The Collaborative IEP

Advocate.  A person who publicly supports a cause of policy.  No matter the path we took to get here, we all ended at the same point: Advocate.  Some of us arrived kicking and screaming.  Others knew we’d be advocates from Day One.  Some of us don our advocacy hats begrudgingly still while others decorate them with sequins.  But we’re all advocates.  And today we...

Sure, you know to buy the number two pencils and notebooks that will come home almost completely unused. You bleach the mold out of the lunchbox and make sure their toes aren’t sticking through last year‘s shoes. But do you do anything different for your children that are on IEP‘s at the beginning of the school year? Before I tell you that you should, know that I will help you! I’m not talking abo...

I hope you’re ready to laugh!  Today’s guests, Rob Snow and Nick Doyle are masters at improvisation, and they had me laughing before we even hit record.  Rob started a non-profit called StandUp for Downs and performs improv across the country to raise money for local Down Syndrome affiliates.  A few years ago, he developed the Improvaneer Method, a program that teachers individuals with developmen...

Did you ever wonder if teachers feel compelled to advocate for their students?  Ever wonder what kind of advocacy and teamwork they desire from and with parents?  In today’s episode I talk with Ms. Lucy from @thealternativewaytoprek about how she runs her self-contained preschool classroom, advocacy, how she uses AAC in her classroom, and so much more!  Lucy and I could go on and on...

Want to know my favorite advocacy strategy?  It’s something you can do on the first day of school with very little effort, and it will give you SO much insight!  The tip: Go To School.  No, I don’t mean that you need to go back to school!  I mean, you need to march your little feet to your child’s school.  Get involved.  It will teach you so much about your child’s en...

In the legal field, lines are often blurred.  Attorneys are kind of famous for saying, “Well, maybe.”  And, “It depends!”  But there’s one kind of case that I always turn away.  It’s not so much the case itself… it’s the mindset of the parents when they walk through my doors.  Tune in to this week’s podcast to learn about the #1 Reason that I Turn Away Cases as a SPED atto...

If you have a child in special education, you have undoubtedly Received an educational evaluation. If you have received an educational evaluation, you have undoubtedly been confused, frustrated, and maybe even downright mad. If you have been confused, frustrated, or mad During an IEP meeting, you know how quickly a meeting can go sideways. And if you have been in a sideways meeting, you probably k...

We are getting into the nitty-gritty with behavior in this weeks episode.  I keep a list of common behavior strategies that school can employ while they are waiting on the results of an FDA or an IEE for a functional behavioral assessment. I explain a few of those helpful strategies and how I advocate for them in today’s episode!   Don’t forget to get on the waitlist for The Special Educ...

“Advocate” is a title all of us bear, but it may be one that brings hesitancy, overwhelm, and intimidation.  Most parents and caregivers in the disability community did not set out to become advocates.  Rather, our families and their special circumstances lead us to a need to advocate.  So, here we are – with this new title as “advocate” and zero training.  Today’s podcast gues...

The first step to effective advocacy is organization. You have to know a child - both objectively and subjectively- in order to develop a good plan for him or her. Parents are usually experts on subjective information - how they feel about a child's diagnosis and the impact of the diagnosis on learning, how a child is doing in school, generally speaking. However, when parents share those feelings,...

Parents often consult with me for ideas on how their child’s school can be more inclusive.  I’ve come up with a list of ideas by thinking on the spot, having great discussions with other parents and IEP teams, and doing lots and lots of reading.  In today’s episode I talk about three strategies I recommend for schools that want to be more inclusive.  I’ll give you the strategy AND t...

I’m using my Oprah voice.  Please welcome HEATHER AVIS!  That’s right, Heather Avis of the Lucky Few joins me in this week’s episode.  Heather is an author, blogger, narrative shifter, and shouter of worth. In the episode, Heather talks about how The Lucky Few community began, the importance of having such a big community, and the impact that the community is making.  She has s...

Nobody expects IEP meetings to go sideways; yet, discussions over get rhetorical and unproductive.  In today’s episode I am sharing three super practical, easy steps that will help you get discussions back on the right track.  I take a lot of continuing education classes on negotiation strategy, and I read about the topic a lot.  Therefore, I know formal negotiation strategy in and...

The  United States Department of Education gives us several gifts every year.  The come by way of Dear Colleague Letters and Guidance Documents.  In this episode, I’m going over a Dear Colleague Letter written back in 2011 that is super helpful in inclusion/ LRE discussions with IEP teams.  The letter, “Dear Autin,” gives us two really helpful quotes about educational placement...

Ray Nelson Advocacy and IEP Coaching Bio I approach advocacy and IEP coaching a little differently. Part of that is my background, which is in sales and finance. I come from a work culture designed to solve problems rather than minimize them. That means I focus more on the child and less on the conflict, which increases my success rate with schools and IEP teams. By keeping focus on the child, man...

A Manifestation Determination Review is a nice safeguard in special education.  IDEA and state laws require IEP teams to meet when a child with a known or suspected disability faces a cumulative of ten days of suspension in a school year.  That meeting is the MDR.  There are three things I always try to bring to an MDR, and I walk you through them in today’s podcast episode.  W...

We met on the podcast back in September to talk about how to start off the school year with success.  Why does it feel like that was five years ago?!!  Anyway, today I’m talking School Year Wrap Up over on the podcast.  I’ll walk you through a few easy steps you have take to ensure that you’re ready for Summer Fun and a smooth transition back into the 2021-2022 school year come Augu...

If your child is disorganized, has a hard time regulating emotions, doesn’t self-start, and can’t ride the wave of life’s ups and downs, you may want to consider an evaluation for Executive Functioning Disorder.  In today’s podcast episode we’re talking about some executive functions and signs/ symptoms that you can identify in your own child.  EF is often overlooked or glossed over as b...

Special education advocacy, while often stressful and complicated, is really akin to so many experiences in other areas of life.  Somehow, though, because IEP team members, including parents, often feel overwhelmed by the content, and – frankly- because we’re all there to advocate for a child that has a disability, emotions run high at meetings, and the adults often feel overwhelmed.  We...

Now that we’re seeing light at the end of the COVID tunnel, I thought you may be ready for an updated podcast episode on special education during the pandemic.  Today’s episode brings strategies you can use to effect change in your child’s special education – both now and for next school year – in light of all of the oddities the pandemic has brought on.     I’ll share six strategie...

“How can a heart understand the pain of another heart and still do nothing?” -Harshada Pathare. I’m constantly asked by parents, “Why can’t they just do what the law says?”  My response is often, “Well, they should do what the law says, but if they do it because they’re told, it won’t be done well.  The real magic happens when they follow the law, because they care.”  Today’s episod...

Evaluation reports can drive parents in special education absolutely crazy! I was talking to a friend last week, and she said that she was tempted to not even read the evaluation report! I totally empathize with parents that expressed the sentiment; however, the evaluation should be a building block for so many things in special education. In today’s episode I try to walk you through a few steps t...

The Grand Finale---  Join me today for PART THREE of our big dyslexia podcast.  Daphne Corder, our big dyslexia guru, finishes up this three-part series with the big question.  How Do We Know If They’re Doing It Right?  Daphne takes us through common dyslexia interventions and how they should be implemented.  You’re not going to want to miss this episode!  

Soooo many of you reached out with compliments on last week’s podcast with Daphne Corder.  Good news…  she’s back!  In Part Two of our podcast, Daphne and I discuss conditions that often occur simultaneously with dyslexia.  Daphne walks us through each condition, providing definitions, examples, and then the most helpful thing- what to do!  Daphne’s insight on helping chil...

Daphne Corder prepared an incredible, thorough presentation for my January Conference on Dyslexia called How Do You Know If They’re Doing the Right Thing? It was over an hour and so, so intensive.  The only problem: we couldn’t get the audio to play!  We tried a few things after the conference to no avail, so we chose the next best thing… a podcast!  This baby may be a three-parter....