The Down Syndrome Guild's (DSG) launched an innovative program in August 2009, called "Parents and Schools in Partnership."
The primary focus of this program is to build collaborative relationships between the DSG, parents and school districts to ensure positive outcomes for students with Down syndrome. The DSG asked various Special Education Directors to identify a school district employee to be the DSG Down Syndrome Specialist for one year.
This Down Syndrome Specialist agreed to be available for consultation to their district educators and parents of students with Down syndrome. The specialists hold a wide range of full time positions within their districts such as diagnosticians, nurses, principals, paraprofessionals or resource room teachers. The Specialists are not expected to attend every IEP meeting for a student with Down syndrome, but may be asked to consult, should the team need additional resources.
In turn, the DSG provides a resource binder chocked full of information on Down syndrome, free registration to any DSG sponsored educational conference, regular updates on research, best practices and events related to Down syndrome.
Below are the districts we have partnered with to date. We are proud to report that 13 school districts in Oakland County, a parochial school in Walled Lake and a charter school in Detroit have named a specialist. This list is growing every week.
The DSG is continually working to expand our specialist program. If you don't see your school district listed, please accept our apologies and know that we are working hard to add more specialists! We are also excited to report that other Down syndrome groups across the country are in the process of starting specialist program in their area. We know that this program can change lives.
We have over 125 teachers who receive our Inclusion Solutions and quarterly training emails. Is your student's teacher receiving our information? If not, sign them up here.
Enrollment for the 2010/2011 school will open soon. Please contact Paulette Duggins at info@dsgsemi.org if you are interested in enrolling. |
