New to the special education process?

This one is for you parents, caregivers, or students who are new to the special education referral process. Here are some great links and resources for those of you who are brand new to the whole world of special education:

• CEC's tool of the week - Here are some free downloads available from the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC). These are all great downloads for any stage of special education. Some downloads include: driver's ed, understanding special education, and more.
• Special education news - Here is a great resource that has history of special education, and trending topics regarding special education.
• FAPE - Here is a great resource all about FAPE - Free and Appropriate Public Education 
• IDEA - Click here to learn about the IDEA  - Individual's with Disabilities Education Act.
• IEP - Here is a great site about the IEP process.
• NCLB - No child left behind - learn all about it here.

Have Twitter? Here are some special education related hash-tags:

• #sped
• #spedchat
• #specialneeds
• #spedtech
• #autism
• #adhd
• #asd

CEC's Tool of the Week

Thank you to Alecia R. from Twitter (@aleciarrb)for this great site. Alecia is a mom of two boys, and a teacher in Iowa. She is also a RtI implementer. The site that Alecia tweeted was CEC's Tool of the Week.

This site is updated every Monday with free tools for special educators. This week's tool is a downloadable text all about ADA Amendments in plain English! This is a nice resource to have by your side, and best of all it's free! You can also view past tools of the week in the archived section. The site also has a convenient link to CEC's homepage.

If you enjoy this site and what it has to offer be sure to subscribe to it by adding your email address. I can't wait to see what this site has in store!

Thanks for the find @aleciarrb. Don't forget to mark your calendar for CEC's annual conference April 11-14 in Denver!