Parent Mentor presents at NSSED

Wouldn't it be nice to have something like this in McHenry County?

Parents of children in special education are left mostly to fend for themselves and are generally without peer support. The moms in Huntley have become pro-active, but what's happening in the rest of the County? Zip, nada, nothing; or very little.

Ideally, parents, students and educators would all be on the same page. After all, they are supposed to be working for the benefit of the students. Right? Yes, they are supposed to be.

A program next week will be sponsored by the North Shore Special Education District (NSSED), and I'll trek over to Northfield for the two-hour program on January 19. To save you a trip, I'll write it up after I get back.

How does this program sound to you? Like something like it around here?

"The demands of special needs parents are overwhelming and constant. Because we are often too busy with just the day-to-day needs required of our child, we lose our bearings in navigating the process of raising our special needs child. And that perspective can affect the course of everything – how well we advocate for our child, manage our family life and how we plan for the future. Susan Hans (a parent mentor) will present an interactive session on ways to manage this process – learning to evaluate what is effective advocacy for your child, how you can create new roads toward positive outcomes and how to accomplish both these goals with a fresh perspective."