KBY Consults

12/13/2025

Welcome to the VBPD Alumni Development Programs (ADP)-Training Alumni (TA) Statewide Continuing Education Workshop: VDH’s Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Unit!

12/11/2025

12/04/2025

Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities and we are proud to celebrate!

Let’s take a moment to recognize the accomplishments and strengths of people with disabilities and commit to making our world more inclusive.

11/21/2025

Dear Parents -
Yesterday, I listened as everyone presented their reports during his Eligibility Meeting and their findings and recommendations for HotRod - it took everything in me not to cry as the thoughtfulness to obtain a comprehensive look at him was just beautiful to witness.

See, when he was first evaluated at the age of 2 - he only scored less than 10 points as his regression was so big that he could not interact with anyone including us, he was not able to understand language or express any acknowledgement of even hearing us, he lost the ability to swallow, feed himself, and the list goes on and on.... and we were literally told to find him an institution when he was diagnosed as 'we would never be able to provide the level of care he required' said the doctor. (My response was --- get out of my way as we will find a way!)

So when a new school psychologist explained he scored only one point away from below average (74) on the visual spatial portion of the IQ assessment - the reactions of the others on the team said it all as they were all smiling like a bunch of proud mama's listening to someone brag on their child. My son who scored a ZERO on visual in the beginning -- blew it out of the water by increasing those subtests from 0 to 74! (but I always knew his visual skills were stronger but never did I expect it to that high)

Then she went further and shared that his fluid reasoning was also a strength for him and since I fully understand the subtests, this one was a huge surprise for me as these are areas which he has always struggled with .... he did amazing and his scores increased about 60 points!

That's right everyone -- IQ scores can and do increase with a high level and intensity of services with lots of follow through in the home & community.

Do not ever let anyone tell you that your child can not do anything as anything is possible with lots of hard work and willingness to learn how to do things differently so they can learn.

Today my message is one of FAITH, HOPE & LOVE as there have been times that was all we had to hold onto and seeing the results of the labor of love everyone has put into helping him learn -- is life changing.

Sincerely,
Ms. Don't stop BELIEVING

P.S. --- Team HotRod is amazing

11/18/2025

COPAA files amicus brief with the Sixth Circuit supporting parents’ right to sue states in federal court for IDEA violations

On October 30, COPAA and several other organizations, law firms, lawyers, and legal scholars filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Y.A. v. Hamtramck , a case in which a group parents of children with disabilities sued their school district and the Michigan Department of Education for violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). You can read the Y.A. v. Hamtramck brief here .
🔗https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.copaa.org/resource/resmgr/docs/2025_docs_/25-1602_brief_of_amici_curia.pdf

COPAA and its fellow amici urged the Sixth Circuit to affirm the order of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan that denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss and found that the families in this case were not required to exhaust administrative remedies by first filing a due process suit because doing so would have been futile. The District Court concluded that an administrative hearing officer could not order the relief sought by the plaintiffs to remedy the IDEA violations alleged in this case, which involve staffing shortages and other large-scale problems.

The brief also explains that the IDEA establishes a cause of action against states—not just school districts—for the denial of a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”) and that the state “procedurally waived its claim of immunity from suit under IDEA the minute it willingly accepted federal IDEA funds.”

COPAA’s fellow amici include Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, Disability Rights Michigan, Erwin Chemerinsky, Kentucky Protection & Advocacy, Disability Rights Ohio, Disability Rights Tennessee, Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, Abdnour Weiker, Justin S. Gilbert, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Northern Kentucky Children’s Law Center, MI AECRES, and National Disability Rights Network. The amicus brief was written by COPAA Legal Director Selene Almazan and COPAA board member and Amicus Committee Co-Chair Ellen Saideman.

ALT - Government Justice Court Symbol text read Amicus Brief

11/08/2025

Circle of Support Conference
Arc of Greater Prince William