Listed here are Kitsap events related to developmental disabilities or special education including our monthly meeting. If you would like to add an event, contact us.
Telling Your Story Workshop - Whether you're fine-tuning your ask or you want to learn to advocate for change. At the end of this session, you will know how to define an issue and advocate for policy and/or system change by drawing from personal experiences to make your point effectively and memorably.
Practicing Your Pitch - Finally! This is the time to practice telling your story in front of other advocates. You will receive the best feedback to help you refine your talking points to get your message across effectively and create change in your community.
What happens if you don't feel like your concerns are being heard by the school? Attend online to learn about the mediation process, a free offering by the OSPI. This event is hosted by Washington PAVE and presented by Sound Options Group.
Training participants will learn:
1. The importance of knowing the social service system.
2. When to plan and how to revise the plan.
3. Developing a plan is a helpful outcome that will benefit the guardianship annual reporting.
4. When to ask for services, how to ask for services, and be planful of the future for you and your loved one so no one gets surprised, uprooted, or traumatized by unforeseen life circumstances.
Learn about the Extended School Year, who qualifies, and how to ask for it.
Learn about the types of services DDA has to offer, application timeline, roadmap, and conditions for eligibility. There will be lots of time for questions and answers. After the short training, there will be time to meet with an eligibility specialist from DDA in a private breakout room.
¡Únase a South Sound Parent to Parent y a nuestros amigos de la Colición de Padres del Condado de Kitsap para hablar sobre DDA con la especialista en admisión de DDA, Doreen Vandervort, para este seminario web informativo.
Training participants will learn:
1. The importance of assistive technology (AT) in the lives of our adult children with autism and intellectual disabilities
2. How technology can advance a person’s capacity for learning, independence, safety, and well-being
3. Examples and applications of AT
4. Purchasing and implementing AT
Some students qualify for high school transition education, extending time in school until their 21st birthday. Find out more and learn about concurrent services such as School to Work and Job Foundations.
How can the IEP team, including parents, craft an IEP to support the student in their next year? What can parents do to prepare their students during the summer for the next school? Learn answers to these questions and more. Time for Q&A.
Training participants will learn:
1. How communication supports and choice opportunities foster self-advocacy, specifically for non-verbal individuals.
2. Self-advocacy is especially important for students with autism and is necessary to achieve a higher level of independence, confidence, and a sense of identity.
3. Learn that advocacy from parents and guardians has been the trailblazing efforts that have made and changed policies on a local, state, and federal level.
This training will bring understanding to the Special Education process and how it works to ensure students with disabilities receive a Free Appropriate Public Education. It will also clarify the rights and responsibilities under IDEA. Participants will learn to navigate the Special Education process from eligibility, evaluation and the development of IEPs and their implementation. After the training, an IEP Clinic is available for participants to share their questions and concerns regarding their students, evaluations, IEPs, or meetings.
Support and training for various diagnoses can be found on our Resources page.
Local caregiver support
Statewide caregiver support
Center of Parent Excellence (COPE)
Local events calendars
