VIUCEDD - Parent Advocacy

 

Working with parents of children with disabilities has been a long standing service of VIUCEDD. In collaboration with VI FIND (Virgin Islands Family Information Network on Disabilities) and VI DOSE (Virgin Islands Department of Special Education), VIUCEDD provides an annual Parent Empowerment Conference and monthly parent workshops. The purpose of these events is to support parents in such things as the IEP process, due process, transition, early childhood and acquiring related services. Since there is not a formal Parent to Parent Coalition, VIUCEDD, VIFIND and VI DOSE attempt to provide the platform for parents to network with each other.

Monthly Parent Empowerment Workshops

Every month during the academic year, a workshop is set up and designed for parents based on their interests and needs. This year started with a parent think tank in September. Parents were asked to come up with their most pressing issues and share with the group to see if there are others who are experiencing the same issue(s). We found that most of the issues surround around enforcement, related services, transitions from one program to another and lastly, measuring academic achievement with IEP goals.

Topics will include, ADA, Leadership in Advocacy, Benching Marking IEP goals, Transition, Assitvite technologies, Positive Behavioral Supports, and Early Childhood Education. You can visit our website under Community Calendar to see when and what the next parent workshop will be.

If you are a parent of a child with a disability in the US Virgin Islands and would like to get involved with these programs, please feel free to call VIUCEDD at 340-693-1173