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Parents connect special, general education
(by Alexandra Fazeli Fard - April 23, 2008)
“It was actually a very selfish endeavor,” Mark Barry laughs as he recalls his reasons for founding River Vale Parents of Exceptional Children (RVPEC), a grassroots group dedicated to assembling and assisting the parents of special needs kids in the area. A parent of exceptional children himself, Barry had recently moved to River Vale and found that he had to start from scratch.
“I was looking for all new doctors and therapists, and was new to the school district. I didn’t want to waste time spinning my wheels trying to find support for my kids when I knew somebody out there knew the answers to those questions already. There was a lot of knowledge in our community that wasn’t being shared.”
Since its inception in April 2007, RVPEC has helped parents pool “insider” knowledge about the medical, educational and social issues that affect their children’s lives. Whether logistical or, at times, emotional, the topics of discussion at RVPEC’s monthly meetings are geared towards helping parents in the special education community maximize the support their children receive from the school district, the town and their peers.
“Even knowing about the personalities behind the scenes can help,” RVPEC member Patricia Pane adds, whether in planning an Individualized Education Program (IEP), finding quality medical care, or ensuring that their children fit in with their schoolmates.
With membership now growing to nearly 50 and beyond, the group, however informally structured, has its sights set on adopting a more powerful community-oriented approach. From the outset, Pane notes, the RVPEC members “all saw a lack of opportunity for the kids in the different education communities to interact.” As a result, the group hopes to organize tutoring, “buddy” programs and peer mentoring activities to bridge the gap between special needs children and general education kids.
“We want to be able to create a situation where it’s not just [about the] special needs child,” Pane says, but rather about events “where anyone can come and have fun. By doing that I think it helps all the kids across the board to see that [they] can come together.”
Transforming the group into a community-wide presence, however, has become one of the young organization’s most challenging goals, simply because of the hectic lives and schedules that RVPEC’s members already lead.
“One of the hurdles we’ve been trying to get over [is] figuring out how to organize our operations to take advantage of what people can do while being flexible enough to respond to the craziness in their lives, which is tricky,” Barry admits. “There are plenty of moments where it’s frustrating; we don’t feel like we’re getting anything done.”
Despite such obstacles, however, RVPEC continues to be a powerful source of information and support for families with special needs children in River Vale.
“Even when we’re just spreading information, I’ve had quite a few parents [say] that they’re doing something for their child that they would not have known about had they not been part of RVPEC.”
For information on River Vale Parents of Exceptional Children, contact Mark Barry at 201-573-7629.
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