The Safe Place

This book is intended to serve as a freestanding reference for teachers whose classes include students with academic or behavioral difficulties. The recommended best practices were originally developed for students with disabilities but have been found to be effective with all students. Each chapter provides principles, suggestions and specific tools (such as sample check lists, rubrics, forms, word lists, observation guides, planning guides, and lesson plans).

Increasingly, teachers are learning about the important role of Response to Intervention (RTI) in the success of every child. RTI is a multifaceted approach that provides immediate, relevant, and research-based services and interventions to students in general, compensatory, and special education. Written by two legal and special education experts, this concise, reader-friendly guide introduces educators to the purpose, core principles, legal basis, benefits, and application of this service delivery model.

This 2007 book covers key legal topics — Who is a person with a disability under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act? What accommodations are required? What documentation is necessary? How do the ADA and RA apply in higher education and in the workplace? What are the courts deciding? What about state law? How to advocate for your position?

Until the 1960s a learning disability was a hidden handicap wearing many guises and treated ineffectively. Today, shows the author, founder of the unique Lab School in Washington, D.C., and herself the parent of a learning-disabled child, there is growing evidence that such difficulties can be either overcome or modified by teaching strategies that address the student’s specific strengths. The stories of adults—some of them celebrities like Cher, who suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia—who coped with learning problems throughout their school days illustrate the depths of the disability said to afflict more than 25 million Americans. Distilling her experiences with learning-disabled students, their parents and teachers, Smith demonstrates that a variety of approaches to learning can yield later career success, thus offering hope to children and adults so burdened.

This is a unique handbook that teaches parents how to work with schools to achieve optimal learning situations and accommodations for their child’s needs. From IEPs and 504 Plans, to IDEA and NCLB, navigating today’s school system can be difficult for even the most up-to-date, education savvy parent. Special needs advocates Rich Weinfeld and Michelle Davis provide parents and professional advocates with concise, easy-to-understand definitions and descriptions of legal terms and school regulations, along with checklists, tips, questionnaires, and other tools.

Gary just can’t seem to fit in. He doesn’t have any friends, his school work is always sloppy, and his teachers endlessly criticize him. But Gary has a way to escape—he spaces out. Then one day Gary accidentally hurts someone, and now he’s being sent to a new school for kids with different learning styles. Will Gary finally be able to catch up and fit in, or will he remain the Spaceman forever?