News & Resources for North Dakota Parents & Professionals | About Us |
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The Top 10 Basics of the Special Education Process -
Now Available to Stream
Our webinar 'The Top 10 Basics of the Special Education Process' is now available to stream on our website. Be sure to watch our webinar, then take our short survey (available on the same page) to give us your feedback!
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 Two Positions Open At Pathfinder Pathfinder Services of ND is looking for an Executive Director and a Family Support Specialist.
The Executive Director will be responsible for the professional leadership and management of Pathfinder Services of North Dakota, working with Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers in the pursuit of Pathfinder's mission and attainment of its strategic goals. Applications for the Executive Director position will be accepted until March 6, 2018.
The Family Support Specialist will provide support and locate resources for parents of children with disabilities. Applications for the Family Support position will be accepted until March 15, 2018.
Visit our website if you are interested in joining the Pathfinder team!
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 Consider Becoming an Experienced Parent!
Pathfinder Services of North Dakota is looking for interested parents to serve as an Experienced Parent and provide support to families who have infants participating in the Infant Development Program.
If you have a child under the age of 13 that is currently in the ID program or received past ID services, you qualify to apply to become an Experienced Parent.
Experienced Parents provide support services to other families through one on one conversation, group activities, planning meetings, facilitated parent connections, discussions with services providers, and more.
For more information on how to apply to become an Experienced Parent,, visit our website:
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Improving Speech and Eating Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
by Maureen A. Flanagan
This book gives parents and teachers knowledge, techniques, and activities to enable them to work on these oral-motor skills with the children in their lives.
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News from North Dakota State Agencies
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2018 Early Childhood Education Spring Conference
April 12 & 13, 2018
Baymont Inn & Suites, Mandan, ND
Stay tuned to the NDDPI site for more details:
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Getting Them Off to a Good Start
Early Childhood Education From Birth to Age 7
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 6 Tips for Creating Your Child's IFSP Parents play a big part in creating their child's Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), which is the written game plan guiding early intervention services. By thinking ahead and bringing notes to the meeting, you'll be better able to help shape the IFSP.
Here are some tips to writing a useful IFSP:
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Raising Elementary Students
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 Improving Executive Skills Executive skills are skills that youngsters need to function independently. They include planning, organization, task initiation, sustained attention, goal-setting, decision-making, and problem solving.
For children with LD or attention disorders, developing these skills often does not come naturally. Instead, they must be expressly taught through direct instruction, and nurtured through close supervision. This article offers some key principles to guide you and your child's teacher as you work to improve these important skills.
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 Paving the Way: Parent Tips for Supporting Success in High School and Beyond High school can be both an exciting and overwhelming time for students and their parents. There are increased academic, social, and extracurricular expectations, as well as exciting opportunities for students to spread their wings.
For students with disabilities, there can be a variety of additional concerns, such as working with school staff on creating an appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP), deciding on the best course of academic study to further a student's postsecondary goals, and addressing any health care needs that may affect a student's success in school.
The road to adulthood for youth with disabilities is filled with opportunity, and parents play a key role. PACER's National Parent Center on Transition and Employment (NPCTE) has launched a webpage for parents of high school students featuring a wealth of practical tips and resources on: - Communication and Teamwork
- Study Habits and Course Selection
- Celebration and Support
- Preparing for the Future
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 Resources Especially for Military Families Being part of a military family can be filled with many surprises, challenges, and opportunities. Part of the military life is moving to new locations every few years or even more frequently. This can be a bit more challenging when there's a child in the family who has a disability. Lots of questions naturally arise: - Will special education services be available in the new location?
- What about the types of therapists or expertise your child needs?
- What do you need to do to get ready?
Fortunately, there is help available to make the family's transition from one location to another a bit more smoothly. At the link below you will find organizations and resources that will be of help.
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Training Opportunities & Upcoming Events
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| Event | When | Where | Cost | Link | 2018 Let's Get Moving with Dr. Lauren Lieberman - Family Weekend (NDVS/SB)
| March 16
6:00 pm | Baymont Inn & Suites
2611 Old Red Trail NW
Mandan, ND
| $10* | More Info | Including Children with Visual Impairments, Deafblindness and Additional Disabilities into Physical Education
| March 16
9:00 am to 2:30 pm | Baymont Inn & Suites
2611 Old Red Trail NW
Mandan, ND
| $50 | More Info | 2018 ADA Seminar
| March 20
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm | Holiday Inn Minot (Riverside)
2200 East Burdick Expy.
Minot, ND
| $17 | More Info | Create Connections, Understand Resistance, and Clarify Consensus (PEAK Webinar)
| March 20
1:00 pm to 2:00 pm | Online
| Free | More Info | Laying the Foundation for Communication Exchange: Part 2 - Strategies (NCDB Webinar)
| March 21
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm | Online
| Free | More Info | Study Skills 2: Multi-Sensory Learning and Review (CTD Webinar)
| March 22
11:30 am to 12:30 pm | Online
| Free | More Info | Bikers 4 Bikers Event
| March 24
11:00 am to 3:00 pm | HIT, Inc
2640 Sunset Dr.
Mandan, ND
| Donation | More Info |
All listed times are in Central Time.
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Stay Connected
 
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The contents of this newsletter were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, #H328M110021. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
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