Message from Executive Director

Members, Friends, and Collaborators of CIDA,

Greetings,

I am very happy to start our June newsletter with very exciting news at CIDA as we see more light of hope coming our way. First of all, I am very pleased to share that CIDA successfully completed a community engagement meeting with the New York State Education Department to discuss various issues in Asian students with disabilities. We also successfully hosted a Meet the Candidate Forum in collaboration with The Korean Channel. Ten candidates from three NYC Council district candidates shared their plans and visions for Korean Americans and other Asian families with disabilities. CIDA is very proud that we were able to play a significant role in advocating for Korean-American families with disabilities through these events.

In June, CIDA will host very important parent/guardian workshops, which include seminars on New York State’s ABLE accounts, mediation to resolve conflict with schools, and understanding behavioral issues. Also, CIDA’s annual Self-Determination Academy for youth/young adults will begin in late June. We ask for your participation and support for these programs.

We look forward to meeting you with more good news during the summer.

Young Seh Bae, Executive Director

Policy News

New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards
Source: http://www.nysed.gov/

During the Stakeholder Meeting with the New York State Education Department on May 11, Joanne Lacrosse, the Director of Office Special Education informed CIDA that the Board of Regents adopted the New York State K12 Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards in December 2020. It is expected that the new standard will be helpful for teachers when planning lessons and developing guidelines for technology education throughout schools in NYS. The new standards focus on five key concepts are illustrated here: http://www.nysed.gov/curriculum-instruction/computer-science-and-digital-fluency-learning-standards

No remote learning option for NYC next school year, de Blasio announces
Source: https://ny.chalkbeat.org/

Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that New York City schools will not be offering remote learning for students starting next fall and students, teachers, and staff will be back to campuses full-time. Due to coronavirus rates decreasing and vaccination rates rising, the city declared that returning to in-person learning is not only safe but the most sound educational experience. Children as young as 12 are now eligible for the vaccine and those as young as 2 years old will be potentially eligible in the fall.

What’s Up at CIDA

Coffee Donation & Scented Wax Bar Workshop

With the help of our CIDA parents, CIDA was able to successfully raise our target funds through a Coffee Donation campaign. The money raised from this campaign will be going towards providing more CIDA enrichment programs (such as the Scented Wax Bar Workshop that was held on May 13) and also in providing more resources for our CIDA community. We would like to truly express our gratitude towards all who contributed and thank everyone for their support!

Stakeholder Engagement Meeting with NYS Education Department (May 11 @ 11AM) & NYC Council Candidate Forum (May 26 @ 6:30PM)

On May 11, CIDA held a community roundtable meeting with the New York State Education Department, Office of Special Education to discuss issues arising with Asian students with disabilities. Eight Asian parents including Korean and Chinese families and CIDA team participated in the meeting to address the pressing issues, including protecting Asian students with disabilities from school violence and bullying in the new school year, the gaps in digital literacy and outreach to immigrant families, language access, and teaching equity and inclusion through social emotional learning. CIDA will continue to engage with the NYS ED to follow-up and learn about the department’s plan to resolve the issues.

Also, on May 25, CIDA hosted “Meet the Candidates,” a virtual forum with the NYC City Council candidates in District 19, 20 and 23 to hear about candidates’ plans and visions for persons with disabilities and vulnerable populations and their support for special education, housing and job service systems. The Forum was streamed live on Facebook and broadcasted on The Korean Channel (TKC) on May 29, 30 and 31 throughout the NYC Metro area.

Self-Determination Academy

CIDA is starting to prepare for our annual young adult program, Self-Determination Academy this upcoming June. It will be held online from June 29 to June 30. This 2-day program will be open for all young adults and students where they will be learning about self-determination, goal setting, social skills, independent community life, and much more! Please stay tuned for more program details and registration announcements.

Events

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, all events are now online. Please check our event calendar for event details and registration information.

• Talking about My Stress (DDPC COVID Project) June 10 at 3:00pm: Teens and adults age above 14
• Why My Child Behaves Like This?: Understanding Social & Communication Characteristics of Persons with IDD Workshop (Korean) June 15 at 8:00pm: Any families who have a child with intellectual or developmental disabilities
• Able Account Workshop (English/Korean) June 17 at 7:30pm: Anyone who have child with disabilities
• June Youth Advisory Meeting – June 18 at 8:00pm: Invitation Only
• Volunteer Advocacy Project (VAP) Meeting – June 25 at 9:30am: Invitation only
• Music & Movement Workshop – June 26 at 9:30am
• Self-Determination Academy – June 29 & June 30 at 10:00am

Meet The Family

For this exclusive corner of Meet the Youth, we would like to introduce Transition @ CIDA featuring Ahra Sung, Arnold Lee, Eugene Bae, and Youth & Adult Service Specialist, Joon Her!