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November 2017--Tammy Hardy and Kirby Hogenmiller

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Our second meeting of eParent Support used a new location--the Movie Room of the Waterford Apartments.  We had a cozier group because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but we still had exceptional sharing and speaking. Tammy Hardy, a para-educator who works for the Livermore School District, spoke from the aide's perspective.  Her main emphasis was communication: Teacher to Parent, Aide to Parent, Student to Teacher/Aides.  She said the classroom personnel welcome the communication.  They are only with your child for five hours, and they need to see the complete picture of what makes your child tick.  One attendee said that aides are not encouraged to speak with parents.  Tammy had not heard of this.  Perhaps Randy Booker's "donut trick" (see the October post) would help in that situation. Another recommendation was to enroll your child in a hobby-type class, such as computer coding or art.  That would offer a break from all the academics, and coul...
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Our Inaugural! Guest Speaker Randy Booker

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We had our first meeting in the balmy patio of Peets Coffee in Dublin. 20 of us enjoyed the mild weather and shared about our fears, hopes, and dreams in raising a Special Needs teen or middle-schooler. Randy Booker, Superintendent of Piedmont School District, was there to talk about "Socialization and Inclusion." I regret not having recorded it, because it was full of heart, passion, and insight.  Randy is not only a school administrator, he is also a parent to two Special Needs boys.  He brought a unique insight, having sat in both the parent's seat and the administrator's seat. The main point he wanted us to come away with is "The IEP is a team effort."  The more we can cooperate with the administrators, the better.  When it becomes adversarial, everyone loses, especially our child.  Dropping off coffee and a donut every once in a while only helps.  I read somewhere, "If you want to make honey, don't kick over the beehive." And where d...
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