National Network for Child Care's Connections Newsletter
Phyllis Picklesimer
Assistant Publications Editor
Communications and Education
Office of Agriculture, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
(NICHCY) is a clearinghouse mandated by Congress to provide information
about children with disabilities and special educational needs.
It operates through a cooperative agreement between the Office
of Special Education Programs and the Academy for Educational
Development. Parents, child-care providers, and educators are
invited to phone NICHCY's toll-free number, 1-800-695-0285, where
they will reach a professional who can provide information about
almost any disability.
A wide variety of publications is available in both English and
Spanish. NICHCY provides fact sheets about autism, cerebral palsy,
deafness, Down's syndrome, emotional disturbance, epilepsy, learning
disabilities, mental retardation, severe and/or multiple disabilities,
speech and language impairments, spina bifida, visual impairments,
attention deficit disorder, and traumatic brain injury. If NICHCY
is not able to provide information on a specific disability, they
will refer you to someone who can. State resource sheets list
agencies, parent training information projects, and support groups
you can contact in your state. Child-care providers often use
the fact sheets as handouts to help parents learn about their
child's disabilities and explain how their children are being
helped. They can also pass along the state resource sheets to
parents.
NICHCY publishes bibliographies so you can look up more information
on specific disabilities or disability issues. Two new bibliographies
that have been widely requested are "Mental Health/Mental
Illness" and "Behavior Management." Both are available
in two versions: one for school and one for families.
For a complete list of available publications, call NICHCY's toll-free
number or write to them at P.O. Box 1492, Washington, D.C. 20013-1492.
You may wish to call every six months to find out what's new.
Back issues of NICHCY's *News Digest* are popular publications.
Topics that have been covered include "Understanding Sibling
Issues," "Respite Care: The Gift of Time," "Sexuality
Education for Children and Youth with Disabilities," "Having
a Daughter with a Disability: Is it Different for Girls?,"
"Promising Practices and Future Trends for Special Education,"
"Estate Planning," and "Assistive Technology: Becoming
an Informed Consumer."
"Parenting a Child with Special Needs: Guide to Readings
and Resources" has always been widely requested. And "Questions
and Answers about the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act" has provided both parents and educators with detailed
answers about school districts' legal requirements for educating
children and youth with disabilities. NICHCY also receives many
requests for "Transition Services in the IEP," which
helps young people with disabilities make the transition from
school into the real world. A short list of new resources with
brief descriptions of their content follows.
*Assessing Children for the Presence of a Disability.* Tells how school systems decide if a child has a disability and needs special education and related services.
*Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD).* New information on ADD. Includes the new criteria used to tell if a child has AD/HD and ways that teachers and parents can help these children.
*Bibliography on Children's Literature: 1989-1994.* A list of books that feature individuals with disabilities, written for children and young adults.
*Preguntas y Respuestas Sobre IDEA.* Explains the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
*Preguntas Sobre Los Servicios de Educacion Especial.* A parent's review of special education services. Tells parents how to obtain services and how they can help with their child's individual learning plan.
*Guia para Padres: Acceso a los Grupos de Padres.* A parent's guide to finding parent groups at the national, state, and local levels. Includes ideas for starting a group of their own.
*Guia para Padres: La Educacion Especial y los Servicios Relacionados: Como Comunicarse a Traves de la Correspondencia.* Helps parents write letters that will communicate with the school about their child's special education.
For a free copy of any of these resources, write to NICHCY, P.O. Box 1492, Washington, D.C. 20013. NICHCY encourages readers to copy and share the information. They are only asked to credit the clearinghouse when they do so. If readers wish to make a large number of copies, NICHCY will even provide a disk (the information will not be nicely formatted), or they will send a high-quality original. In the future, NICHCY hopes to tape many of the materials so that people can listen to them while they're driving in the car. And they hope to get publications up on the Internet where they can be easily down-loaded. In the meantime, help is as close as your telephone; call 1-800-695-0285.
Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child
Care - NNCC. Picklesimer, P. (1995). NICHCY has the answers to
your questions about disabilities. In Todd, C.M. (Ed.), *Child
care connections*, 4(5), Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service.
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