RUSD Special Education CAC
Community Advisory Committee November Newsletter
November is Epilepsy Awareness Month
This November, The Epilepsy Foundation wants 2,020 people to get certified in Seizure Recognition and First Aid by the end of the month. Join us by taking training in November and recruiting your friends, family, and coworkers to get trained. Invite your child’s teacher, aides, and caretakers too.
CAC MEETINGS and Local Support Agency Meetings
RUSD Special Education CAC Meeting Dates
November 17, 2020, from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (click here to register) on Mental Health and Well-Being- How to Stay Calm During This Pandemic and Help Our Children
December - No meeting
January - No meeting
FEB 23, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. or 4:00 pm. - 6:00 p.m (if virtual) - How to Maximize Generic Resources
MAR 23, 2021, at 6:00 a.m. -7:30 p.m. - Arts Festival Night / Memorial Award
APR 27, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. or 4:00 pm - 6:00 p.m. (if virtual) - Conservatorship: What is it and Cost?
MAY 25, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. or 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (if virtual) - Executive Meeting and Planning
ESGV SELPA Meetings
Facilitating Your Child's Education During Distance Learning
November 10th from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Speakers: SELPA Director, Autism Coordinator, and School Psychologist
Pre-registration required at cacselpa@gmail.com to receive the zoom link
Parents Place Meetings
Support Groups
English-REACH Support Group
First Thursday of each Month
November 5th 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Nuevo Día Grupo de Apoyo en español
2nd Wednesday of the month
November 11th
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Teen Social Group for 13-17-year-olds Teen Titans
2nd Friday of the month
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Workshops
Transition to Adult Services
November 10th Tuesday
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. English
IEP Clinics by TASK
November 17
Call for appointments
9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. English and Spanish
Derechos sobre IHSS en español
November 6, Viernes
Message from CAC Chair
We are grateful to Dr. Tincup, our Special Education Director and our Special Education Administrators for their collaboration. They have made improvements to the District Special Education website, circulated the parent newsletter, and supported having a parent support group not affiliated with CAC. Lastly, they encourage parents to provide feedback on what's important for students and their families.
At the start of our CAC business meetings, time is spent on parent and community input. Your voice matters and I welcome you to join our CAC meetings to have the opportunity to share what matters the most, your students' needs. We look forward to hearing your concerns, experiences, and ideas for improvements at our next CAC meeting on November 17th at 4 pm.
Please complete the speaker request form (click here) if you would like to share at the beginning of the business meeting. Thank you so much from one parent to another. Let's keep doing our best to help our children be successful.
Importantly, if you know of any Special Education parents in the RUSD district who would benefit from attending our CAC meetings, please share with them. As a community, we are a T.E.A.M.; together everyone achieves more!
Elizabeth Cuevas, Parent
RUSD CAC Chair
What support materials are available for my child during Distance Learning?
Now that students are learning from home, children may not have the support materials the school classroom offers to assist them with their learning. Your child's teacher may be able to assist you in receiving support materials that your child may need at home.
What tools might assist your child? Do you find yourself spending time surfing the internet frantically researching materials, downloading, and printing anything that you may think will help? Here are some ideas to discuss with your child's teacher that may help support learning at home:
- a mouse to help navigate the Chromebook
- a printed schedule
- token board system
- school supplies
- hotspot (if needed)
- technical support
- fidget toys/sensory items
- communication with the teacher during office hours
- paper and pencil work packets
- screen breaks as needed
- timers
- apps available at school
- communication boards
Parents also need support! Are you finding yourself losing track of time because you help your child with their classwork and have no time to make lunch? Do not forget to pick up the free school lunch food available at selected school sites within the district! Every little bit of support helps.
Student Highlight: Christian Cuevas
Christian has autism and epilepsy and is currently a Junior at Rowland School. He is a member of Best Buddies and enjoys going to school and seeing his friends. The absence of not seeing his friends is one of the pitfalls of distance learning. Social interaction is important for Christian, and at school, he looks forward to after lunch, where he would wait for his friends to walk by so he can say "hi," get a hi-five or a hug. Although technology permits him to continue to see his friends online from a safe distance at home, he tremendously misses his friends from Best Buddies. His way of coping with his friends' absence is by spending time sitting, looking through several yearbooks and pointing out his friends with his family members.
If you would like to have your child highlighted in the newsletter, please email Elizabeth Cuevas, CAC Chair, at cuevasmom@mac.com.
The CAC Wants to Hear From You!
CAC Parent Representatives Needed
One of the goals of CAC is to encourage community involvement in local schools and act in support of individuals with disabilities. Therefore, the CAC is looking for parent representatives who are passionate about their child's education and will benefit from attending CAC meetings.
CAC representatives can share information discussed at meetings with their school teachers, support staff, principal, and community. Your attendance at CAC meetings allows you to share your ideas and input on agenda items related to CAC business with the CAC Board and Special Education Administration.
Thank you to Ms. Vanessa Chay, who will be the CAC parent representative for Rowland High School!
If you are interested in being your school's CAC Parent Representative, please send an email to Elynour Quan, CAC Secretary at elynour.quan@gmail.com.
Please include CAC Parent Rep in the subject line.
As a community, we are a T.E.A.M.; together everyone achieves more!
Apps that help with Distance Learning
Refer to TASKca.org for information on more apps, resources, and calendar of events.
A few apps recommendations are:
Early Learning- Duck Duck Moose app- www.duckduckmoose.com/
Math- Multiplication Kids app and Kahn Academy app
Reading- Reading Racers- for reading fluency www.readingracer.com
Writing - SnapType app www.snaptypeapp.com/
in SnapType, students can take a picture of their worksheets, or import worksheets from anywhere on their device.
Special Education Parent Social Support Group
Are you looking for ideas at home, school to support your child? Finding that time is being spent chasing your tail because you have exhausted all ideas and relied on using those that don't work? We would like to create a social support group for Special Education parents in the District. This will be an informal group that could meet on Zoom. This group will NOT be connected to CAC.
How can we support one another? These meetings could discuss various topics of interest, sharing tips and ideas, strategies that have worked and those that didn't. If you have ideas of topics, we would love to hear from you. We are open to feedback on how these meetings should be run, such as days and times, group format, etc. The building block for a successful parent is joining a network of like-minded individuals in supporting one another.
You can email Elizabeth Cuevas at cuevasmom@mac.com.
LIBRARY RESOURCES
LOS ANGELES COUNTY LIBRARY RESOURCES
Digital Library Card
Free Printing
No printer? No problem! You can now use our wireless printing service and pick up your documents at any pick-up location. Click Here for more information.
A Season To Give Thanks
Thank you, teachers, paraprofessionals, and the RUSD Special Education Department!
From the RUSD SELPA CAC and the Special Education families of the RUSD.
Photo: Anthony Quan, Fifth Grade Student at Oswalt Academy