· One-to-one telephone support is provided to families and professionals who work with children with disabilities. Families and professionals can contact our office for support on the special education process, parent/student rights and specific disability information.

· Workshops are offered throughout Rhode Island to parents and professionals on topics such as Basic Rights in Special Education, Individualized Education Programs, Stress Relievers, Effective Communication Skills, and a variety of other topics. These workshops provide information to empower families with the knowledge and skills to advocate for their children. Attending a training is as easy as contacting the office to pre-register.

· Advocacy Support: the PTIC has a cadre of trained Parent Facilitators whose role is to mentor families while providing them with more knowledge about the educational decision making process. When a family requires more than the initial one-to-one telephone support, a Parent Facilitator may be assigned on a limited basis to assist families with the goal of empowerment in advocating for their child.

· Transition Parent Outreach: we provide information, training and support to students with disabilities and their families to prepare them to be equal participants in the development and implementation of Individualized Education Program Plans, assuring a smooth transition from school to adult life. Click here for more information about transition.

· Parent Leadership: The PTIC collaborates with key stakeholders at the national, state and local levels in developing a family centered system that includes families as partners in all aspects of planning, implementation and evaluation of services for children and youth with disabilities. On an ongoing basis we recruit, train and support a cohort of parent leaders who represent the family voice on policy/decision making groups in Rhode Island.
Family-Centered Practice: How are we doing?
Practica Centrada en la Familia: Como lo estamos haciendo?

For more information on the PTIC, please contact Deb Spaziano at 800-464-3399 x150 (in RI only), 401-727-4144 x150 or spaziano@ripin.org.

To learn more about your family's rights in special education and to find further support, please consider visiting the following web sites:

http://www.rrfcnetwork.org/ The Regional Resource and Federal Center consists of six nationwide regional resource centers. These centers were put in place to create systemic improvement of education programs, practices and policies that affect children and youth with disabilities.

www.rrfcnetwork.org/nerrc/   This is the official site for the Northeast Regional Resource Center. It's a place to find out more about activities in the individual states in the Northeast including Rhode Island. Also, to find out more about IDEA, special education rights, as well as how schools can use high technology to share information such as podcasts and webinars.

http://www.rrfcnetwork.org/component/option,com_bookmarks/Itemid,28/  An extensive list of national and state resources including information about parent/school partnerships, education policy, best practices for families and schools, IDEA, No Child Left Behind, and more.

http://www.ncld.org  This the National Center for Learning Disabilities web site. NCLD offers parents and educators essential information about learning disabilities, early literacy and learning resources.

http://www.advocacyinstitute.org/  The Advocacy Institute develops projects and services that work to improve the lives of people with disabilities. This web site is designed to help parents become the best advocates for their child with a disability.

http://www.rti4success.org/  Response to Intervention is a process to help educators maximize student achievement through early identification of learning or behavioral difficulties.