps parents locate advocates and attorneys through a resource directory. For attorneys and advocates, COPAA provides the opportunity to collaborate with peers.
Disability Rights California
DRC provides advocacy for Californians with disabilities that are eligible based on the merits of their claim and their ability to advocate for themselves. DRC also maintains a website with over 900 publications to assist those interested in self-advocacy.
Findlaw Public Bookshelf
Full textbooks to read on-line! Titles include: A Guide to Disability Rights Laws, ABA Family Legal Guide, and ABA Guide to Marriage, Divorce & Families.
OSEP: Ideas That Work
The Office of Special Education
Provides parents and educators with useful publications regarding assessments, curriculum-based measurements, monitoring student progress, response to intervention (RTI) and many other issues that arise in the education of children with disabilities.
The Alliance For Children's Rights
Provides free legal services to qualifying foster children needing to secure special education services from the school district.
StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on how kids, teens, young adults, parents, educators and others in the community can prevent or stop bullying.
Web community designed for individual's (and parent's/professionals of those) with Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, PDDs and other neurological differences. There is a discussion forum, articles, chat room, blogging feature and many other opportunities for people to communicate with each other and exchange ideas.
Wonderful blog authored by a vibrant individual with a High Functioning Autism (HFA) diagnosis. The author describes himself as an assistant professor with a doctorate from the university of Minnesota. The writing is quirky, hopeful and thoughtful. It is a great resource for those looking for insight from someone who has firsthand experience with the daily challenges and triumphs associated with an HFA diagnosis.
Autism Blogs Directory
Exactly that. A directory of blogs regarding autism, ASD, PDD, HFA...a wonderful hodge-podge of diversity listed with an eye to weeding-out "snake-oil salesman" and hate speech. Definitely worth a perusal. Recent postings include "The Adventures of Amazing Sage and Super Scout", "The Ryan Files" and "a moon, worn as if it had been a shell."
Many of these resources are primarily available to those within the Southern California area including Glendale (GUSD), Burbank (BUSD), Pasadena (PUSD), South Pasadena (SPUSD), and Los Angeles (LAUSD). However, the larger govermental agencies are, of course, helpful to all parents of children with special needs and adults with special needs seeking pointers on self-advocacy.