Posted September 22, 2006
>Here is a schedule of upcoming meetings

At its first meeting of the year, the PTA’s Special Education Resource Committee (SERC) hosted speaker Nancy Brown, right, from Project Choices (a state-funded entity that supports special education initiatives). Brown, a mother of a special education child herself, mixed personal insights with professional experience to lead the group in an examination of how family-school communication can support student success. 'Each child is on a quest, a difficult journey through unknown territory,' said Brown.

Productive, child-centered communication between family and school is essential to support the quest, said Brown, who led the group through a number of activities, including an analysis of a communication breakdown in a hypothetical situation between a teacher and mom regarding a child who was having trouble in school. Participants identified communication blockages, such as rigidity and lack of knowledge about how to use resources, and examined how a child-centered approach might have improved the situation. SERC welcomes all parents, regardless of whether they have a special education child.