Special Services

SPAN: Parent Advocacy Network 

https://spanadvocacy.org/

CHILD FIND

All Morris County school districts offer varied educational programs and services for students ages three (3) to 21. Parents or other appropriate persons may refer children who are experiencing significant difficulties.

Child Study Team services are available to children age three (3) to 21. Children experiencing physical, sensory, emotional, communication, cognitive and/or social difficulties may be eligible for special education and related services. Parents should contact their district Child Study Team office for further information. Babies from birth to three (3), who are thought to have a developmental delay, may receive assistance from the Early Intervention Program. To access this service, parents should contact the Service Coordinator for Early Intervention at 973-971-4155.

If parents are concerned about their school age child’s progress, they should feel free to discuss such issues with their child’s teacher, guidance counselor and/or principal. Parents have the option of making a referral to the Intervention and Referral Services (I&RS) committee or to the Child Study Team (CST). The I&RS offers intervention procedures that are provided within the regular education school program. At times, however, more extensive interventions that can be provided in a regular education setting are necessary to assist the student. If the decision is made to undertake a full Child Study Team evaluation, the child’s social, emotional and academic status may be assessed. Medical or other specialized evaluations may be included in the assessment at no cost to the parent. If a child is determined to be eligible for special education and related services, an individualized Education Program (IEP) is developed, which includes a rationale for the student’s educational placement and the basis for the program implementation.

The following is a listing of county Child Study Team offices/phone numbers. For further assistance, contact your local district.

What are Executive Functions?

While there is no formal definition of executive functions, it is an umbrella term for various complex processes in the brain that together orchestrate such functions such as organizing, planning, decision-making,self-control, the ability to shift attention, time management, memory of details and so on.

For further information, we suggest visiting these other sites and resources**:

http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750

http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/executive-function

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/inbrief_series/inbrief_executive_function/

http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/asperger-syndrome-and-high-functioning-autism-tool-kit/executive-functioni

• What is Mindfulness?

In his book, The Mindful Brain, Daniel J. Siegel, Director of the Mindsight Institute,Co-Director of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center provides the following description:

Mindfulness in its most general sense is about waking up from a life on automatic, and being sensitive to novelty in our everyday experiences. With mindful awareness the flow of energy and information that is our mind enters our conscious attention and we can both appreciate its contents and come to regulate its flow in a new way. Mindful awareness, as we will see, actually involves more than just simply being aware: It involves being aware of aspects of the mind itself. Instead of being on automatic and mindless, mindfulness helps us awaken, and by reflecting on the mind we are enabled to make choices and thus change becomes possible.

Being mindful is not only being aware, it is being aware of awareness. It is approaching the present experience with a reflective awareness including the qualities of curiosity, openness, acceptance, and love.

"While there are many definitions of mindfulness, the definition I use with children and adolescents is: Mindfulness is paying attention to your life, here and now, with kindness and curiosity. One of the primary ironies of modern education is that we ask students to “pay attention” dozens of times a day, yet we never teach them how.The practice of mindfulness teaches students how to pay attention, and this way of paying attention enhances both academic and social-emotional learning.”

“Mindfulness training emphasizes focused attention to internal and external experiences in the present moment and time without judgment.”

For further information,we suggest visiting these other sites and resources**:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/mindfulness

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/10/mindfulness-helps-you-become-a/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/fashion/mindfulness-and-meditation-are-capturing-attention.html

http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/calculus/

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation by Daniel Segal; http://www.amazon.com/Mindsight-New-Science-Personal-Transformation/dp/0553386395/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384610448&sr=1-1&keywords=dan+siegel

Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercisesfor Kids (and their Parents) byEline Snel, Myla Kabat-Zinn and Jon Kabat-Zinn; http://www.amazon.com/Sitting-Still-Like-Frog-Mindfulness/dp/1611800587/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384610200&sr=1-15&keywords=mindfulness

Mindful awareness training develops concentration and regulation of attention thereby contributing to improved executive functioning processes. Mindfulness enables the individual to develop the emotional regulation to manage and carry out executive functions most effectively. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ880516