ARCHES
Thompson’s Special Education Support Group

Special people working together for special needs.

Arches Mission

To bring special needs parents together to help them be come more knowledgeable in the area of special education and be come stronger voices for their children.

About Arches

Advocates, resources, communication, help, education, support – the fundamental components necessary to help parents who have children with special needs. TEEG is proud to sponsor ARHCES, a monthly education and support group to unite parents and help them become stronger voices for their children with special needs.

Contact Information
Email: ARCHES@teegonline.org

2006 ARCHES Accomplishments to Date: 275 lives touched.

A Message from Richard D. Lavoie, The F.A.T. City Workshop

What is a learning disability?

Interestingly, there is no clear and widely accepted definition of learning disabilities. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the field, there is on going debate on the issue of definition, and there are currently at least twelve definitions that appear in the professional literature. These disparate definitions do agree on certain factors:

• The learning disabled have difficulties with academic achievement and progress;
  discrepancies exit between a persons potential for learning and what he actually learns.
  
  
• The learning disabled show an uneven pattern of development (language development,
  physical development, academic development).
  
  
• Learning problems are not due to environmental disadvantage.
  
  
• Learning problems are not due to mental retardation or emotional disturbance.

The term learning disability was coined by Dr. Samuel Kirk in 1962. It is often referred to as the hidden handicap because there is no outward appearance of the disability children with learning disabilities appear to be no different than their peers.

Website Links & Resources

ARC of Connecticut - www.arcct.com
Connecticut Autism Spectrum Resource Center (ASRC) - www.ct-asrc.org
Connecticut Birth to Three System - www.birth23.org
Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities - www.state.ct.us/ctcdd
Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center (CPAC) - www.cpacinc.org
Connecticut State Department of Education - www.state.ct.us/sde
Department of Mental Retardation - www.dmr.state.ct.us
Families United for Children's Mental Health - www.ctfamiliesunited.homestead.com
Families United of Northeast Connecticut - www.ctfamiliesunited.homestead.com/NortheastPages
Family advocacy organization for Children’s mental health (Favor)- www.favor-ct.org
Learning Disabilities Association of America - www.ldaamerica.org
Learning Disabilities Association of Connecticut (LDA of CT. Inc.) - www.ldact.org
Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities - www.ct.gov/opapd
SERC - www.ctserc.org
Statewide Legal Services - www.slsct.org
The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) - www.fape.org
U.S. Department of Education - www.ed.gov/index.jhtml