Wednesday Webinar Presentations Continue with Two-Part Series on Educational Rights

Somerville, NJ, August 11, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Parents often are confused about the educational services potentially available to their special-needs child. As a parent, how do you know if your child needs or is even eligible for such services?

During the next New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS) Wednesday Webinar from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. EST on August 15, author and educator Sue Conners will explore “Educational Rights: Your Child’s Educational Rights and Options.” This webinar will discuss the differences between a 504 plan and an IEP plan, what each provides, how you go about obtaining one and what you should ask for.

Then, on August 22, Conners will return to talk about the worst nightmare of every parent who has a special-needs child – applying for services for that child and being denied. That webinar, “Educational Rights: Denial of Services and Discipline Issues,” will address options available to parents in those scenarios, as well as how the process of mediation works and if it is effective.

Special-needs children often are unjustly punished for things that are directly related to their neurological disorders. Other questions that both webinars will address include: What can parents do? Who is entitled to a functional behavioral assessment and a positive behavior intervention plan? What is a manifestation determination hearing and when do you need to ask for one?

Conners, author of “The Tourette Syndrome/OCD Checklist: A Practical Resource for Parents and Educators,” is an internationally recognized speaker on Tourette. She is an authority on educating students with TS and serves as a go-to source for major networks and other media outlets in their coverage of Tourette Syndrome. Conners also has presented workshops at more than 1,000 schools and has been an education advocate for children with TS for the past 25 years. She is the co-writer, producer and director of “A Regular Kid, That's Me,” an in-service video for educators.

NJCTS launched the monthly Wednesday Webinar series, which draws an audience from 48 states and 13 countries, in 2008. The series, offered at no cost to participants, features online seminars for parents, educators and professionals on topics of interest to the TS and associated disorders community. Professional development credits are given upon verification of attendance and completion of an exit survey. Credits are distributed by mail one week after the webinar.

To register for these webinars, or to view and download past NJCTS webinars, please visit www.njcts.org/witsd-seminar-sign-up.php.