The Michigan House is expected to take up legislation this week that delays the start of kindergarten for Michigan youngsters. Under a Senate plan approved May 2, Michigan school districts would phase in the change over a three-year period starting in the 2013-2014 school year.

As a 2-year-old, Reagan Calley spent an entire year flat-out refusing to wear shoes, and holding to a rigid sequence for dressing to go outdoors. But that wasn’t the worst of it, recalled her father, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley. Between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. each night that year, she woke up screaming. One day in that time period, Brian Calley, then a state representative and member of the House Health Policy Committee, listened with uncomfortable familiarity to the testimony of a mother whose 9-year-old son was autistic.

The Sandbox Party has joined forces with Metro Parent, for their Living with Autism Workshop 2012. This event is set to take place on Wednesday, April 25 at the Marriott Hotel in Troy, MI and will feature keynote speaker Holly Robinson Peete and special guest speaker Lt. Governor Brian Calley.

Moving back the kindergarten start-date in Michigan – an issue of prime interest to advocates of early childhood education -cleared a legislative hurdle Wednesday after members of the Senate Education Committee approved a three-year plan to phase it in.