Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy Conference

The University of Akron School of Law
presents
Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy Conference
with Peter Wright, Esq.

Akron, Ohio

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012

The program will be held at:
The Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron
Ballrooms B & C
135 South Broadway
Akron, OH 44325-9002

Click here to Register Online

Program Description

One-day special education law and advocacy program focuses on four areas:

• Special Education law, rights and responsibilities
• Tests and measurements to measure progress & regression
• SMART IEPs
• Introduction to tactics & strategies for effective advocacy

Wrightslaw programs are designed to meet the needs of parents, educators, health care providers, advocates and attorneys who represent children with disabilities regarding special education.  The program is NOT disability specific.

Agenda

8:00-9:00	Registration and Breakfast
9:00-10:30	Overview        IDEA History and Overview Section 1400 Findings, purpose Section 1401 Definitions: Special Education, Related Services, LD, etc.
10:30-10:45	Break
10:45-12:00	Section 1412 Extended School Year, Child Find, Least Restrictive Environment/Mainstreaming/Inclusion, Private Placements, Statewide Assessments Understanding Tests and Measurements, and the Bell Curve, Standard Scores, Scale Scores, % Ranks, Grade Equivalent, Age Equivalent
12:00-1:00	Lunch
1:00-2:30	Developing the Master Plan Knowing the Rules of the Game Recognizing and Avoiding Fatal Obstacles How to Deal with Conflict, a Healthy and Normal event Crisis, Emergency, Help Organization of the Child’s File
2:30-2:45	Break
2:45-4:00	Tactics and Strategies Rule of Adverse Assumptions Private Evaluations Paper Trails The Letter to the Stranger 5 Ws + H + E Preparation for Meetings Meeting Strategies
4:00-4:30	Questions and Answers

Registration:

• Attorneys: $175 (includes CLE credit – attorney must indicate CLE request on application with The University of Akron at the time of registration).  Early-bird registration before Jan. 23, 2012 - $150.
• Other Professionals: $125 (includes continuing education credit – professional must indicate CE request on application with The University of Akron at the time of registration).  Early-bird registration before Jan. 23, 2012 - $100.
• Individual: $100.  Early-bird registration before Jan. 23, 2012 - $90.

Registration includes, breakfast, lunch, refreshments and three books

• Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition
• Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2nd Edition
• Wrightslaw: All about IEPs

Credits:  5.5 CLE hours pending and 5.5 CEUs (ODE and CSWMFT) have been requested for this conference
**Professionals seeking other CEU credits should contact Michele Novachek at manovac@uakron.edu
or 330-972-6363.**

Click here to Register Online

Refunds on registration fees will be made for cancellations received by Jan. 23, 2012.  No refunds will be made for cancellations received after Jan. 23, 2012.

Questions: Contact Michele Novachek (manovac@uakron.edu  or 330-972-6363)

Parking available at the Quaker Square Inn parking lot and also AMPCO city lot on South Broadway

Airports

• Akron/Canton Regional Airport (CAK) - 17 miles
• Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport (CLE) - 37 miles  

Directions to Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron

• From Cleveland (Eastern Suburbs) Erie & Buffalo. I-271 South to I-77 South/Akron. Exit #22A Main/Broadway. Left on Broadway. 1.2 miles. The Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron hotel is on the right.
• From Cleveland Hopkins Airport & Western Suburbs Via I-77 South. Exit airport, turn left at traffic light to 480 East. Follow 480 East (approximately 10 miles) to I-77 South. Follow I-77 south to Exit #22A Main/Broadway. Left on Broadway. 1.2 miles. The Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron hotel is on the right.
• From Cleveland Via I-77 & Ohio Turnpike East Bound. Follow I-77 south to Exit #22A Main/Broadway. Left on Broadway. 1.2 miles. The Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron hotel is on the right.
• From Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Ohio & PA Turnpikes, West Bound and I-80.
  Take 76 West to I-77 North to Downtown Akron, Exit #22A Main/Downtown, merge right on S. Broadway 1.2 miles. The Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron hotel is on the right.  

Accommodations – a block of sleeping rooms has been reserved at the Quaker Square Inn (330.253.5970). 

Biography of Pete Wright
Pete Wright is an attorney who represents children with special educational needs.  In second grade, Pete was diagnosed with learning disabilities including dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD.  He was fortunate - his learning problems were identified early.  His parents obtained intensive Orton-Gillingham remediation for him by Diana Hanbury King.  Pete's determination to help children grew out of his own educational experiences.  While attending Randolph Macon College, Pete worked in a Juvenile Training School as a houseparent.  After graduation with a degree in Psychology, he worked in another Juvenile Training School as a counselor and later became a Juvenile Probation Officer in the Juvenile Court system.  In 1972, he was honored as Virginia's "Juvenile Probation Officer of the Year."  During that time, Pete was also attending evening college in a graduate psychology program at Virginia Commonwealth University.  In 1977, Pete graduated from T. C. Williams Law School at the University of Richmond.  On October 6, 1993, Pete gave oral argument before the United States Supreme Court in Florence County School District Four v. Shannon Carter, 510 U.S. 7 (1993).  Thirty-four days later, the Court issued a unanimous decision for Shannon Carter.   Pete is the co-author of Wrightslaw: Special Education Law (1999), Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind (2003), Wrightslaw: IDEA 2004, (2005), Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2nd edition (2005) and Wrightslaw: All About IEPs.  He appeared as the parent's attorney in in the award-winning DVD video, Surviving Due Process: When Parents and the School Board Disagree - Stephen Jeffers v. School Board (2004).  Pete and Pam Wright are Adjunct Professors of Law at the William and Mary Law School where they teach a course about special education law and advocacy and assist with the Law School's Special Education Law Clinic.  They are the founders of Wrightslaw, the #1 ranked website about education law, special education law, and special education advocacy.