Statewide Family Events

This page lists links to calendars with conferences, workshops, and other events related to early intervention in Illinois.

Parent Advocacy Training for Legislative Change

The Family Resource Center on Disabilities (FRCD) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are offering a free training to parents and family members of children with disabilities. The purpose of this program is to educate and empower parents of children with disabilities about legislative advocacy. The training will enable you to:

• Participate in the legislative process to change special education policy.
• Become more comfortable speaking to legislators and sharing concerns.
• Develop an understanding of special education policy and practice.

Your participation in this training will build your advocacy skills and provide important feedback that can help guide, expand, and strengthen special education policy. In addition to attending the training, participants will be required to:

• Participate in a focus group to share concerns about special education legislation.
• Complete three surveys to document the effectiveness of the training.
• Be videotaped (less than three minutes) to share your concerns about special education legislation.

Please sign up by April 20, 2018. Your participation is voluntary and your responses will be kept confidential. To participate, please complete the registration and survey at this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DisabilityAdvocacy

After completing the survey, you will be notified of your training date. There are two sets of training dates: May 10 and 17, 2018 OR September 18 and 20, 2018, Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

All trainings will be held at the Dr. Martin Luther King Service Center/Resource Center for Autism and Developmental Delays, 4314 S. Cottage Grove, Chicago, IL 60653. Food and parking will be provided and each participant will receive two $10 gift cards. If you have questions or want to complete the survey over the phone or via hard copy, please contact: Meghan Burke, meghanbm@illinois.edu or 217-300-1226.