Update on Social Networks for Special Education Law

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In addition to this incredible blog, we have also sponsored a number of special education law groups on various social networks. These groups, we hope, utilize some of the new technologies to connect people and to encourage further discussion of topics that interest some or all special education stakeholders (as you may have noticed, I love that word; do stakeholders generally have stakes in their hands? The imagery is fantastic!)

The Facebook group is the most successful. At last count, we had some 830 members. The discussion boards sometimes reflect the emotion that comes with special education conflict, but the discussions are always interesting and generally very informative.

The LinkedIn group is also very active. A lot of special education types have connected through that group. Communication is a wonderful thing. The Plaxo group is still new, but we have great hopes for it.

The Ning group has meet its demise. Ning will no longer be free soon, and the internet really should be free. Chant in unison... Free Ning!

Don't forget that you can also sign up for our tweets on Twitter. Or you can use the mobile version of this blog to read the posts on your mobile phone.

Most important of all, if you haven't already signed up for a free subscription, please do so in order to avoid missing our posts. You can subscribe to receive our posts by email, or by RSS feed in a reader or aggregator, or if you have your own blog or website, you can get a blidget(=blog = widget) to insert directly into your website or blog.

Links for the free subscriptions, the social network groups, and the other services mentioned in this post are available on the lefthand side of the blog.

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Social Network Groups for Special Education Law - Update

Image via Wikipedia

In addition to this incredible blog, we have also sponsored a number of special education law groups on various social networks. These groups, we hope, utilize some of the new technologies to encourage further discussion of topics that interest some or all special education stakeholders (as you may have noticed, I love that word; do stakeholders generally have stakes in their hands? The imagery is fantastic!)

The Facebook group is the most successful. At last count, we had some 783 members. The discussion boards sometimes reflect the emotion that comes with special education conflict, but the discussions are always interesting and generally very informative.

The LinkedIn group is also very active. A lot of special education types have connected through that group. Communication is a wonderful thing. The Plaxo group is still new, but we have great hopes for it.

The Ning group will likely soon meet its demise. Ning will no longer be free soon, and the internet really should be free. Free Ning!

Don't forget that you can also sign up for our tweets on Twitter. Or you can use the mobile version of this blog to read the posts on your mobile phone.

Most important of all, if you haven't already signed up for a free subscription, please do so in order to avoid missing our posts. You can subscribe to receive our posts by email, or by RSS feed in a reader or aggregator, or if you have your own blog or website, you can get a blidget(=blog = widget) to insert directly into your website or blog.

Links for the free subscriptions, the social network groups, and the other services mentioned in this post are available on the lefthand side of the blog.

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Free Ning - the Demise of a Special Education Law Based Social Group

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Bad news: soon the Ning based Special Education Law Group shall perish from the face of the Earth. It seems that Ning has decided to become a pay only service. It will no longer be free. I set up these social network groups solely for the purpose of bringing special ed law junkies together. I refuse, however, to pay for space of the internets! Call me old fashioned! As you can tell by the elevated level of sarcasm, I resent this!

If any of the Ning group members want to finance the group, you have my blessing. If not, we should be fine with the Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo special education law groups. If you have not checked them out, please take a look. Theses groups have some good discussions and networking opportunities. There are links to all of them on the infamous lefthand side of this blog.

A related point:
The subscriptions to this blog are free. There are three types of subscriptions: you can receive all the posts by email, or you can get an RSS feed for a reader or aggregator, like NetVibes or Google Reader, or you can get a widget for your own blog or website. All are free.

Free Ning!

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CADRE Report: Post Script No. 2 and Tech Update

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In one of the posts this blog recently ran on the CADRE report showing the numbers of special education law disputes (mediations, state complaints, resolution sessions, due process complaints) by state, I made a comment which I need to clarify.

I talked about scooping the mainstream education news outlets. I did not mean this comment to sound disrespectful of the reporters who work for those publications. Many of them read this blog, Most of them have cited this blog in their publications and have listed this blog as a resource for their readers. These folks work hard, are almost all underpaid and are my friends. More important, they do a great job. If my comments were offensive to them, I'm sorry.

The mission of this blog is to keep people informed. That may sometimes result in an exclusive interview or a "scoop," but that is not the goal. This blog is only one of the many excellent resources available to parents, special ed teachers, lawyers for both sides, related service providers, advocates, paraprofessionals, regular education teachers, principals, special ed directors, disciplinarians, members of advocacy groups, professors of both education and law, future teachers, law students, and other stakeholders or special education law junkies.

One of the ways we try to keep you informed involves helping you find many of the other available resources by linking to them on the left-hand side of the blog. One is the Facebook special education law group; please check it out. This group now has over 760 members. There are always interesting discussions going on the wall. One discussion now ongoing involves a question I have posed as a part of my research for a presentation this summer concerning the role of non-attorney advocates in IEP team meetings. What can they do and what can they not do? If you have any views on the issue, please lave a note there or comment here on this blog.

Other resources on the lefthand side of the blog include special education law groups in other social networks: Ning, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Twitter. There are also links to the a searchable site with the statute and regs and other links that will lead you to everything you always wanted to know about special education law, but were afraid to ask. There are also links to other sources of education law and a search bar just for this blog. (The search bar is a good way to find previous posts on a topic you are interested in.)

Also while on the lefthand side of the blog, please take advantage of one of the free subscriptions to this blog. You can subscribe by email, and get an RSS feed for an aggregator or feed reader, and you can also get a blidget (or blog widget) so you can get our posts as a widget on your own blog or website. If you have not already taken a free subscription, please do so. The numbers help our growing credibility.

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Breaking News: Facebook Group Now has 700 Members!

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The Facebook Special Education Law group which we started in conjunction with this blog now has over 700 members. congratulations on passing another milestone group. It is a great resource and the home of many lively discussions about topics related to those we talk about here. If you haven't checked it out yet, try it here. New members are welcome.

You can find a permanent link to the group on the lefthand side of the blog. Also there are links to special ed law groups on Ning, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Twitter. The groups vary, but the level of knowledge and the passion for kids with disabilities among many diverse types of stakeholders remains constant.

Also on the lefthand side of the blog is a place where you can register for a free subscription to this blog. You have three options, you can receive the posts by email, or by RSS feed in an reader or aggregator, or if you have your own blog or website, you can get a blidget (or blog widget) to insert directly into your website. It helps us if you subscribe. In the blogosphere, there is credibility in numbers. Our number of subscribers plus the Facebook and other social media membership plus our Twitter followers and the other followers and readers that consist of our posse, gives us a ton of credibility. It explains why we got the first big exclusive interview with Dr. Alexa Posny, the new Assistant Secretary of Education for OSERS. Thanks for subscribing and reading!

While you are checking out the other resources on the lefthand side of the blog, like the links to IDEA and the federal regs or the links to other blogs or the CEC widget (it's a blidget), don't to forget in our ongoing poll. The polls are not meant to be "scientific" measurements, but they are fun. The current topic is what would you like to see when they amend the special ed law when IDEA is reauthorized? Currently further regulation of seclusion and restraints is leading with a razor thin margin. Be sure to vote.

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Last Day to Vote on Our Poll; Tech Update

This is the last day to vote on our poll. The current question is In this tough economy, should cost/expense be a defense in a special education case. No leads Yes 43 to 17 with 7 maybes and 2 too poor to vote. This is not a scientific poll. Nonetheless, be sure to make your voice heard. Vote today before the polls close.

The tech news is good. The most recent blog post was done by cellphone, and it was flawless. You can listen to my enunciation by clicking of the link to Jott. Unfortunately the corresponding Twitter mini-post got mangled. It was supposed to say "Musings of a special ed mediator. See Special Education Law Blog." Somehow musings became "uses" and law became "wall." But hey, as the public defender in My Cousin Vinny says, "I'm gettin' better!"

The post a few days back was done exclusively by email, and it was perfect. So both mobile options are working. This is great for me because I travel a lot.

Finally, the new mobile version of the blog is very successful. A number of readers have bookmarked the mobile website http://www.xfruits.com/jimgerl/?id=79913
on their web enabled mobile phones. They then can read the posts on their phones. They still need to subscribe, and that allows them to see the graphics and polls and links an

Image by prettydaisies via Flickr

d other resources that are not available on the scaled down version of the mobile website.

Our number of subscribers is at an all time high. Thank you and please keep spreading the word. The popularity of the blog helps our credibility in the blogosphere. Please keep reading.

The related special ed law groups on Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn and Plaxo continue to generate great discussions and interesting wall posts. The links to these groups are on the left hand side of the blog. Check them out when you get a chance.

Thanks again for reading this blog. I am very pleased that we can provide information, provoke thought, discuss policy choices and make resources available to all of the stakeholders who read the blog.

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Tamimg Technology: Mobile Blogging & Tech Update

Jack Kerouac via last.fm

The voice recognition technology actually understood my words for the most recent post and it seems to have gotten it right. This is a huge victory for me. My Chicago + San Francisco + West Virginia accent sometimes overwhelms the software. By the way when I make these mobile posts, you can actually hear my voice (assuming that anybody wants to) by clicking on the "listen" link. If you do, you will see that I am trying to enunciate carefully.

I had just completed a mediation, so I thought that I would raise a question about mediation. Many people feel that it is the preferred method of resolving special ed disputes because it can work on repairing the relationships between parents and school personnel. In parts of the country where there are few attorneys who represent parents, I believe that mediation is more popular. Where there are lots of complaints (the now somewhat aged GAO study found that 80% of all due process complaints are filed in just six states), I believe that mediation is not in favor. what do you think?

Any way this mobile blogging really is pretty cool. Look for occasional small posts form the road. Maybe not Jack Kerouac or Willie Nelson, but hey I'm trying.

Our number of subscribers is really booming. Thank you! The numbers are really big in the blogosphere credibility realm. If you have not already done so, please consider taking a free subscription. On the upper lefthand side of the blog, you can click on one of three options: a free email subscription where you get the posts directly to your email inbox; a free RSS feed that will deliver the posts to an aggregator or feed reader; and a free blidget, or blog widget, that you can embed into your own blog or website. Thanks for subscribing!

Also related to technology are the resources that this blog makes available to you at the click of a mouse. On the lefthand side of the blog, there are links to a number of special education law groups in cyberspace. They include the Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Twitter groups. These groups have discussion boards and threads that can be quite passionate and often contain useful information. You can also click on the link to follow our mini-posts on Twitter. I'm still working on speaking in soundbites, not my strength!

Also under "Helpful Links" are the OSEP IDEA website, with searchable federal statute and regs- it is a pretty user-friendly website, the federal information clearing house and other very useful websites.

There is also a section with links to other education law blogs that I read regularly. Followed by the CEC daily briefing (this is an example of a blidget) and a link to blognet education news which quotes the key education blog posts of the day. I also post links to registration site for conferences that I will be speaking at in the near future.

Finally there is our ongoing poll. These are not "scientific," but we enjoy them anyway. The current question is given the recession should cost/expense be a defense in a special education dispute? So far No leads Yes by a wide 34 to 10 margin. There are also 5 maybes and 2 "too poor to vote." Be sure to vote; make your voice heard. Oh yeah, I approve this message.

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Expense as a Defense Poll Update; Tech News

Our current running poll concerns whether in these hard economic times, the expense of services should be considered a defense in an action alleging a violation of IDEA. We are starting to see some activity on the poll. So far those who have answered No cost is not a defense have a commanding lead with 14 votes. Yes has 5 votes and Maybe has 2. One respondent pleads that he or she is too poor to vote. Be sure to vote now; let you voice be heard. (We make no claims to any scientific value to our polls; they are for the fun of our readers only.)

We have also created some other venues to inform and stimulate discussion in the blogosphere. Fully embracing the spirit of the internetS, we have created a number of related special education law groups. Each of the following has a growing number of participants. On the following pages you will find interesting discussion boards; passionate arguments and comments that will make you think. Please take some time to explore them. Our first venture was the special education law group on the Facebook social networking site. We have since added groups on the Ning site; the Twitter site; the LinkedIn network; and on the Plaxo site. There are permanent links to each special education law group, as well as a number of other useful websites, on the lefthand side of this blog

Image via CrunchBase

. In addition we have fixed it so that you can follow our Twitter mini-posts on the lefthand side of the blog.

The number of subscribers to this blog continues to grow. This really helps our credibility; thanks. If you would like to have a free subscription, you have three options all high on the lefthand side of the blog. You can receive the posts by email by clicking on that link. If you have an RSS reader or feed aggregator, some smartphones are equipped for such readers, you can subscribe by clicking on the feed link. Finally if you have your own blog or website, you can obtain a blidget- or blog widget- for this blog and insert it right into your blog or website. Again, thank you for subscribing, numbers help.

The "new" technology is somewhat frightening to many people, but it really is amazing in terms of its capacity to make information available to people. How did folks find out about special education law before the internet? How did people post to their blogs from conferences before there were cellphones and voice recognition software?

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Facebook group now over 500

The Facebook special education law group now has more than 500 members. It is amazing how fast it has grown. It is a fun place to share resources and to discuss current issues. One can even make friends there. Check it out here. Congratulations to the group members. It was only July 11th, when we crossed the 400 member milestone. Talk about a hot ticket.

There is also a new Plaxo special education law group. For those who use the Plaxo service, it may be found here.This complements the special ed law groups on Ning (here), LinkedIn (here) and Twitter (here.) These social networking sites provide nice mechanisms for spreading the word or for arguing the policy underlying the law. See if you like them. There are also permanent links to these sites on the left-hand side of the blog.

Image by cambodia4kidsorg via Flickr

The number of subscribers to the blog is also growing quickly. Remember that there are three ways to get a free subscription. Email right to your inbox; through a reader or aggregator by RSS feed; and as a widget, or blidget, appearing right on your blog or website. The big numbers really help the credibility of a blog. Thank you subscribers.

Don't forget to vote on our current poll. The Question is given the economy, should cost or expense be a defense in special ed cases? Right now No with seven votes is beating both yes and maybe with two votes each. One slacker claims to be too poor to answer. Exercise your right to be heard: vote in the poll.

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