2BSD Blog

Creating Specialized Dental Resources for Students with Disabilities

I received a note from Jamie Brown in Lincoln, NE this week informing me about some resources she and a dentist have created to help their patients with ADHD receive better dental care. Jamie’s sister had been struggling with dental care issues with her son for years. She did not understand why he was so stressed when he had to brush his teeth or go to his dental appointments until he was diagnosed with ADHD. They were clearly encountering barriers in the Self-Determination Action Model component of Value Yourself; take care of yourself. Rather than having their self-determination thwarted, they took action.

Jamie, who works for Dentably, a dental practice that specializes in care for underserved patients, and Dr. Greg, one of the dentists in the practice did some research on ADHD and dental care and found that many children who have ADHD are not getting the dental care they should. They developed a dental guide for parents and caregivers of children and teens with ADHD in order to help them understand what their child is going through with regards to dental issues and how to help. The guide also has tips for dentists as to how they can better serve the needs of their patients with ADHD.

Their guide is available at the following link: https://www.emergencydentistsusa.com/adhd-and-dental-care/.

Jamie is happy to report that now her nephew has one of the best smiles in town; his mom does too! Note: Dentably also has guides on meeting the dental needs of several underrepresented groups, including those with Down’s Syndrome, and Autism.

Pace University Launches Self-Determination Support

Pace University’s Student Accessibility Services (SAS) recently held a “Sundae Funday” to introduce their undergraduate and graduate students to self-determination opportunities that will be available to them on campus during the coming year. 2BSD was pleased to be a sponsor of the event. Pace is providing students with the opportunity to participate in two self-determination related programs: The Climb to Success and C.A.F.E: Connecting Authentically & Finding Empathy.

A Conversation with Greg Scott, Founder of Soundprint

Greg Scott just wanted to go to a restaurant where he could take a date and have a quiet conversation. As a Manhattanite with a hearing impairment, this was a tall order. He searched for quieter restaurants by reading reviews and found that, even those that were supposed to be quieter, usually weren’t. It was even harder to find a quiet restaurant when he was traveling. Echoing the experience of many persons with hearing impairments, Greg said “I recall many times sitting at a restaurant table feeling completely lost in the conversation while others conversed and connected with each other. I would often nod my head in unison with the conversation, pretending to hear my companions when I could not, and then idly pass the time by entertaining myself with whatever fiction entered my head.”

Announcing 2BSD’s 2019 Mini-Grant Recipients!

We had hard choices to make! We received many great applications and we are appreciative to all who submitted applications to our 2019 mini-Grant initiative. We’re proud to introduce you to those we will be supporting in their efforts to be more self-determined in the coming months.

2019 Mini Grant Opportunity

We want to award $$ to help you create more self-determined lives, including your own!
2BSD invites students and educators (preK-postsecondary) to apply for a limited number of grants to support new activities to advance students’ and educators’ self-determination. These projects can help promote an individual student or teacher’s self-determination or it can be submitted as a group initiative.

You can win a prize by sharing your good news!

We are creating a list of work being done in schools to promote self-determination. Please send us a paragraph about your efforts so we can share information about your work with others. Don’t worry about spelling or punctuation. We’ll take care of that! Just tell us a little bit about the setting in which you’re working, the types of students you are serving and any outcomes you have observed. A single paragraph is all we need, but if you want to send more, that’s fine too. There is a prize waiting for the first example received! Please send descriptions to [email protected]

Nassau & Suffolk Counties, NY Making Great Strides in Self-Determination

I had the opportunity to talk with Cathy Pantelides, Transition Specialist for the Long Island Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Support Center (LI RSE-TASC) and President of New York State DCDT, this week. Wow! They are doing some energetic and innovative things to promote self-determination and student-directed IEPs for students with disabilities throughout their region.

Early Steps to Self-Determination available for preview

In honor of the 2016 Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) in Myrtle Beach, SC we are making a draft version of our Early Steps to Self-Determination curriculum available for preview for a limited time. We hope you are all enjoying the beach, the sunsets and each other. We also hope you enjoy trying out the curriculum. We welcome any feedback that you have for us. Click below to download.

early-steps-to-self-determination

New KORU Mindfulness Training Classes

Helping students learn to be more mindful can make significant contributions to their self-determination. Mindfulness increases self-awareness and focus and decreases negative aspects of stress. KORU is a mindfulness program designed specifically to meet the needs of emerging adults and they are currently offering new on-line training programs. For more information, see www.korumindfulness.org.

An Interview With Dr. Michael Ward

Dr. Michael Ward played a key leadership role in promoting self-determination for persons with disabilities as a federal policy initiative of the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services beginning in the late 1980’s and early 90’s. Many of us think of Mike as the guy who started it all when we think about self-determination for students with disabilities. We interviewed Mike to find out what he thinks about where we have been, where we are and where we need to go to foster self-determination.

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