e-NEWS December 15, 2006
Happy Holidays to family and friends!
This will be the last e-News for the year due to the Holidays. However, we will continue to respond to website inquiries and phone messages periodically during the winter break (December 18th – January 3rd).The Board of Directors has been busy working on many exciting projects and activities. We will be sharing our strategic plan/initiatives in the first part of the New Year. We encourage you to stay current with e-News for updates on DSA ac tivities…stay tuned!
W ow…we have reached capacity for the Holiday Social! Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate any additional reservations due to the advance notice required for catering and other planning needs. We look forward to seeing you on December 17 th at Loew’s Coronado Bay Resort.
An update regarding Disney on Ice Olympics - We had an immediate and overwhelming response regarding the Disney on Ice opportunity for children with special needs (ages 6-10years). All of the 25 allocated slots have been filled and participants will be receiving confirmation and updates after the holidays. Thank you for your interest.
DSA of San Diego is still selling the Entertainment
‘
07 Book San
Diego edition for $40.
You may order books online or purchase them at the Holiday Party on December 17th. Books may be purchased online until December 25 th . All the money raised will benefit the Booster
Buddies. If you have friends or family living outside of San Diego, books for other cities/states may be purchased online. http://www.fundraising.entertainment.com/esale2.cfm?CI=894696&SI=653
688&LI=1. This fundraiser provides BIG SAVINGS for merchandise and food you purchase for yourself or your family. Thank you for supporting
DSA San Diego.
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
By clicking on an event link you may view the event details or go to
http://www.efrconline.org/calendar/maincal.cfm for all events.
Local:
12/16/06 Eveoke Dance Theatre Winter Celebration

12/16/06 Jingle Jam Holiday Dance – Chula Vista
12/17/06 DSA Holiday Party
– (Registration is closed)
1/05/07 Ability Awareness in Action Training – National City
1/11/07 Community Advisory for Special Education meeting -
Clairemont
1/18/07 Oral Health workshop
– Point Loma
1/20/07 Post-School Transitions seminar for parents – Mission Valley
1/24/07 NCCSE Community Advisory Committee Meeting –
North County
2/20/07 Wrightslaw Special Education & Advocacy Training – Mission
Bay, San Diego
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UPCOMING SUPPORT GROUPS:
For details: http://www.efrconline.org/efrc.cfm?pid=Support_Groups
12/14/06 Asociación Síndrome de Down y Centro de Recursos para
Familias Excepcionales lo invitan a asistir una seria de juntas para padres de niños (0-5 años de edad) que presentan Síndrome de Down. Lugar:
Harold J Ballard Center, 2375 Congress Street, San Diego, CA 92110
(Old Town) de 6:30pm - 8:30pm Habrá una area de juegos supervisada para niños menores de 10 años. Reserve su lugar. Para hacer su reservación, llame al Centro de Recursos para Familias Excepcionales con Edna al 619-594-7407. Ver el Volante a http://www.efrconline.org/admin/files/Support%20Group%20DSA%20span ish%202007.doc.
1/09/07 DSA/EFRC North County Support Group:
For parents of children birth to 5years
Meets monthly at the EFRC North Coastal office, 380 Mulberry Drive Suite
A, San Marcos 92069 from 6:00pm - 7:30pm. No childcare provided, but parents are welcome to bring babies. For more information, please call 760-510-3994 or email tshortal@projects.sdsu.edu. View flyer at http://www.efrconline.org/admin/files/Support%20Group%20DSA%20San
%20Marcos%202007.doc.
1/11/07 DSA/EFRC Central Support Group :
For parents of children birth to five years
Meets monthly at the Harold J. Ballard Parent Center, 2375 Congress
Street, San Diego 92110 (Old Town) from 6:30 - 8:30pm. Supervised play for children up to age 10 is available with reservation. Please call EFRC at
(619) 594-7416.
Topic for this month will address speech and language issues.
We have invited a speech/language pathologist to present information and address your questions and concerns. View flyer at http://www.efrconline.org/admin/files/Support%20Group%20DSA%20Engli sh%202007.doc.
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RESOURCES:
The U.K has just launched Askability which uses Symbol, a pictorial language to provide news and information to children and teens who use
Symbol language. All submitted content converts to picture symbols.
Users are able to submit jokes, feedback and discussion items. Children with learning disabilities can now easily become informed about current events and participate in a central forum to express their views and opinions. Great news for all picture symbol users. From Sue Watson.
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LEGISLATION:
A very important lawsuit has been filed in New Jersey, which may have implications for the rest of the country regarding the right of students with
Down syndrome to an inclusive education. The case is Grieco et al v. New
Jersey Department of Education et al and the co-counsels are White and
Williams LLP (which has offices in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) and the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. The individual plaintiffs are Vincenzo Grieco (age 9), Simone Boucher (age 6),
Christopher Briscese (age 13), and their parents. These children have been denied full inclusion in regular education classrooms and have not received the supports to be successfully included in those classrooms.
The lawsuit is also brought as a class action on behalf of all students age
3-21 who are classified under IDEA as mentally retarded or multiply disabled who have not been, or will not in the future be, included in regular education classrooms to the maximum extent possible or who have been placed, or in the future will be placed, in the regular education classrooms without the supplementary aides and services needed to be successful.
There are also a number of organizations plaintiffs. NDSS is in the process of being added to the complaint in this category. The other organizational plaintiffs are NDSC, TASH, and The Family Alliance to Stop
Abuse and Neglect. The defendants are the New Jersey Department of
Education, as well as other state and local education entities and representatives.
The remedies sought in this lawsuit are the full inclusion of the individual plaintiffs with the necessary supports, as well as specific steps that must be taken by the defendants to ensure that students with Down syndrome, in general, are no longer inappropriately excluded from regular education classes or denied the necessary supplementary aids and services to be successful.
NDSS has joined this lawsuit as a plaintiff because of its importance to ensure full implementation of IDEA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. IDEA guarantees the right to a free, appropriate, public education in the least restrictive environment
(LRE) for all children with disabilities. The IEP team decision-making process about the least restrictive environment is supposed to begin with a consideration of the regular education classroom. More restrictive options cannot be considered unless the student is unable to demonstrate

progress on his or her IEP goals in that setting, even after being provided with all the appropriate supplementary aides and services. It is critically important that this process is followed so that students are placed appropriately along the LRE continuum.
This is not an absolute right to inclusion; rather it is a right for children with disabilities to have the opportunity to be educated in the regular education classroom if that is the appropriate placement. New Jersey has some of the worst LRE statistics in the country. Only the District of Columbia has a higher percentage of students classified as mentally retarded or multiply disabled under IDEA in separate special education schools.
NDSS envisions a world in which all people with Down syndrome have the opportunity to realize their life aspirations and is committed to enhancing the quality of life, and realizing the potential of all people with Down syndrome. Advocacy is one of the methods NDSS employs to actualize this vision. Therefore, it is our responsibility to advocate for individuals with Down syndrome whenever and wherever they are systematically being denied opportunities based on their diagnosis. This lawsuit is important to our constituents in every state because it will shine a light on discriminatory educational practices that are not exclusive to New Jersey.
If the plaintiffs prevail, the remedies requested under the lawsuit will provide a model for systems change that can be replicated in your state.
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OPPORTUNITIES:
P A I W a n t s T o H e a r F r o m Y o u - P r o t e c t i o n a n d A d v o c a c y
I n c . ( P A I ) i s a n o n p r o f i t a g e n c y t h a t p r o t e c t s t h e r i g h t s o f p e o p l e w i t h d i s a b i l i t i e s . T h e y are developing their Advocacy Plan.
This Plan will select the issues PAI will work on for the next five years.
Please tell them which issues are important by answering the questions below. If you need help, please call them at (800) 7765746 and say, “I need help with your survey.” They must receive your response no later than March 15, 2007. View survey at
http://fs12.formsite.com/bsilva/form233208776/index.html
The application for the 2007 Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) is now available! Please go to the following Web site to obtain the application and information on the NEW APPLICATION SUBMISSION PROCESS: http://youthleadership.kintera.org. This year, the application is available as a fill and submit online version. If you have any questions about the application process, please e-mail YLFapps@cfilc.org or call 800-695-
0350, 916-395-1690 Voice, or 916-395-1695 TTY.
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RECREATION:
Disneyland Community Involvement Program
For people with disabilities and up to 5 family members
Cost is $25 per person for a 1-day admission to either Disneyland or
California Adventure and parking for 1 vehicle. Ages 2 and under are free.

Specific dates in February and March are available.
Tickets must be purchased well in advance, specific deadlines apply.
For more information contact your San Diego Regional Center service coordinator, or Rhonda van Eklenberg at 858-571-7803.
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December 15, 2006
Down Syndrome Association of San Diego does not promote or recommend any therapy, treatment, institution, etc. and does not espouse any particular political, educational or religious views. Inclusion of information or resources does not necessarily imply promotion or recommendation by DSA of SD. Content is provided for
informational purposes only.