Addressing special needs

By Christine Schweickert, Fort Jackson LeaderNovember 24, 2015

Parents of special-needs children at Fort Jackson may attend a two-day workshop next week to learn about federal regulations governing their children's educations, as well as community and health-care services to strengthen their Families.

STOMP -- Specialized Training of Military Families -- is a 30-year-old organization designed specifically to help military Families, who move from state to state and from one educational system to another.

"We have a special understanding of the challenges Families face … when they have to PCS from place to place or face deployments," said STOMP director Heather Hebdon.

The program has not been at Fort Jackson for several years and comes now because IMCOM has dictated that it be offered at all U.S. installations.

Kay Harvey will attend the session Monday and Tuesday. A professional counselor whose husband works for U.S. Army Central at Shaw Air Force Base, she learned about the personal challenges of a special-needs child when her own son developed behavior difficulties at school.

"Becoming a parent did provide a different vantage point," Harvey said Friday. "It did propel me to the front" to make sure her own son was well cared for in school.

Before that, she said, "I knew the information to help other people." Looking out for her own son made knowing the rules and processes just that much more important.

"There's a culture behind every disease, disorder or illness," she said. From autism to asthma, from physical to mental health or impairment, every one affects each individual differently.

Federal law mandates that schools offer such children Individual Educational Programs, but each school district may have different procedures to handle them. And communities may have differing ways to provide needed services.

Not only do parents have to relearn the rules every time they move, "it can prove difficult … networking (or) coalition building" with other parents if the set of parents is a new one every few years.

"I don't have time to be shy" about asking for help, said Harvey, who boasts a wide network she built herself. "That's a peace of mind you just cannot pay for."

Federal law mandates that special-needs students be able to attend regular school classes as much as possible, and that they receive special support academically and otherwise. Fort Jackson's two elementary schools teach several children with special needs.

The Exceptional Family Member Program offers respite care, as well as such things as bowling outings for Families whose members have special needs. And at least one teen well past the usual age for post after-school programs still attends them -- federal law allows for such care until age 21.

The STOMP workshop will cover such topics as special-education law, IEPs, health-care options, communication and advocacy networking, will and guardianship planning, and organizing the myriad files Families must keep.

Those who cannot attend both days may drop in during the time they have free, said Cheryl Leysath of Army Community Service.

The Department of the Army demands that installations provide programs for special-needs Families, Leysath said. That includes ongoing treatment and services.

What STOMP does is train "parents to be more assertive and to be an advocate for their child," she said.

When IMCOM "told us (STOMP was) coming here, we said, 'Yes!'

"This is a training that you don't get all the time."

Specialized Training of Military Parents will be offered 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, at the Fort Jackson NCO Club. Parents, professionals and teachers are welcome to learn about programs and services for children with special needs. Admission is free. Lunch will not be provided.

For information or to register, call Cheryl Jackson Leysath at 751-5256, email Cheryl.F.Leysath.civ@mail.mil or call a school liaison officer at 751-6150.