Volunteer Appreciation Week: Thank YOU for being Part of our CommUNITY!
Volunteer Appreciation Week: Thank YOU for being Part of our CommUNITY! Over 45 years ago, PWSA (USA) was founded by volunteers. It remained a fully volunteer-run organization until 1980 when our first paid Executive Director was hired (the next paid staff wasnโt hired until 1984!). While the number of staff has grown to 14, our...
2020 Giving Challenge
Take Part in the 2020 Giving Challenge! Noon to Noon, April 28-29
National Direct Support Professional Week
Direct support professional (DSP) is an umbrella term that includes many different titles and functions; for example: direct care, direct support worker/specialist/assistant/counselor, habilitation specialist, residential counselor, activities of daily living specialist, relief staff, apartment worker, developmental disabilities specialist, job coach, employment specialist, community bridge-builder, paid friend/neighbor, family care provider, family support services aide, community companion,...
Recruitment: Acceptance and commitment training (ACT) for fathers of adolescents with PWS, a pilot study funded by the Foundation for Prader Willi Research
Fathers who have an adolescent with PWS age 13-18 are invited to participate in a 4-session, online, small group training exercise to reduce father’s perception of stress, improve parenting satisfaction and increase family involvement. Participants must reside at home with their adolescent and the adolescent’s mother, have a personal computer with a camera, microphone and internet...
Jennifer Bolander has been serving as a Special Education Specialist for PWSA (USA) since October of 2015. She is a graduate of John Carroll University and lives in Ohio with her husband Brad and daughters Kate (17), and Sophia (13) who was born with PWS.
Perry A. Zirkel has written more than 1,500 publications on variousย aspects of school law, with an emphasis on legal issues in special education.ย He writes a regular column for NAESPโsย Principalย magazine and NASPโsย Communiquรฉย newsletter, and he did so previously forย Phi Delta Kappanย andย Teaching Exceptional Children.
Evan has worked with the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA) since 2007 primarily as a Crisis Intervention and Family Support Counselor. Evans works with parents and schools to foster strong collaborative relationships and appropriate educational environments for students with PWS.
Dr. Amy McTighe is the PWS Program Manager and Inpatient Teacher at the Center for Prader-Willi Syndrome at the Childrenโs Institute of Pittsburgh. She graduated fromย Duquesne University receiving her Bachelorโs and Masterโs degree in Education with a focus on elementary education, special education, and language arts.
Staci Zimmerman works for Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Colorado as an Individualized Education Programย (IEP) consultant. Staci collaborates with the PWS multi-disciplinary clinic at the Childrenโs Hospital in Denverย supporting families and school districts around the United Statesย with their childโs Individual Educational Plan.
Founded in 2001, SDLC is a non-profit legal services organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the legal rights of people with disabilities throughout the South. It partners with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Protection and Advocacy (P&A) programs, Legal Services Corporations (LSC) and disability organizations on major, systemic disability rights issues involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the federal Medicaid Act. Recently in November 2014, Jim retired.