;
Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016
5
means of "staking a claim" in the larger special education conversation by
describing the need to appropriately identify and serving students with visual
impairments and deafblindness. For all educators in visual impairment and
deafblindness (and those that serve Deaf and hard-of-hearing students), it is
important for you to understand the purpose of this bill and how it may lead to
a stronger Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for our students
and families. Please read more about the Cogswell-Macy Act and take action
as an educator and a member of our Division to support it:
http://www.afb.org/info/get-connected/take-action/12 In this issue you may
read more about the work of a young advocate with visual impairment,
Paloma Rambana, who shares her story of working on Capitol Hill to support
the passage of the Cogswell-Macy Act.
IDEA was a common theme at this Leadership Institute and
immediately following the leadership workshop, the CEC co-hosted a
legislative summit with the Council of Administrators of Special Education
(CASE), which is one of the largest divisions within CEC. Both Nicole, as
DVIDB's Children and Youth Action Network (CAN) Coordinator, and I, as an
IDC member were invited to speak about the import of our Division's thinking
related to policy for students who are visually impaired or deafblind in
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