The Law Office of Kimberly L Winslow

10/04/2024

Now enrolling children residing or attending school in Plymouth, MA!!!!

This new program is supported by a town and state grant. Our clinical staff who are also parents raising children born with prenatal opioid exposure will work with your family to provide ongoing support and education to reduce developmental, educational, health, and behavioral health risks for our children. Through our unique partnership with Plymouth Public Schools, we can observe and interact directly with students during the school day as well as coordinate with the school system. program is the first of its kind and will help develop best care practices being studied by the scientists at Child Trends to inform care for children across the country. Join us in helping your child and children across the country with prenatal opioid exposure.

09/25/2023

This is a friendly reminder that it IS discrimination to force a student to take a lower level class in order to access supports.

The practice of denying, on the basis of disability, a qualified student with a disability the opportunity to participate in an accelerated program, violates MA and Federal regulations, as well as Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act and and Title II (which provides funding to schools).

08/18/2023

CARET Legal, I will need to make the decision whether to stick with you, or to find another Legal Practice Software option, which will allow me to connect my bank accounts. Said feature has been unavailable to me, since the end of May, despite my status as an Enterprise Plus subscriber. This has resulted in countless hours wasted on manual accounting. As a solo practitioner, I do not have time to spare. I hope reaching out on this highly visible forum will promote action that will allow me to remain a loyal customer (since 2019).

Attached image description: Screen Shot taken in June 2023, depicting the "Banks & Registers" portion of Caret Legal's Accounting dashboard. The screen is primarily blank, where bank transactions would typically be displayed. Instead, there is a red rectangle in the bottom left corner, which states: "Your Bank Activity is still downloading. Try again later."

01/22/2023

Watch out! If your IEP includes standardized testing, informal testing, and/or formal testing as measurement statements in your IEP, you should reject these phrases now. These phases may appear ANYWHERE in your child's IEP (e.g., performance criteria, in the IEP goal, additional information). Districts are using the parental acceptance of these phrases as blanket permission to evaluate in any way they want without telling the family. This is problematic in MANY ways.

Luckily Massachusetts supports partial rejections - you can reject these phrases (or any other part of the IEP) at any time, even if you previously accepted the IEP. Remember to save your partial rejection when you send it in. Here's some general language you can use to take this action:

Dear (INSERT),
I am writing to add to my previous response to the proposed IEP. I reject the phrase(s) (INSERT) from my child's IEP. This wording is vague and as such does not enable informed consent. I value the use of testing tools as measurements of progress and propose that the IEP be amended to identify the specific testing the district seeks to use. I look forward to receiving the amendment.

11/17/2022

Thanks Mrs Speechie P for highlighting autism in girls, a hidden disability often not diagnosed until adolescence or later, if at all.

This week, I am talking Autism in girls, AFAB, and non-stereotypical presentations- and a key theme is that we are missing or misdiagnosing this population… but WHY is this happening?

A main reason is because most people think Autism is only it’s stereotypes (it’s common to think all Autistic people are anti-social and easy to recognize, which is not true). Here are some more common reasons (and obviously not all will be true for every person!)

——

Hi, I’m Andi! I help parents and therapists better recognize and understand Autism 🌈♾❤️ Follow me to learn more about Autism and Neurodiversity, and be sure to check out my Autism Handbooks (one for parents and one for kids!) to learn and share about Autism in a positive way!

11/17/2022

Today!

MRC's NextGen Careers Webinar is today from 4 to 6 pm!

Register below to learn more about their new initiative to help young adults (ages18-30) to explore "the world of work!"
https://www.mass.gov/event/nextgen-careers-webinar-2022-11-15t160000-0500-2022-11-15t180000-0500

11/11/2022

Did you know MA schools are required to complete special education evaluations within 30 school days?

According to PRS, the timeline is in place even if a child's behavior makes testing difficult.

11/11/2022

Question: What happens if school sent a consent to evaluate for special education but you never received it?

Answer: Federal regulations require the school to follow up with you. DESE's Problem Resolution System (PRS) agrees.

10/21/2022

A picture speaks a thousand words. Depicted below is a graph I shared with my son's IEP team this morning. As you can see, the honeymoon is clearly over.

I requested daily behavior sheets from my son's schools. I specified what I was looking for, including frequency and duration of non-compliance (a term I hate, but we settled upon for most off-task times). I made myself a google form to easily input the daily data I receive. It populates a google spreadsheet, which allows me to graph the information I want to see.

For all the parents and guardians out there working overtime to manage what is out of your control, I see you; I am you.

08/04/2022

Students should not wait until they are on campus to begin thinking about how to protect their emotional well-being, experts say.

08/03/2022

Stream free until September 1st.

What happens when a family is left to care for an adult who is deaf, blind and has autism without support? That's the focus of a new documentary that's set to premiere on national television.

08/02/2022

Every year, MAC invites a young adult with an intellectual disability or/and autism, age 18-26, to learn how to advocate for other youth with disabilities. Applications for 2022-2023 are now open until September 30, 2022. Learn more through the link in bio or below:

https://www.massadvocates.org/young-adult-leaders-fellowship-program