Beautiful Minds Advocacy & Special Needs Solutions, Inc. provides parents and IEP team members with the knowledge and skills they need to: guide an IDEA-compliant IEP meeting, broker communication between school districts, build agreement and resolve conflict as you plan for your child’s academic success.

Prepares K-12 students to take the California High School Exit Examination (C.A.H.S.E.E.) and the Texas STAAR examination to determine academic levels and success of persons who participate in the formal school system.

Relationship/Family Counseling

All families have conflict. It’s the nature of people living in close proximity. But when normal conflicts turn into daily shouting matches, family members begin hurting each other emotionally (and sometimes physically) and a feeling of anger permeates the household, it’s time to do something about it. Blended families in which one or both parents bring to the marriage, children from previous relationships present their own unique dynamics. Let’s face it, we don’t all live a Huxtable lifestyle! Beautiful Minds Advocacy & Special Needs Solutions, Inc. is here to help. Sometimes the conflict is caused by the inappropriate or unacceptable behavior of one or more members of the family but it affects everyone! While we work with those individuals to try to help them with the cause of their actions, we also work with the entire family so they can provide support for that person and for each other, and to learn how to reduce the conflict.

Families can be thought of as a system of interacting parts. We learn how to think, feel and behave from the families in which we grew up. When these beliefs are not challenged and/or changed, we pass on that legacy to our children and their families.

Relationship or family counseling may be particularly useful for:

– Problems developing in one or more family members which affect all (i.e.: substance abuse, children’s problems, anger, depression in one partner, etc.)

– Family or relationship change such as divorce, or children leaving home

– Cultural and ethnic conflict within relationships

– Sexual or cultural differences between the family and the larger community

– Finding the satisfaction you seek in relationships

Individual Counseling

Everyone experiences problems in the course of growth and development. Some problems pass with time; some can be resolved with personal creative problem solving; some can be resolved by consulting with family, friends, or other resources. Sometimes problems persist in spite of all attempts to resolve them; sometimes they are just too numerous, too acute, and too big to manage without additional support. At these times Beautiful Minds Educational & Special Needs Solutions, Inc. can provide assistance in rebuilding problem solving resources and options.

Individual counseling might be particularly useful for:

– life changes, such as relationship loss

– aloneness and loneliness

– ethnic and cultural background differences

– sexual identity differences

– anger issues, ongoing stressors such as depression; substance abuse; eating or other disorders

Emotional abuse is a pattern of behavior that attacks a child’s emotional development and sense of self-worth. Emotional abuse includes excessive, aggressive or unreasonable demands that place expectations on a child beyond his or her capacity. Constant criticizing, belittling, insulting, rejecting and teasing are some of the forms these verbal attacks can take. Emotional abuse also includes failure to provide the mental nurturing necessary for a child’s Special Needs growth and development — providing no love, support or guidance.Beautiful Minds Advocacy & Special Needs Solutions, Inc. will provide the bridge to your child’s emotional success.

Observable Indicators

– child rocks, sucks, bites self

– inappropriately aggressive,

– destructive to others

– suffers from sleep, speech disorders

– restricts play activities or experiences

– demonstrates compulsions, obsessions, phobias, hysterical outbursts

Behavioral Indicators in Child

– negative statements about self

– shy, passive, compliant lags in physical, mental and emotional development

– self destructive behavior

– highly aggressive

– cruel to others

– overly demanding

Family or Parental Indicators

– blames or puts down child

– is cold and rejecting

– indifferent to child’s problems or welfare

– withholds affection

– shows preferential treatment when there is more than one child in the family

NOTE: Again, any one of these indicators could be attributable to a specific life event or other trauma. A pattern of behavior is the strongest indicator of abuse and should not be ignored.

is the most effective method in which the student receives explicit instruction by our staff and is considered the most effective practice for enhancing outcomes for students with Learning Disabilities.

Vocational Assessment’s are needed for diagnosis and for planning an Appropriate Intervention Program.

a. Assessment includes a variety of activities and procedures intended to ensure a comprehensive set of data for determining an individual’s career/academic status and needs.

b. The procedures used to assess learning disabilities should address the presenting problems.

c. A vocational assessment must include procedures to determine levels of performance in the following domains: motor, sensory, cognitive, communication, and behavior. A review of the following is also necessary: Past and Current IEP’s, cumulative academic records, and previous psycho-educational evaluations.

d. Data from case history, interviews, and direct observations are important sources of information especially when provided by parents, educators, and the individual with the suspected learning disability. The information helps to evaluate signs, symptoms, and behaviors in a historical perspective.

The completion of high school is the beginning of adult life. Entitlement to public education ends, and young people and their families are faced with many options and decisions about the future. The most common choices for the future are pursuing vocational training or further academic education, getting a job, and living independently.

For students with disabilities, these choices may be more complex and may require a great deal of planning. Planning the transition from school to adult life begins, at the latest, during high school. In fact, transition planning is required, by law, to start once a student reaches 14 years of age, or younger, if appropriate. This transition plan becomes formalized as part of the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP)/ Academic, Review, & Dismissal (ARD) process.

Transition Solutions are intended to prepare students to make the transition from the world of school to the world of adulthood. In planning what type of transition Solutions a student needs to prepare for adulthood, the IEP/ARD Team considers areas such as postsecondary education or vocational training, employment, independent living, and community participation. The transition Solutions themselves are a coordinated set of activities that are based on the student’s needs and that take into account his or her preferences and interests. Transition Solutions can include instruction, community experiences, the development of employment and other post- school adult living objectives, and (if appropriate) the acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational assessment.

The student and his or her family are expected to take an active role in preparing the student to take responsibility for his or her own life once school is finished. Where once school provided a centralized source of education, guidance, transportation, and even recreation, after students leave school, they will need to organize their own lives and needs and navigate among an array of adult service providers and federal, state, and local programs. This can be a daunting task one for which the student and his or her family need to be prepared.Beautiful Minds Advocacy & Special Needs Solutions, Inc. is here to assist you with ALL of your Transition Planning needs

This Transition Summary provides ideas and information on how students, families, school personnel, service providers, and others can work together to help students make a smooth transition. In particular, Beautiful Minds Advocacy & Special Needs Solutions, Inc.focuses on creative transition planning and Solutions that use all the resources that exist in communities, not just the agencies that have traditionally been involved.

Making a connection with people who have blazed the trails will make the social and academic transition smoother. Beautiful Minds Inc.- Advocacy & Special Needs Solutions, Inc., in conjunction with Gurl Power© (a Female Mentorship Program) and Boys 2 Men© (a Male Mentorship Program) pairs youngsters with learning disabilities with positive role models, community leaders, and entrepreneurs to gain and build self-esteem, character, dignity, and confidence. Parents and students can get more information about our mentorship programs by contacting Beautiful Minds Inc.- Advocacy & Special Needs Solutions, Inc.