NAEAnews. “SPECIAL NEEDS,” August, 2004, Vol.46 (4), p.16 - "Special Needs" Web site.

What do you do if you are looking for information about special education students and the arts? This question has been a major focus of the Special Needs Issues Group and its goal was to create a Web site to make information easier to locate. This column will describe the Special Needs Web site that developed, how to access the site, and what you will find there.

First, a brief review of how the Web site came about. Barbara Suplee, Past President of the Special Needs Issues Group, recognized the need for a central source of information and made the Web site a topic at our first Special Needs meeting. The task to create the site was undertaken by a volunteer with the computer skills to set up a site, but as it turned out, a lack of institutional backing and time. Undeterred, Barbara asked if I would take on the task because I was a member of both NAEA and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and had written newsletters about special education and the arts convention presentations since 1994. My problem was that I had absolutely no experience setting up a Web site. But, thankfully, Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) provides both a Web site and the technical support necessary to set up a site for its faculty. Thanks must go to Stanley Walonoski, SCSU Academic Computer Center , and Manpreet Kaur Sachdeva, the student he assigned to help me put the information together. Manpreet designed the format for the site and each of the sections, organized it so that you can easily move through the pages, and linked the SED/arts site to other Web sites.

When the SED/arts site was first put on the web, it could only be accessed through Google and only (still) if you used upper case letters for the “SED.” Now when you use Google, click on “new2.gif” (don't ask….) Yahoo also connects to the site when you click on “SED Arts References.” You can also connect through NAEA's site www.naea-reston.org by doing the following:

•  Click on “NAEA At A Glance.”
•  Then click on “Affiliated Links.”
•  Scroll down to the “NAEA Special Issues Groups.”
•  Click on “Special Needs” and you are there.

Thanks to those who persisted and let me know about their problems accessing the site. I later learned that the address I gave in the last column used “sed” instead of “SED.” It should be www.southernct.edu/~gerber/SEDarts/ .

Once you reach the site, the “Home” page can access the following pages on the site: Here is a quick overview of what you will find in each.

•  The “NAEA Special Needs Issues Group” page brings you the By-Laws, business meeting minutes, and past “NAEAnews” columns.
•  The “CEC Special Interest Group for Teachers of the Arts” page brings past “Learning Through the Arts” newsletters with descriptions of special education/arts presentations and meetings at CEC, NAEA, and the Moss Foundation conferences.
•  The “SED/Arts Organizations” contains a list of professional organizations and community groups that include or focus on the arts for the special needs population. There is a list of dates of future conventions. You will find contact information and can access the organization's site by clicking on their web address.
•  The site's “SED/Arts Reference” list is one of the most comprehensive available and is supplemented by additional Web sites that provide still more information. Thanks to Mandy Yeager ( University of North Texas ) who kindly offered to periodically update this reference list.

The Web site's red and gray logo is a stick figure clay coil drawing made by a young man with mental retardation. A large copy of the drawing appears on the Home page and smaller versions of this icon are used to identify each section. Clicking on the little icon at the bottom of many pages will return you to the Home page. Upon learning that many people would see his design, the young man responded, “Oh boy! Now I'm going to be famous!”

The Web site will be updated every two months, so if there is information you would like to add, please become a contributor to our Web site and e-mail the information to me at the e-mail address above. If you would like to become a member of the NAEA Special Needs Issues Group, please contact Susan Loesl, Milwaukee Public Schools , 4153 N. 62 nd St. , Milwaukee , WI 53216 or e-mail loeslsd@milwaukee.k12.wi.us .