August 2022 Special Connection
Dear Families and Friends,
We hope you all are well and keeping cool. Please review this newsletter with useful and important news just for you, especially these ASCF trainings:
Parent Training: Parenting Your Special Child, Thurs. August 17, 6:30 pm
Advocacy Training: Organizing Your Paperwork, Wed, August 24, 6:30-8 pm
Please share this information with others. Keep in touch. ASCF staff and Board
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 988
We are excited to share this valuable information.
Help is just a call away! 9-8-8 is the new three-digit dialing code for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org if you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.
988 is confidential, free, and available 24/7/365, connecting those experiencing a mental health, substance use, or suicidal crisis with trained crisis counselors.
Access is available through every land line, cell phone, and voice-over internet device in the United States and call services are available in Spanish, along with interpretation services in over 150 languages.
Kim Musheno, vice president of public policy at the Autism Society of America, said she and other advocates are optimistic that 988 will benefit people with autism and other developmental disabilities, many of whom have co-occurring mental health conditions.
“We view this as a positive step in the right direction,” she said. “People with autism who are in a mental health crisis often have nowhere to turn. This often results in a call to the police or taking the individual to a hospital. Neither is appropriate.
PARENTING GUIDANCE
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Temperament and Your Child’s Personality
 
Personality is determined by the interaction of temperament traits with the environment. Each person (including your child) comes with a factory installed wiring. How your child is wired can determine whether they will be easy or difficult to raise. How well their temperament fits with the environment and how well they are received by the people in the environment will determine how a child sees himself and others.
 
What is temperament?
 Temperament is a set of inborn traits that organize the child’s approach to the world. They are instrumental in the development of the child’s distinct personality.
 
These traits also determine how the child goes about learning about the world around him. These traits appear to be relatively stable from birth. They are enduring characteristics that are actually never “good” or “bad.” How they are received determines whether they are perceived by the child as being a bad or good thing. When parents understand the temperament of their children, they can avoid blaming themselves for issues that are normal for their child’s temperament. Some children are noisier than others; some are more cuddly than others; some have more regular sleep patterns that others.
 
When parents understand how their child responds to certain situations, they learn to anticipate issues that might present difficulties for their child. They can prepare the child for the situation or in other cases they may avoid a potentially difficult situation altogether.
 
Parents can tailor their parenting strategies to the particular temperamental characteristics of the child. They can also avoid thinking that a behavior that reflects a temperament trait represents a pathological condition that requires treatment.
 
Parents feel more effective as they more fully understand and appreciate their child’s unique personality.
When the demands and expectations of people and the environment are compatible with the child’s temperament, there is said to be a “goodness-of-fit.” When incompatibility exists, you have what is known as a “personality conflict.” Early on parents can work with the child’s temperamental traits rather than in opposition to them. Later as the child matures, the parents can help the child to adapt to their world by accommodating to their temperamental traits.
https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/uncategorized/temperament_and_your_childBBy Parenting Today Staff / January 23, 2022 
Parenting Tips
1.     Set rules that are clear and fair.
2.   Make sure your child understands the consequences which should be meaningful to the child.
3.   Be firm when giving a direction or setting a limit. (This is not a request).
4.   Don't give in as this rewards negative behavior.
5.    Don't reward children for behaviors that are expected.
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ADVOCACY
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About the IEP Team  
To write an effective IEP for a child with a disability, parents, teachers, other school staff—and often the child—come together at a meeting to look closely at the child’s unique needs.
These individuals combine their knowledge, experience, and commitment to design an educational program that must help the child to be involved in, and progress in, the general education curriculum—that is, the same curriculum as for children without disabilities. The IEP guides the delivery of special education and related services and supplementary aids and supports for the child with a disability. Without a doubt, writing—and implementing—an effective IEP requires teamwork.
So–who’s on the team? Here’s a list, as specified in IDEA, our nation’s special education law. Note that the order in which the IEP team members are going to be listed and discussed has nothing to do with their priority on the team. Every member has an equal say and important expertise to contribute.
 The IEP Team, Short and Sweet
IDEA (at §300.321) describes the IEP team as including the following members:
— the parents of the child;
— not less than one regular education teacher of the child (if the child is, or may be, participating in the regular education environment);
— not less than one special education teacher of the child, or where appropriate, not less then one special education provider of the child;
— a representative of the public agency who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities; is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum; and is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency;
— an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results;
— other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate (invited at the discretion of the parent or the agency); and
— the child with a disability (when appropriate).
 Updated April 2022
Go to:
https://www.parentcenterhub.org/iep-team/
SCIENCE CLUB FOR ALL KIDS
To find out the August date please call the Highlands Family Success Center at 973-506-6675.
Virtual Trainings
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REAL Transition Virtual Youth Mentoring Series
Open to youth and young adults ages 14 to 21. Please join the remaining 2 sessions to this amazing opportunity to explore your interests and options for life after high school.
Aug 4, 2022
6:00 PM and
Aug 11, 2022    6-7:30 pm
Sessions will be facilitated by peer mentors who have experienced different types of transition and are in various stages of the process. Session 3: How can I prepare for post high school? Session 4: Where do I see myself after high school & what does my world look like?
Please contact [email protected]
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Essential Components of the IEP
Wed. August 10, 2022
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
This workshop provides participants with a review of the essential components of an Individualized Education Plan. As a result of this workshop, participants will better understand the IEP document and the parent’s role in the development of an IEP. How to address IEP concerns/issues in a proactive and positive way will be discussed. Participants are invited to bring their own IEP they can review during the presentation. Presented by: Kim Rivers
Contact Tammi Kaminski at [email protected]
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ASCF Parent Training:
Parenting Your Special Child
Thurs. August 17, 6:30 pm
We will discuss some ideas to assist you in raising your special child and reduce some of your stress.
Register by calling ASCF at 973-728-8744 or emailing [email protected] The link will be sent to you.
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ASCF Advocacy Training
Organizing Your Paperwork
Wed, August 24, 6:30-8 pm
ASCF shares ways to organize the mountain of paperwork you have for your child and be better prepared for school meetings.
Register by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].
The link will be sent to to you.
SPECIAL PARENTING SUPPORT
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Tips for Single Parents
Emotional Distress
Single parents often find they have to deal with their anxieties alone. How can you cope with the hurt and isolation?
 • Talk to someone. Strength means asking for help when you need it. Call a community hotline, social service agency or member of the clergy for names of qualified counselors.
• Find a support group, others who have been through the same experience. Make contact with other single parents in your neighborhood, school, or church.
• Find a new hobby or rediscover an old one. Find at least one thing that you can do for yourself that makes you feel good, anything inexpensive that you can do to relax.
 • Get out of the house occasionally. Visit friends, take part in community affairs. You need to have some time for yourself and contact with people of your own age.
 • Stick to routines to help you cope. This helps you feel more in control and helps your children feel more secure.
 Control emotional responses to your children. Here are some simple things to do when you are so angry with your children that you want to scream at them or hit them:
• Stop in your tracks.
• Breathe deeply in and out.
• Count to 20 before speaking.
 • Go into another room.
• Call a friend.
• Read a magazine.
• Take a hot bath.
Wait until you are in control of yourself before you try to take control of the situation.
You Can Do It! You can cope with the stress of single parenthood! Millions of other single parents have done it, have raised happy healthy children, and are enjoying happy fulfilled lives.
Prevent Child Abuse New York
Prevention and Parent Helpline | 1-800-CHILDREN A program of PCANY | www.preventchildabuseny.org | [email protected]
RESOURCE
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Colorín Colorado is a bilingual website designed for the parents and educators of English language learners. The website gives Spanish-speaking parents a wealth of information in their native language and gives teachers the information they need to be more effective in working with children for whom English is a second language.
www.colorincolorado.org
Support, Training and Informational Groups
Mom Squad Virtual Support Group.
Join this amazing group with ASCF and Family Partners on Thursdays,
Aug 4, 11, 18, 25 from 6-7:30 pm.
Diane Varga: [email protected]  
cell: 862-273-5046
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Family Support Organization of Passaic County and ASCF offer these sessions on Tuesdays, Aug 2,9,16, 23, 29, from 6:30 to 8 pm. Aug 29 will be in person at the Highlands Family Success Center. Register with Nina Reams:
[email protected] or 973 979- 0508 
Thoughts To Ponder
Celebrate the little things! 
Brag about those accomplishments that might seem small to others but are huge for our kids! Our kids develop on their own clock, they learn many skills late and some they never master. A wiggled toe that couldn’t wiggle before, a word, a sentence, a smile, a hug, whatever that milestone may be, share it with those who love you and your child.
Please think about supporting ASCF
DISCLAIMER:
The Association for Special Children and Families does not provide or give legal or medical advice.
DESCARGO DE RESPONSABILIDAD:
La Asociación para Niños y Familias Especiales no proporciona ni brinda asesoramiento legal o médico.
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