The Delaware Department of Education is offering a series of free virtual family education workshops called “Parent as Coach, Developing A Family Dream Team.” Facilitator Darrell “Coach D” Andrews is a nationally acclaimed speaker, life coach, and father of four. Over the course of the next six months, Andrews will offer a series of virtual workshops with hopes of motivating and providing caregivers with user-friendly strategies to assist them in maximizing their students’ overall academic success.
The first workshop, “Creating A Home Culture of Success Amid Crisis,” will provide families with powerful strategies for maintaining an effective balance for tasks such as remote/hybrid learning, work, and other family responsibilities. While DDOE suggests participants join based on their county of residence to help balance attendance, families may join whatever night works best for their schedules.

Below are the dates, including access information, for each session:
Sussex County: Monday, January 25, 2021, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
ZOOM Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83198066235
Kent County: Tuesday, January 26, 2021: 7 – 8:30 p.m.
ZOOM Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9384275351
New Castle County: Wednesday, January 27, 2021: 7 – 8:30 p.m.
ZOOM Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85834371334

For additional information contact PIC of Delaware at:   picofdel@picofdel.org

Latest GACEC Newsletter  

Kayla Kosmalski, a Middletown teenager was featured on Good Morning America and on the Today Show.  Why?  Kayla is a student with Down Syndrome that made the Middletown Junior High School Cheerleading Squad.   

Today with Hoda and Jenna –   https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1042082616221195 

For additional information on GACEC visit our website .

In the past, people with disabilities of all ages were shut away and ignored, cast off by families and society, or ridiculed because of their differences. 

Thankfully that is continuing to change due in part to significant changes in governing law. The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA is thirty years old this year. It was a cornerstone piece of legislation that made a tremendous impact on the lives of people with disabilities. Like all cornerstones, it is a place to build.

Delaware Disability Hub is a transition website for youth with disabilities and has a comprehensive Disability Timeline starting in 400 B.C to the current time.  The 44-page timeline is viewable online or can be downloaded as a PDF. The language in the timeline is representative of the time.

We have come a long way from the dark ages of disabilities to current times yet, still have a way to go. When fears of difference are overcome and we view each other as differently-abled, humanity will have made great strides in accepting the disability community and all people.

Delaware Disability Hub is a special project of the GACEC.  For more information call 302-739-4553

October is Delaware Disability History and Awareness Month (DHAM). You may access information on DHAM on the GACEC website.

Individuals with disabilities have played a vital role in influencing our nation’s history. It is essential that we develop a spirit of acceptance of all people, in our students, particularly our young children. Governor Markell signed House Bill 123 on August 17, 2011, designating October as Disability History and Awareness Month. That bill encourages school districts across Delaware to implement activities to observe Disability History and Awareness Month. House Concurrent Resolution 33, passed in 2013, proclaimed the month of October to be “Disability History and Awareness Month” in Delaware.  The bill encouraged all Delaware childhood development centers and family-based pre-schools and childcare programs to provide instruction and events focusing on disability history, people with disabilities and the disability rights movement.

The Resource Guide outlines House Bill 123 Disability History and Awareness Month (DHAM). and was developed specifically for children.

On the GACEC website is a free downloadable version of the GACEC DEAP produced books, “All My Different Friends at School” and the “There’s Nothing to Fear” coloring book.  Daycare providers who call the GACEC will receive a softcover copy of “All My Different Friends at School” and the coloring book while supplies last.

If you have any questions on the information provided, please contact the GACEC at 302-739-4553

Wendy Strauss, the Director of the Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens was interviewed by WBOC’s  Lisa Bryant about the ADA and the revived State Transition website  www.deldhub.com for students with disabilities and their parents and teachers.

Link to the interview  https://youtu.be/1MuM2V7QiyY 

Delaware Disability Hub website:  www.deldhub.com 

Learn more about the GACEC here.