"Praise the Lord. (we give Him the highest praise by saying, "Halleluia!")
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!
The Lord builds up Jerusalem:
He gathers the exiles of Israel,
He heals the brokenhearted and
binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of stars
and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power
His understanding has no limit.
The Lord sustains the humble, but
casts the wicked away.
The Yom Kippur holiday is the holiest day of the year. It is the day of atonement for our sins. As a part of the Yom Kippur celebration, the Book of Psalms is read throughout the day, all day long. On Yom Kippur, God forgives us and cleanses our soul. The Psalms is a beautiful way to be mindful of God's forgiving spirit and love. How awesome our God is to know each and every star by name. His understanding has no limit and this is comforting to the soul and spirit when we face trials and tribulations, for guidance, and seeking peace. As we wrap up Special Needs Education, I pray you read all of the Psalms.
When we learn and understand anything we perceive to be the intimidating giant, we conquer it because then it no longer intimidates us. Giants appear and seem wicked because of its size. Everything the giant says, is a roar because of its size. Everything the giant does, seems powerful because of its size which causes us to believe it is very, very strong. Knowledge and faith are the wisdoms to conquer any giant. David had the knowledge and faith that the Lord would make him victorious. He conquered Goliath.
Understand that fear is an emotional stronghold on the mind. It will cause anxiety, stress, worry, etc. It will cause us to avoid a situation. It will overwhelm us. Fear is wicked. However, we serve a God who conquers fear. Our faith in the Word and knowledge are the stones to bring down Goliath. Setting goals and a "To Do" list can help conquer the feeling of being overwhelmed. God builds up Jerusalem. The deeper meaning is that building Jerusalem was gradual. One step at a time. This is how we can approach those overwhelming feelings. Do what needs to be done one step at a time, but get it done. Set a goal.
Part of the federal law ensuring an education to all children with disabilities, includes infants and toddlers. Under IDEA Part C, infants with a disability is protected and it is federal mandate that infants have access to early entry to school. These are commonly known as the Infant and Toddler Program mandated by federal law, any child with a developmental disability from birth through age 5, is entitled (and should be) in a school program. This could be a Head Start Program or early entry into Pre-K, Kindergarten, etc. One basic rule of thumb is that if the child is receiving SSI or SSDI, that child should be in school.
Remember, if your local school does not have early entry for children with special needs, the school must pay for the special services for that child. This includes bus transportation to and from, book materials, free/reduced breakfast/lunch, adaptive equipment, home school, etc. Understand it is for the welfare of the child to benefit from entering school early when a developmental disability exists. Federal law mandates it.
For information on accessing the Infants and Toddlers Program, Early Entry programs, etc. contact Developmental Disability Administration, Board of Education, the clinic/hospital Social Worker, Social Services, and/or Parent Resource Center in your area. Remember, it is the child's constitutional right to receive the special education services early to best enable him or her to be successful academically and maximize involvement in the community at any age from birth to 21 with a disability. To deny a special needs child early entry to school, hinders that child.
Visit National Alliance on Mental Illness at
www.nami.org; In South Carolina Visit
http://www.scdhec.gov/health/mch/cshcn/pro... and link to your county contact;
In Maryland visit:
www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/earlyint If you live outside of Maryland or South Carolina, visit:
www.GOVbenefits.gov and link to your state.
Passing the peace,
Posted By: agnes levine
Thursday, September 23rd 2010 at 8:58AM
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