Social Media and Students with Special Disabilities:
A Guide for Parents, Educators, and School Leaders
Description of Program:
With personal device technology advancing at a dizzying pace, student use of social media is increasing rapidly. Issues such as cyberbullying, online safety, data privacy, and digital decorum can be challenging to all students, but students with special needs may need additional help navigating the fast-paced and often-intense world of social media.
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In this fast-paced, information-filled session, nationally-recognized speaker and practicing school law attorney discusses student needs and school legal obligations related to student use of social media by students with disabilities. She addresses instances where FAPE under the IDEA and/or Section 504 may require schools to provide additional services and accommodations for students with special needs to help them deal with issues such as cyberbullying, the impact that social media can have on students with social skills deficits, online safety, and student data privacy. Through the use of statistics and comprehensive data analysis, Atty. Gilsbach addresses the complex intersection between the worlds of education and student social media use. Parents, educators, and school leaders will benefit immeasurably from this highly-informative training.
About the Presenter:
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Erin D. Gilsbach, Esq., is the Executive Director of EdLaw Interactive, which specializes in legal training for educators and school administrators. An experienced speaker both nationally and in her home state of Pennsylvania, Erin currently serves as the Board of Directors of NSBA’s Council of School Attorneys and President of the PSBA Solicitors Association. She provides legal consulting and training services to schools, education-related organizations in the areas of special education; development of legally-defensible policies and procedures; trending legal issues regarding technology and education; nursing and school health services; truancy prevention; child abuse prevention and mandated reporting; educator evaluation and discipline; and many other school law topics.
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Elected by her peers as a "Rising Star Attorney" for 5 consecutive years, Erin began her career as a public high school English teacher, and she served for several years at the PA Department of Education’s Office of Chief Counsel. She was selected as the Missouri Council of Administrators of Special Education's (CASE) "2018 Distinguished Speaker." In 2017, she served as the legal consultant for the desk reference "Legal Issues in School Health Services,” and she is the author of a handbook on health-related special education issues for LRP Publications, which is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2019.
