INCLUDEnyc is hosting an online back-to-school panel for Spanish-speaking parents of students with disabilities on Tuesday, Aug. 17. The panel aims to address and ease concerns about the transition to in-person learning, and how to connect to needed supports this fall.

Barbara Glassman is executive director of INCLUDEnyc. She said students of color, Latino students, and english language learners with disabilities were disproportionately affected by the pandemic and may be more hesitant about returning to in-person learning. “We want to ensure families are aware of all of the resources available to them, including the translation of key special education documents or interpretation, allowing parents to advocate for their child,” said Glassman.

 

According to INCLUDEnyc, language barriers can create a communications divide and lack of knowledge around disability law, education rights, and typical childhood development. INCLUDEnyc representatives said the pandemic further widened these disparities, as many families struggled to keep up with news and guidance often first released in English.

This virtual event will be in Spanish, with English interpretation available. Register for free here. If families or professionals need further assistance, they can call INCLUDEnyc’s Help Line in English or Spanish and interpretation is also available in over 200 other languages.

 

Founded in 1983, INCLUDEnyc representatives say the organization is the leading provider of training and information for young people with any disability from ages 0 to 26, their families, and the professionals who support them in New York City. They say INCLUDEnyc assists more than 15,000 people each year and reaches nearly a million individuals through digital communications and community outreach. Representatives of INCLUDEnyc say they believe every young person should be fully included in school, in the workforce, in the community, and should have access to resources, services, and supports to succeed.

Norwood News recently reported on how over 120 preschoolers from the New York Institute for Special Education participated in the school’s annual “Trike-a-Thon,” in efforts to raise needed funding for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The event, held on Thursday, May 13, at Frampton Hall on Astor Avenue in Pelham Gardens, had students from the school’s ‘readiness program’ ride their tricycles through the halls of the school to raise money and awareness for the urgent work that St. Jude’s carries out each year, treating an average of 8,500 children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.