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Special
Kids: A Special Needs Resource & Referral Guide
Welcome to Special Kids, a guide to public and private programs, organizations and services in the Greater Chicago area for children from birth through high school.
Special Note: The online listings for private schools, child care centers, and service providers are limited to those who are a member of the ParentLink Partners Group ($25 annual membership fee). ParentLink has also put together an offline version of this publication, in which all the listings are free. An online table of contents and ordering information for Special Kids is here now.
Public
Schools:
The public schools are required by law to provide a "free and appropriate education" for special needs children from ages 3-21 in the least restrictive setting possible (generally, the "regular classroom", as much as possible). For a child who has (or may have) a special need, here's how it works:
Step 1) Preschool Screening - Just about every district offers developmental screenings at least once a year to all preschoolers in the district. Some districts also offer early intervention (birth-3) testing and/or services. Children who show difficulties in one or more areas (e.g., cognitive-thinking, social, gross motor (climbing, walking), or fine motor (cutting, holding a pencil), can be tested further by school personnel (psychologist, therapists, etc.). Those who qualify can receive educational and, if necessary, therapy services (speech, occupational, physical), counseling, etc. Parental consent is required for testing and placement.
Step 1 (school-aged) For school-aged children, the testing process can be started at the request of the parent(s) or suggested by a teacher, if there are concerns about a child's performance that suggest a disability of some kind. A team consisting of the teacher, psychologist, social worker, and, often, therapists (speech, occupational, physical) evaluate the child. Parental consent is required for testing.
Step 2) The "Individual Education Plan" (IEP). This is a statement of what the child's special needs are, what services will be provided to the child, what program the child will be placed in, and what goals there are for that child. This is done when the child is first evaluated, and then annually. Generally, the parent, teacher, principal, special needs coordinator, psychologist, and, possibly, therapists, participate in the IEP. Depending on circumstances, the child may also contribute to the IEP.
Special
Education Coops./Districts
These are consortiums of public school districts that provide services for less common and/or more intensive special needs (e.g. hearing- & vision-impairments, mental retardation, autism/ppd, behavioral disorders, etc.).
Here is a list of these coops:
Cooperative Association for Special
Education (CASE).
DuPage West Cook Low Incidence Programs.
Early
East DuPage Special Education District
(ESSED).
La Grange Area Department of Special
Education (LADSE). 1301
School Association for Special Education
in
Aero Special Education Coop.
Southwest Cook Cooperative. 6020 151st.
Northern
Suburban Special Education District
(NSSED).
Special
Education District of Lake County
(SEDOL).
SPEED
Coop (Special Education Joint
Agreement #802).
Niles Township Department of Special
Education (NTDSE).
Proviso Area for Exceptional Children
(PAEC).
Special
Education District of McHenry County
(SEDOM).
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Private
Schools:
Cove School
Services Provided: Counseling, Social Work, Therapy (Speech/Language, Occupational).
Special Needs Children Enrolled: Learning Disabilities.
Funding Sources: Parent Fees, Fundraisers, Donations.
School's Comments: The Cove School is an independent school for children/youths with learning disabilities gr. K-12. Current enrollment is 116 students. Tuition for 2007-2008 is $33,930. The staff includes LD certified teachers and licensed social workers, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists. Each child's program is determined by his/her Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and subjects taught are reading, writing, math, social studies, science, computer, music, art, library and physical education.
Related services provided: social work, occupational and speech/language therapy.
Extracurricular activities: chorus, soccer, basketball, softball, hip hop dance, tae kwon do and musical theater.
Direct inquiries to Sally Sover, Executive Director at 847-562-2100
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Books/Publications
Parent Guidebook. Betty Borgacz, Author. Email: parentguidebook@yahoo.com
I wrote this book while dealing with the many
complicated issues involved with special education. Being the mother of a child with Sensory
Integration Dysfunction, I have been forced to constantly advocate for an
educational situation that is compassionate and friendly for my child.
What I realized along the way is that I need
to understand the legal rights of my child and that to not follow those legal
rights would be against his civil rights.
Writing this book has been a vehicle for me to give an understanding of
the policies and laws regarding special education to other parents free of
charge and in entirety. I hope that this
makes a difference for them as much as it has for me. I hope we can all work together to make this
system more friendly to parents and children, through knowledge and through
holding schools, districts and federal organizations accountable.
This book is available to view and print for
free on http://oneparent2another.4t.com ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Support
Groups/Nonprofit Organizations
CHADD (Children & Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder):
Chicago Chapters:
South
Suburban CHADD
North Suburban CH.A.D.D.
Northwest Suburban CH.A.D.D. Rolling Meadows IL 847-303-1189
LaGrange CH.A.D.D.
Near West Suburban CH.A.D.D.
Glenbard CH.A.D.D.
West Suburban CH.A.D.D.
McHenry
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Autism Society of America
Autism Society of
Near West Suburban/Chicago 2513 N. Sayre Ave., Chicago IL 60707, 773-237-4003
Chicago/South Suburban 2915 Polly Lane, Flossmoor IL 60422, 708-206-0379
North Suburban
199 Shadow Bend Dr., Wheeling IL 60090, 847-541-9969
Northwest Suburban 1085 Gannon Dr., Hoffman Estates IL 60194, 847-885-4164.
Far West Suburban P.O. Box 9166, Downers Grove IL 60515, 630-969-1094
Northeast Illinois 708 Crossland Dr., Grayslake IL 60030, 847-548-8745
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
National Association for Down Syndrome
North Shore (847)
509-9283, (773) 777-9537
Aurora Area (630)
554-9888 Far South Suburban (708) 430-4234 West
Suburban (630) 369-6309 Northwest Suburban (847)
298-3674
Far West Suburban (815) 627-9356 Elgin Area Jayne Shover Rehab. Center
(847) 742-3264
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
International Dyslexia Association
Illinois Branch
751 Roosevelt Road, Building 7, Suite 301, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137, 630-469-6900
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pathways Awareness Foundation (a not-for-profit organization dedicated to education
for and about children with movement and physical challenges, and their
families). 123 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago IL 60606, 312-710-3050 or 1-800-955-2445.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Indian Prairie School District 204 Special Needs
PTA (non-profit district-wide organization featuring
monthly meetings with speakers on topics of interest to the special needs
community)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We Grow Dreams Foundation (non-profit organization providing job training and
employment for youths and young adults with disabilities)
Recreation
Special Recreation Associations:
Northeast Special Recreation Association (NEDSRA)
1770
South East Association for
Gateway Special Recreation Association (Gateway SRA), 15W431
Northwest Special Recreation Association (NWSRA) 3000 W. Central Rd., Rolling Meadows, Ste. 205,
847-392-2848. Recreational programs for special needs individuals of all ages.
Cooperative extension of the Park Districts of Arlington Heights, Bartlett,
Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove, Hoffman Estates, Mt. Prospect, Palatine, Prospect
Heights, Schaumburg, Streamwood, and Wheeling. Also serves smaller communities
in the area.
West Suburban Recreation Association (WSSRA),
Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association
(NSSRA). 7 Happ Rd. Northfield, IL
60093 (847) 501-4332. Recreational programs for special needs individuals of
all ages. Cooperative extension of the Park Districts of Deerfield, Glencoe,
Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Northfield, and
Wilmette.
Maine-Niles Special Recreation Association (M-NSRA).
Special Recreation Association of
Special Recreation Association of
Warren Special Recreation Association (WSRA). 17801 W. Washington Street, Gurnee IL 60031,
847-244-6619. Recreational programs for special needs individuals of all ages.
Cooperative extension of the Park Districts of Gurnee, Wildwood.
Waukegan-Foss Special Recreation Association.
Southwest Special Recreation Association (SWSRA),
Oak Lawn Park District Special Recreation Programs at
South Suburban Special Recreation Association (SRA).
Lincoln-Way Special Recreation Association. 329 W Maple St New Lenox, IL 60451, (815) 485-9517
Recreational programs for special needs individuals of all ages. Cooperative
extension of the Park Districts of Frankfort, Mokena, New Lenox, and Peotone
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Other sports/recreation organizations:
AYSO-VIP Soccer.
Soccer league for children with developmental disabilities. Subgroup of AYSO
Soccer. 1-800-910-AYSO
AYSO Directory-Chicago Area, Web Addresses:
Area 6 (Chicago-Lakefront,
Chicago-Rogers Park, Deerfield, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Morton
Grove, Rolling Meadows, Skokie, Winnetka-New Trier Township): www.playsoccer.org/area6d/.
AYSO Directory-Chicago Area, Email Addresses:
Harvard: pfngs104@gateway.net
AYSO Directory-Chicago Area, Phone numbers:
Chicago-NW Side:
(773) 381-0436 Chicago-Hyde Park: (773) 324-KICK Chicago-Lakefront:
(773) 929-KICK
Lake Forest:
(847) 615-2976 Highland Park: (847) 433-TEAM Skokie: (847)
676-2976 Morton Grove: (847) 470-6930
Glenview:
(847) 729-2976 Winnetka: 1-800-910-AYSO Deerfield: (847) 604-1560
Evanston: (847) 328-2976
Rolling Meadows:
(847) 604-2471 Lake Zurich: (847) 726-2976 Grayslake: (847)
223-7989 Winthrop Harbor: (847) 604-1258
Mundelein:
1-847-949-6320 Harvard: (815) 334-SOCC Woodstock: (815) 334-7007 Elmhurst:
(630) 822-2666
West Chicago:
(630) 686-0027 Hinsdale: 630-654-AYSO. Lemont: (630) 257-5120 Western
Springs: (630) 829-4344
River Forest:
(708) 345-1162
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