Special Education Community Events and News

Disability Pride Month 2026
July is Disability Pride Month! Checkout resources and celebration ideas:

Disability Pride Month 2026: Theme, History, How to Celebrate

DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH - July 1, 2026 - National Day Calendar

Disability Pride and Advocating for Access

The World Works Better With Us: Celebrating Disability Pride Month 2026

Disability Pride Month – Children's Book Council
Learn more

Community Event Calendar - Check out the Many Events Happening!
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SF Therapeutic Rec & Park Fall 2026 Programming

2026 TR Day Camp Menu

For all SF Recreation and Parks Fall season programming please see the attached catalog. For specialized TR program offerings for the Fall season, see the attached Program menu as well as descriptions see below:· TR Family Day (10am-1pm, 12/12) - our one off events for people with disabilities and their families. This event is for families to recreate together, connect with our team and other families. All ages and abilities welcome. All attending must be registered for accurate headcounts and capacity reasons.

· **Access to Health and Fitness (Wednesdays, 11am-12:30pm, 9/16-12/2 at Mission Recreation Center) - Come get healthy and fit! This is a specialized Therapeutic Recreation Program, serving transition aged youth with disabilities ages 18+. We strive to develop social and life skills while fostering community integration and encouraging independence in a safe and nurturing environment. We, will work directly with the ACCESS students, to help them develop healthy lifestyle and fitness skills. We recommend bringing comfortable clothes and shoes as well as water.

·**TR Afternoon Social Club (Tuesdays, 3:00pm-5:30pm 9/15-10/13 at Mission Playground) - is a 5-week program for individuals with disabilities ages 14-25. In the past. we have alternated days we are onsite. Activities depend on the theme, but this program focuses on socialization, developing and practicing skills like: budgeting, decision making, following a recipe. etc. This program does require some level of independence. Limited built-in support

· **Teen Time (10am-1pm, 11/7 at Mission Playground) - is a 3 hour program for teens with disabilities ages 13-22. We try to plan according the participants registered, plans may include: community outing, art activities, special guests, etc.

· **Play Day (10am-1pm, 10/17 at Mission Playground) - is a 3 hour program for kids with disabilities ages 6-12. We try to plan according the participants registered, plans may include: community outing, art activities, special guests, etc.

· Access to Adventure (11am-3pm, 9/19 at Presidio Tunnel Tops) - Learn about inclusive recreation opportunities available in and around San Francisco. Connect with other families as well as staff from Support for Families, Presidio Trust, and SF Recreation and Park’s Therapeutic Recreation and Inclusion Services.

· Scaregrove (10/30 at Stern Grove) -More information and details to come as we get closer to the Halloween event date.

Please note that programs with ** are specialized and require a TR-approval before registering. TR-approval requires connecting with our office and having a completed assessment on file. If you have registered for any of our specialized programming such as, summer camps, Play Day, Teen Time, TR Afternoon Social Club or Access to Heath and Fitness in the past, then you are TR-approved.

And if you haven't already done so, please sign-up for our TR e-News here. Our newsletter is not sent on a weekly basis. You will automatically to added to the general e-News letter if you sign-up for our TR e-News. In addition to joining our programs/events, this is the best way to stay connected and get important information/dates.

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Monthly: FREE IEP Workshops & Clinics

Monthly on Thursday's: Individualized Education Program (IEP) Clinics

Presented by SFCD. Offered in English, Spanish and Cantonese. Learn about Special Education law, the IEP process, what to do when things aren’t working, and how to become a more active and effective team member.

To register, please call our Warmline at 415-920-5040, email info@supportforfamilies.org,
or click the registration link below.

Presented in Cantonese: 1st Thursdays; 6-7:00pm
Presented in English: 2nd Thursdays; 4-6:00pm
Presented in Spanish: 3rd Thursdays; 4-6:00pm

點擊這裡登記粵語IEP講座

Click here to register for the English IEP Clinic

Haga clic aquí para registrarse a la Clínica de IEP en español

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Monthly: 2nd Sundays with Spectrum Rock Climbers

Spectrum Rock Climbers is a group of volunteers who want to provide youth with autism who have an interest in indoor rock climbing access to the sport and the benefits. Sign-up is required and space is limited. Email David Kase at david@kasemedia.com to sign-up or with any questions. Some additional details below:

Who: Youth ages 9 to 17. Climbers must be able to effectively communicate with their belayer (all forms are accepted). Climbers must be accompanied by one parent or guardian.

Cost: Free. Gym access, climbing shoes and a harness are provided at no cost (thanks to Movement San Francisco). Sign-up is required as space is limited.

When: The second Sunday of each month from 9:30 to 11 a.m..

Where: Movement Gym San Francisco (924 Mason Street)

Please note that this opportunity has no association with our team or department. Click the link below to get an idea of what to expect.

What to expect video

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Mon Sep 14, 7:00-8:45pm: Know Your Rights in the IEP Process (DREDF)

Presented by DREDF Parent Training and Information Center (Disability Rights Education Defense Fund)

Date & Time: Monday, September 14 from 7:00-8:45pm

Location: Zoom

Come with us as we begin to dig into the Procedural Safeguards–a.k.a. parents’ rights–and explore the tools parents, families, and even students can use when things begin to go sideways. This webinar will include advocacy strategies that families can use immediately to support their students and engage with the IEP team or 504 team members.

*CART (live captions) provided. Contact pti@dredf.org for any accommodations you may need by Monday, September 7th. Late requests may not be possible to fill.

You must register in advance for this webinar: Registration Link

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Tues Sep 15, 6-7:30pm: Webinar- Understanding Your Child: A 360 Lens to the Neurodivergent Experience

Presented by SF Autism Society

More information and sign up

Webinar: Understanding Your Child: A 360 Lens to the Neurodivergent Experience
Families raising neurodivergent children, adolescents, or providing support to adults are rarely short on information. What they are often missing is a way to bring all of that together into one coherent picture of how their child actually experiences the world.
This session introduces a framework for understanding the full developmental profile across six domains: communication ability, communication intent, sensory processing, learning, social engagement, and regulation. Attendees will identify patterns across communication, sensory processing, learning, social engagement, and regulation and understand how those patterns shape a child's everyday experience. Attendees will gain language to describe a child's strengths and support needs and will receive a complimentary 360 developmental profile for their own child or of a client following the webinar.
Audience: Providers, ABA companies, PT, OT, ST professionals, Parents, caregivers supporting children with autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, developmental delays, and related neurodevelopmental differences. The content is applicable across ages.
Speakers: Megan DeLeon, PhD, BCBA-D. Dr. Megan DeLeon is a board-certified behavior analyst with a Ph.D. in Special Education and Behavior Analysis from The Ohio State University, and years of experience as an adjunct professor and clinical director. She is the founder of the Do Better Movement and Do Better Collective, initiatives dedicated to advancing humane, culturally-informed, and compassionate practices in behavior analysis, and she is the co-author of 7 Steps to Earning Instructional Control.
Amanda Chawla, MHA, MBA, FACHE. Amanda has spent more than two decades leading healthcare driving strategy, operations, and care coordination across some of the country's most respected systems. At Stanford Medicine, including Stanford Children's, she built and led large-scale programs designed not just to work on paper, but to hold up under the weight of real-world conditions.

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Wednesdays Sep 23 - Nov 8, 6-8pm: Advocating for Your Black Child

Presented by NAMI SF in collaboration with The Kuumba Healing Project

Learn more and register

Advocating for Your Black Child (A4YBC) is a free, 8-week psycho-education series for Black parents and caregivers of Black children & teens (elementary-high school) living with mental health and/or learning differences. Advocating for Your Black Child (A4YBC) is offered in a virtual group setting so that you can safely and confidently connect with other Black Parents.

Each A4YBC cohort provides critical information & strategies created specifically with the Black family in mind. The A4YBC curriculum provides a wealth of practical resources throughout the series. It was designed specifically to support the Black family in navigating school, political and social systems for your child.

We cover a variety of topics, which include:

Accessing the appropriate academic services & support for your child within the public school system
Systemic Racism and navigating White spaces
Learning about behavioral health and neurological differences
Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Utilizing community resources
Obstacles to effective parenting
Alternative and Allopathic treatment methods

The course is taught by trained clinical & health professionals and those with lived experiences — who understand what you're going through because they've been there.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Ashley Brown-Hagan at NAMI San Francisco

ashley@namisf.org or 909-313-2512

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Thurs Oct 8, 7-9pm: Self Compassion Support Group by SF Autism Society

Presented by SF Autism Society

This series of virtual support group sessions will provide you the opportunity to:

identify and embody the three components of self-compassion: kindness, mindfulness (including mindful movement), and common humanity;
develop skills for responding in a compassionate way whenever you or your child suffers;
explore the role of tender and fierce self-compassion;
practice strategies to soothe and comfort yourself and your child in order to handle difficult emotions with greater ease, but also to draw boundaries, fight against injustice, or motivate change;
Identify and self-reflect on your journey as a caregiver and find common humanity with others.

Who: Parents and Caregivers of ASD kids and related developmental disorders
For questions: Please contact Sara Kole here

Register here

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