During the 2007 - 2008 school year, a group of Upper Merion parents met to share experiences as parents of children with special needs. Like most parents, we wanted our children to be healthy, happy and to achieve their fullest potential. But figuring out how to best support our children can be a difficult, lonely experience. And there is so much to do! We have to adjust to having a child with special needs, know how to access services, navigate the special education system and find a place for our child in school and in the community.
We found that we had many common questions and concerns on issues such as: inclusion, IEPs, transportation, therapies, extracurricular activities and social acceptance... just to name a few!
We decided to formalize our group, Upper Merion SPRING (Special education Parent Resource and INterest Group). We hope the name underscores our positive attitude, our energy and our belief that our children can thrive with the support of the Upper Merion schools and community.
We have now held ten public meetings for others who have children with special needs. We are encouraged by the response to these meetings and are currently working on the 2011-2012 school year meetings. We are looking forward to another great year.
We enjoyed having Janet Pelone, Supervisor of Student Services for the Upper Merion Area School District come out again and give a presentation on Transitioning to and through Upper Merion. We are hoping that we can provide this as an annual meeting to help those famillies that are at each stage of transitioning in our district. We are also planning our annual IEP/504 meeting.
We want to continue to help our special needs families and encourage your input.
