Meet our advocate, Kayla Day, mom to Luella, age 4 with PWS. Contributed by Kayla Day After having my daughter and receiving a late diagnosis of Prader-Willi syndrome, it took years before I could discuss it with others. In these 4 1/2 years, I have met amazing families and staff through PWSA | USA. The...
PWSA | USA Spotlight on Hope contributed by Kristi Rickenbach, Mom to Justice Justice, 20 living with PWS, has been a member of the Young Adult Rare Representative (YARR) since January 2023 and recently had the opportunity to learn more about one of the things she is passionate about, Advocacy.The EveryLife Foundation offers a YARR...
We know the importance of exercise for our loved ones with PWS (as well as caregivers if you read last month’s blog on Exercise, Movement, and Mental Health). There are many ways people with PWS can move their bodies to experience the benefits of exercise. Still, sometimes, we have to get creative to get our...
Question: My daughter is 12 (deletion). She was never officially diagnosed with cataplexy, but when she was younger there were obvious moments of cataplexy like behavior (usually if she was tired and laughing.) Is it necessary to get an official diagnosis of cataplexy, if so, how is that done, and is it something that people...
Position: Full Time Development SpecialistLocation: Remote Do you have a passion for cultivating relationships and supporting those affected by PWS? Here is your opportunity! PWSA | USA is on the lookout for a dynamic individual to join our growing development team! As the Development Specialist, you’ll play a crucial role in special projects, grassroots support,...
We reached out to our PWS community of parents and caregivers to ask, “What is your PWS Parenting Hack?” Our goal was to gather tips and tools that help parents and caregivers navigate the challenges of PWS. What may seem like a simple tip from one parent could be life changing for another. So, please...
Neuren Pharmaceuticals is pleased to announce their second site participating in their Phase II, Open Label, PWS Study (Neu-2591-PWS-001) is now open for screening! Important information regarding this exciting milestone: Two sites are now open to enrollment! Rare Disease Research (RDR), located in Atlanta, GA, and Uncommon Cures, located in Chevy Chase, MD (8 miles outside...
Contributed by Katie Moureau On Wednesday, January 10, 2024, Katie Moureau, mom to a 9-year-old boy with PWS was able advocate in support of Assembly Bill 687 – Authorization of Value-Based Arrangements for Medicaid Programs for all rare diseases. She was one of 2 advocates testify. As we know there are NO FDA approved treatments...
Contributed by Emily Felt Hi PWSA Community! Every month, I collaborate with the PWSA communications team to contribute ideas that enhance the remarkable ways PWSA educates and supports our community. Like many volunteers, I am also a mother to an adorable 11-year-old girl named Olivia, who is living with PWS. In addition to my volunteer...
Contributed by Jennifer Lloyd When it comes to finding people who understand PWS, it can feel isolating – especially after a new diagnosis. Silas and Nora met at Physical Therapy at a few months old. I remember his PT telling me there was a little girl with PWS that was going there and I knew...
In the PWS community, we emphasize the importance of exercise and movement as management strategies and life-saving habits for people living with PWS. With the complications of hyperphagia and a slower metabolism, exercise is critical for care. But our loved ones are not alone in this. Physical fitness is incredibly valuable and needed for parents...
Soar to new advocacy heights in Washington, D.C.! We are excited to announce the application to attend PWSA | USA’s 2nd D.C. Fly-In, which will take place May 13 – 15, 2024, is now available. Find important disclaimer information by scrolling below, including what expenses PWSA | USA will be covering. This year’s event hotel...
We can continue to make our voices and our stories heard through advocacy and community outreach. On January 16, 2024, YOU can sign up for PWSA | USA’s 2nd annual “Walk a Mile in their Genes” advocacy campaign. Participants will not only raise awareness about PWS, but they will raise much needed funds to enable...
We are excited to announce the launch of PWSA | USA’s brand new initiative – The Rare Aware Art Share! This virtual art show aims to spotlight the voices of individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome. We hope to learn more about each individual, their lives, and their experiences as someone with PWS. Our hope is that...
Receiving a diagnosis of Prader-Willi syndrome can feel isolating and overwhelming. Many of us are thrust into a world we never knew existed. From the start, we are met with statistics and information about genetics, therapies, medications, specialists, nutrition, and futures that seem unfathomable. The tumultuous emotions that accompany this time will likely get shoved...
PWSA | USA Spotlight on Hope, Contributed by Michele Hampton, Mom to Jayda (living with PWS) Jayda was born right on time weighing in at 5lbs 12oz. We were initially told she was “slow to start” and just may take some time to adjust. But, as I am sure all of us understand, she was...
For those living in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the darkest time of the year. Perhaps this fact is the underlying inspiration for winter festivities, the need to create light where it has receded temporarily beyond the horizon. The days are short, the nights are long, and yet we push ourselves to gather and plan...
We at PWSA | USA are grateful to be a part of this connected, passionate community and for the opportunity to provide support to families and individuals living with PWS. With your help, along with our hard-working staff and diligent volunteers, we have been able to spread our support to families around the country and...
by Katherine Crawford, former PWCF Family Support Coordinator; Updated by Lisa Graziano, M.A., PWCF Education and Training Consultant Holidays are a time for gathering, connecting, and celebrating – but are also typically centered on food, which often places enormous stressors on families of a child or adult with PWS. We hope the following tips make your...
We are in the chaotic midst of the holiday season. Traditions, gatherings, travel, food, gifts, more food, and expectations of how it’s all supposed to look permeate this time of year. These expectations and traditions can be very challenging for families in general, but especially families of loved ones with PWS. Expectations may be high,...
On December 6, 2023, Director of Community Engagement Dorothea Lantz was the keynote and opening speaker for the first annual Rare Conversations. This rare disease policy forum was organized by Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Disease and focused on how to advance the needs of people living with rare disease and their caregivers by working with state...
Contributed by Kim Tula PWSA | USA supports the PWS community in a multitude of ways. This includes providing training to residential home and school staff. These trainings are an essential component of educating schools, homes, and providers to help our loved ones live safer, healthier lives. Kim Tula is our Alterman Family Support Counselor....
Jennifer Bolander has been serving as a Special Education Specialist for PWSA (USA) since October of 2015. She is a graduate of John Carroll University and lives in Ohio with her husband Brad and daughters Kate (17), and Sophia (13) who was born with PWS.
Over the years, as a special-needs parent navigating the Special Education system for Sophie, Jennifer became interested in learning as much as possible about that process. She began by attending PWSA (USA)’s first Wyatt Special Education Advocacy Training in March of 2013, and went on to complete a rigorous 9-month Special Education Advocacy Training course with the Council of Parent Advocates and Attorneys in May of 2015. This included successfully completing an advocacy internship with PWSA (USA). Jennifer is referred school cases by PWSA (USA)’s Family Support Counselors, and then works closely with parents and schools to review education records, assess the child’s situation at school, provide further information about how the syndrome affects the school experience, and, as needed, create improved IEPs and behavioral plans. Jennifer was excited to take on this role of helping parents in the PWS community to work collaboratively with school professionals and parents to create positive, effective learning environments for children with PWS across the country. Jennifer is a graduate of the WSEAT program.
Perry A. Zirkel has written more than 1,500 publications on various aspects of school law, with an emphasis on legal issues in special education. He writes a regular column for NAESP’s Principal magazine and NASP’s Communiqué newsletter, and he did so previously for Phi Delta Kappan and Teaching Exceptional Children.
Past president of the Education Law Association and co-chair of the Pennsylvania special education appeals panel from 1990 to 2007, he is the author of the CEC monograph The Legal Meaning of Specific Learning Disability; the more recently published books, A Digest of Supreme Court Decisions Affecting Education and Student Teaching and the Law; and the two-volume reference Section 504, the ADA and theSchools, now in its fourth edition. In 2012, he received Research into Practice Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Excellence in Research Award from AERA’s Division A (Administration, Organization & Leadership). In 2013, he received the University Council for Educational Administration’s Edwin Bridges award for significant contributions to the preparation and development of school leaders. In 2016, he received the Education Law Association’s Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Education Law, and in 2017 he received the Council for Exceptional Children’s Special Education Research Award. Note:Perry’s website is perryzirkel.com
Evan has worked with the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA) since 2007 primarily as a Crisis Intervention and Family Support Counselor. Evans works with parents and schools to foster strong collaborative relationships and appropriate educational environments for students with PWS.
Dr. Amy McTighe is the PWS Program Manager and Inpatient Teacher at the Center for Prader-Willi Syndrome at the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh. She graduated from Duquesne University receiving her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education with a focus on elementary education, special education, and language arts.
She obtained her PhD from Capella University in Education focusing her research on Prader-Willi Syndrome. Dr. McTighe is also a graduate of the William & Mary Law School’s Institute for Special Education Advocacy. Dr. McTighe is currently the chair of the Special Education Advisory Board for the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association-(USA). Amy is the Chair of PWSA (USA)’s Special Education Advisory Board.
Staci Zimmerman works for Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Colorado as an Individualized Education Program (IEP) consultant. Staci collaborates with the PWS multi-disciplinary clinic at the Children’s Hospital in Denver supporting families and school districts around the United States with their child’s Individual Educational Plan.
Staci Zimmerman has lived in Denver, CO for the past 17 years. She lives with her husband and 5 year old daughter. Staci attended The University of Kansas, with a B.A in sociology and an M.ed in Special Education, with an emphasis in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Staci enjoys teaching fitness classes, and keeping a healthy, active lifestyle in Colorado.
Founded in 2001, SDLC is a non-profit legal services organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the legal rights of people with disabilities throughout the South. It partners with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Protection and Advocacy (P&A) programs, Legal Services Corporations (LSC) and disability organizations on major, systemic disability rights issues involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the federal Medicaid Act. Recently in November 2014, Jim retired.
Before founding SDLC, Jim was the Executive Director of Advocacy, Inc., the Texas Protection and Advocacy program from 1989-2001. During that period, he managed the growth of the program from 34 staff to a staff of 94 and from a centralized operation with one office to a regionalized operation with eleven offices spread across Texas.
From 1981-1989, Jim worked for the Advocacy Center for the Elderly and Disabled (Louisiana’s Protection and Advocacy program) as its Legal Director. From 1979 to 1981 Jim worked as a staff attorney for the Louisiana Center for the Public Interest.
Jim graduated from Tulane University School of Law in 1977, and has a BA in Accounting & Economics from the University of Puget Sound.
Jim is the author of publications and training materials on the IDEA, the ADA, and Section 504, including: Keeping Students with Disabilities in School: Legal Strategies and Effective Educational Practices for Preventing the Suspension of Students with Disabilities – A Resource Manual (2014); Stopping the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Pipeline by Enforcing Federal Special Education Laws (2006), co–authored with Rhonda Brownstein from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Jim has served as lead or co-counsel in several major IDEA actions in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi on behalf of thousands of students with disabilities, including Angel G. v. Texas Education Agency; Luke S. v. Louisiana Department of Education and Mattie T. v. Mississippi Department of Education. The past decade, he also filed and favorably settled five systemic administrative complaints in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. These systemic complaints were filed under IDEA’s state complaint procedures.
Jim has also made over two hundred presentations at statewide, regional and national conferences on IDEA, Section 504, and ADA issues. The past four years he has also served as one of the faculty members at William and Mary Law School’s week long Institute on Special Education Advocacy.
