Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      New school directory guides parents of special-needs kidsPublished July 3, 2014
                    
                    By Terri Moon Cronk
                    
                    
                    DoD News, Defense Media Activity
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**A permanent-change-of-station move prompts its own challenges, but family members with special-needs children face another complexity when looking for the right schools at their new home, a Defense Department official said here July 2.

Ed Tyner, acting deputy director of DOD's special needs program, told DoD News that service members and their families can find a comprehensive tool in the newly updated Education Directory for Children with Special Needs, which addresses opportunities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Available on the Military OneSource website, the directory gives parents guidance to make informed decisions on new school districts, programs and services for special-needs children.

"DoD is supportive of all families with special needs," Tyner emphasized.

The directory has been available for about four years. It initially covered 15 states with the largest military populations and certain special needs, such as autism, intellectual deficits and behavioral concerns, Tyner said.

In addition to those needs, the new directory includes "the whole gamut," from speech and language to learning disabilities to physical impairments, he said.

The new directory, Tyner said, is "much more comprehensive."

Tyner noted that the directory is an education resource that's also useful to families without special-needs children.

Navigational tools provide family members with tips on transitioning between schools by providing questions to ask and offering forms to download.

"It's organized in a way that makes it very [user-friendly]. The feedback we've gotten from families has been great," Tyner said.

The directory comprises two components: one on early intervention for children up to age 2, and another for school-aged children and young adults up to age 22, and both provide a substantive guide of tools and resources to make education transitions easier during a PCS move.

While the directory on Military OneSource neither compares nor rates schools, it will walk family members through school districts near the new installation and lists what schools offer for special-needs education opportunities and services, as well as enrollment numbers, Tyner explained.

"Contacts are listed so family members know who to call for more information," he said.

Other tools in the directory include a checklist to give family members questions to ask at the new school and tips for organizing school records and other advice to help in the transition.

A common theme is that families look for special-needs education opportunities that are comparable to the school resources from which they're moving, Tyner said. Laws ensure that special-needs education must provide comparable services, he added.

"Parents need to be sure the individualized needs, goals and objectives for their child are being met," he said, even though the new school might be organized differently.

"The directory has been designed to help parents make better decisions, and it gives them information and tools as they work with their family members' special needs," Tyner said. "It shows the commitment by DoD to really put resources where they need to be for these families."directory 



DOD 



kids 



special needs Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil