Welcome parents, families, and of course, students!
It's going to be a great year of learning for your students, and hopefully for you, too. I want to create a space here for us to connect about the classroom: a place where you can learn about what we are doing every week, as well as a place for you to ask questions and connect with me and other Team members.
To get us started, I wanted to provide a list of excellent websites that I think are full of great information and will be excellent resources for you to bookmark and use again and again with your student.
1. CARE Parent Network
CARE Parent Network's website is full of all sorts of information and people to connect with and learn from. There's a newsletter you can sign up for. There are all sorts of monthly education events, as well as bigger, yearly education events. Grab a cup of coffee one morning, and set aside 30 minutes to dig through this website.
2. Parents Helping Parents
Parents Helping Parents is located down in San Jose, but I've braved the traffic and visited them for my own sons three times in the past two years. They host so many workshops for parents and families, from preparing for IEPs and learning about Assistive Technology, mental health supports for caregivers and families, and especially siblings. Parents Helping Parents is all about support and they do an excellent job.
3. Autism Society of San Francisco
Since many of my students have ASD, this society is near and dear to my heart in so many ways. They host conferences, as well as a blog and they can help connect families to many other resources in the Bay Area
4. Regional Center of the East Bay
If you haven't registered your kiddo yet be a client of the RCEB, you need to get cracking! Our Regional Center helps fund a ton of activities and supports for families like yours. Camps. Wraparound Services. Feeding Supports. Behavioral Supports. Mental Health Supports. Seriously, if your family isn't a client yet...why not? Talk to me. I can help walk you through the process.
5. SocialThinking.com
Michelle Garcia-Winner is a national figure in Autism Education and she lives and works right here in the Bay Area. This website is an automatic "GoTo" one for me, and I read it as a mom, as well as a professional educator, every week. There are FREE Webinars on communication, behavior, social skills, functional skills, everything and anything related to social learning. Bookmark this one! I will be sharing articles on this website often, too.
6. Autism Self Advocacy Network
You may not have heard of this group, but I bet you are familiar with their motto: Nothing about us without us. ASAN has been quietly advocating for people with autism for 12 years. If you have a student with ASD, you will want to bookmark this site and visit it often. The policies they advocate for are sensible and practical. They want to help create a world where autistics can be themselves and become valued and valuable members of society.
So these are a few of my favorites to get you started. For now, check these out and see if you can learn more about and for your student.
As always, please feel free to email or text me with any questions and concerns you have. I am here for your student, and for you and your family, too.
Warmly,
Gemma Callahan
