Contributed by Nancy Bowden, Director of Advocacy

Graduation is an awesome achievement for any student. While the majority of graduating seniors contemplate joining the workforce and/or continuing their educational quest at a local community college, technical college, trade school, seminary school, four-year college and/or university, roughly 17% to 20% of graduating seniors ponder Transition Services through their local educational authority and/or local school district. These are students who accessed the educational system with the support of an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Contributed by Kristin Lance, Advocate

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team must consider five main Special Factors when developing and reviewing a student's IEP. These Special Factors stand alone in the IEP and have specific guidelines that the IEP team has to follow in order to determine if the student is eligible for additional support via the Special Factors section of an IEP. Below is a brief description of the Special Factors, according to IDEA.

Contributed by Laura Miller, Advocate

As the school year is coming to an end, many children are getting excited about "No more pencils, no more books! No more teachers' dirty looks," as Alice Cooper so eloquently put it. However, many parents are thinking, "Now what?" So, for the summer of 2016, here are five camps (all of which do have scholarship applications) and local opportunities that are available and designed to meet the unique needs of children who have disabilities.