Easter Fun
By: Kim Tula, Family Support Counselor For many, Easter is a fun and joy-filled holiday, but for individuals with PWS and their families and caregivers, it can also be full of worry. The anticipation of large family dinners, Easter Egg hunts, and candy-filled baskets left by the Easter Bunny can result in increased anxiety and...
Receiving the Diagnosis
by Amanda Yanik The first and only person that mentioned Prader-Willi syndrome to us while our daughter Saoirse was in the NICU was the incomparable geneticist, Chin-To Fong, M.D.. I have a vague recollection of him coming in on a Friday night after the first week of our NICU stay. He mentioned a previous patient of...
Tips for Better Sleep
Quality sleep is vital to our physical and mental health, as well as our emotional wellbeing. Yet, many of us struggle to get a good night sleep on a regular basis. Now, imagine if you were rarely able to get a good night’s rest and the impact that accumulated “sleep deficit” would eventually have on...
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 various aspects of school law, with an emphasis on legal issues in special education. He writes a regular column for NAESP’s Principal magazine and NASP’s Communiqué newsletter, and he did so previously for Phi Delta Kappan and 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 Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh. She graduated from Duquesne University receiving her Bachelor’s and Master’s 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 Program (IEP) consultant. Staci collaborates with the PWS multi-disciplinary clinic at the Children’s Hospital in Denver supporting families and school districts around the United States with their child’s 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.