These trainings are opportunities for parents, caregivers, and professionals to learn how students receive their special education services. The initial plan is to be meeting in person; however, information will be sent a couple of days prior to meeting.

From 2pm – 3pm will be the training topic.

The IEP clinic will go from 3pm – 4pm that will allow individuals to bring your students IEP, Evaluation, or 504 plan to the clinic and asked questions/answers.

Join other parents and caregivers who get it! talk about what works for them and what resources are available. Join us!

Second Thursday of the month!

Monthly on the 2nd Friday of each month at 7 PM.
A group for parents and caregivers of individuals with Down Syndrome.

Grab your dinner, a tasty beverage, and your phone, tablet, or computer – and join us online for social time together!
This group is about social connection, building community, emotional support, laughter, sharing resources, and just having a safe place to talk with other people who get it.
What to Expect:

• Good conversation
• Building community
• Connecting to other parents
• Sharing community resources

Questions:
Doreen VanderVort : (253)565-2266 ext 107
PAVE Pierce County Programs: P2P@wapave.org
Sharing Down Syndrome in Pierce County – SDSPC@wapave.org

This free online training is designed for all Alaskans providing direct support to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It will show a view of trauma from the perspective of the lives of people with IDD. We will begin by exploring the sources of trauma and then the effects of that trauma on both a biological and psychological level. Finally, we will focus on the key ingredients to help individuals heal and build a positive sense of self. Throughout, case studies will be examined to show how this knowledge can help support people in real-life scenarios.

Square Pegs has a new group just for autistic and neurodivergent parents. They meet the 2nd Sunday of each month here at The Arc from 10am-12pm. If you have questions they can contact Jen.St.Cyr@gmail.com or Gina@bunster.org

Please join Child Trends for a webinar on building and sustaining protective communities for Black children and their families. Communities play a critical role in children’s development and well-being, across all ages and developmental stages. Child Trends aims to contribute to national and local conversations about ways to ensure that Black children and families have access to communities that are protective and nurturing. Panelists will include a diverse range of perspectives—including research, policy, direct service, and advocacy voices in the fields of education, housing, health, and safety—and discuss strategies to dismantle racial inequities and build the conditions and contexts that Black children and families (and all children and families) need to thrive. Panelists will further reflect on their own visions for protective communities for Black children and families and what is required to achieve those visions.

People with disabilities, especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD), experience sexual assault at much higher rates than people without disabilities. They also encounter challenges receiving care and support services due to pervasive accessibility barriers. It is important to hear directly from individuals with disabilities who are survivors of sexual assault and learn their recommendations for how to improve the support system.

To raise awareness of these issues, the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary (OASH) and the Administration for Community Living (ACL) will host an equity-focused webinar on sexual violence against persons with ID/DD. The webinar is a collaborative effort with Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and Activating Change, a non-profit dedicated to increasing the visibility of the justice issues people with disabilities face.

The webinar will highlight the prevalence of sexual assault in the disability community. It will center the perspectives of sexual assault survivors with ID/DD, who will discuss their experiences, the barriers they encountered when seeking support, and the recommendations to improve access to care and justice. The target audience is broad and includes organizations serving people with ID/DD, organizations serving survivors of sexual violence, and victim advocates and prevention specialists, plus partners and grantees from HHS and other government agencies.

Continuing Education Hours: Approved for 1.5 National Advocate Credentialing Program (NACP) and DoD Sexual Assault Advocate Certification Program (D-SAACP) continuing education hours.

The National Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) — operated by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation — is hosting a webinar about the Peer & Family Support Program, which provides free peer mentoring to individuals living with paralysis and their family members and caregivers through a nationwide network of trained and certified mentors.

Peer support can provide vital benefits to patients with paralysis during an inpatient stay, the return home, and outpatient treatment. This webinar will introduce health care professionals to the program and explain how they can access peer support for their patients with paralysis. Topics to be covered include an overview of the program, who its mentors are, how to refer a patient to be mentored, and the patient-mentor matching process. There will be time at the end of the webinar for audience questions.

The webinar will be recorded and shared via email to all registrants and available on the Reeve Foundation’s YouTube channel.

This webinar is free and live captioning will be available. Contact Rebecca Sultzbaugh with questions.