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Who We Are

Who We Are 
 

Our Mission: "Parents helping parents and professionals enable individuals with disabilities to reach their own potential."   

Parent Network of WNY is a community resource for families of individuals with special needs and for professionals who work with these families. Parent Network’s goal is to empower families to successfully advocate for their children with special needs and to see that they receive proper care and education by offering seminars, workshops, conferences, information and referral services and resources. Parent Network is designated as a Technical Assistance Parent Center by NYS Education Department and receives funding from several sources.
Who We Serve
Parent Network's staff specializes in empowering parents to communicate effectively with professionals and to successfully advocate for their children. Parent Network also works with professionals by providing continuing education opportunities, resources and referral services. Professionals, parents and caregivers play a critical role in helping children with special needs achieve success in their lives. The majority of Parent Network's staff and board members are parents of children with disabilities, so they are able to bring personal experience and empathy when working with families. Since Parent Network reorganized in 2001 over 10,000 people have used our services.
 
What We Do
Parent Network provides parents and caregivers of children with special needs, the tools necessary to allow them to take an active role in their child's education. This is accomplished through:
  • Comprehensive information and referral service
  • Workshops and conferences on various special education topics.  
  • Extensive library and resource materials housed in the Dena B. Goldstein Family Resource Initiative.
  • Website and bi-annual newsletter, Special Insights, providing local, state and federal information.

Note: All of these services are free of charge for families, professionals and service providers of individuals with disabilities.

Networks   
In our ever-present goal to reach families we collaborate with a large number of organizations that serve the community. We are professional members of several local, state and national organizations such as the Developmental Disabilities Alliance of WNY, NYS Disability Advocacy Association and the National Alliance for Information and Referral.  Collaborative efforts include planning and implementing trainings, event participation and providing disability-related resources to the community. We also provide disability-related resources. For a complete list of partnerships, click here. 
 
Workshops/Seminars
Parent Network offers a wide variety of workshops and seminars.  Current topics are listed below.  For a list of upcoming workshops, click here.  As Parent Network continues to grow and evolve, we are constantly developing new workshops.  If you have thoughts and/or suggestions about topics, contact us
 
  • Autism (various topics)
  • Down syndrome: An Overview
  • Attention Deficy Hyper Disorder (ADHD): An Overview
  • Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD)
  • Sensory Processing Disorder 
  • Understanding Special Education
  • Understanding Special Education (Spanish)
  • Development of a Meaningful Individualized Education Program (IEP)
  • School Age Transitions
  • Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
  • Community-Based Services: What's Out There?
  • Roles of the Service Coordinator
  • Overview of Mental Health Services
  • Overview of Developmental Disability Services

    Transition to Adulthood
    • Letting Go: Empowering Young Adults with Disabilities

    • Planning from High School to Adulthood
    • Moving on to High School: Now What?
    • Speak Up and Speak Out: Empowering your Child
    • Your Mama Doesn't Work Here!
    • Transition to Adulthood
  • Using Technology for Learning
  • Skills for Effective Parent Advocacy
  • Binder: Organizing Paperwork
  • Can I Make It? A Student Guide to Life
  • Resolving Different Perspectives
  • Bullying & Students with Disabilities
  • Preparing for a Meeting
  • Nurtured Heart Approach to Challenging Behaviors
  • Making It Work: Effective Communication
  • Person Centered Planning
     
* For a complete list of workshop descriptions, click here.