Special Education in Five Minutes

SMART goals in special education stands for, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound. This episode will provide a clear example of a SMART goal and the skills that a student needs to learn to master it. Many times, goals may seem simple on their face, but that hides the complex nature of teaching a student the component skills that go into neeting the goal. Simple wording does no...

Who is required to be at an IEP meeting.  In this episode we briefly look at IEP meeting roles and legal requirements for participation. This is the first of the For Parents (mainly) series that will look at how parents interact with the system and what they can do improve outcomes and their participation in their child’s special education program Related to this theme, research is consistent in f...

With more students with disabilities have been placed in mainstream classes over the last 50 years has increased exponentially.  In 1975, while there are no official numbers, it was exceptionally rare to see a child with disabilities being educated with their typical peers. In 2025, about two thirds of students with disabilities are in general education classes for more than 80% of their school da...

Does class size affect student achievement.  For decades, this debate has been shaped by the studies conducted to measure achievement. Math and first (native) language test scores showed a negligible effect.  As these were the only measures, the data remained static for years. However, Dr. Peter Blatchford from University College London, and colleagues have done extensive research into other facto...

Parents of children with disabilities in the Global North share an unfortunate reality; schools don’t always have the best interests of their students as a first priority.   Schools are under pressure from many directions, and with chronically low funding, there is a tendency to provide less than an optimum program for a child. This conflict between priorities leads to school personnel not being c...

A huge gap exists between a written Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) and its actual implementation. One of the primary reasons for this is the lack of training and support general education teachers and instructional assistants receive from the behaviorists that write the plans. I consistently see IEPs with well written behavior plans that are never implemented due to a lack of support.  I also se...

Technology has advanced enough to start making a dramatic difference in how struggling readers can keep up with grade level curriculum. Reading pens, text readers, and other text-to-speech devices and apps are now sophisticated enough for almost all struggling readers to use. By being able to read and understand grade level text, struggling readers can keep up with their typical peers in grade lev...

In this episode we'll get into the most important part of a behavior plan, reinforcement.  Learn what it is and what it looks like.   Remember, the more you know about special education practice, particularly how Positive Behavior Support is supposed to work, the better off you will be at IEP meetings and in being a full member of the team.   Here are some links to more information on reinfor...

In this episode, both the vital nature, and significant dangers, of special interests are explored and put into context of how they are a non-negotiable for many neurodivergent children and adults.   When does a needed and healthy interest become toxic and dangerous?  When does the need become an addiction? What special interests are, why they are so important, what they look like in real life and...

In the past 50 years the numbers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders who are suspended. expelled and or placed in isolated classrooms or schools has not changed in any significant way. Whlle Black boys are signifcantly more apt to be labeled ED, and be subjected to the most exclusionary practices, the problem goes beyond them to include all students identified as having an ED. Students...

In the behavior field that consistis of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and its offshoot, Positive Behavior Support (PBS) a critical ideas of all behaviors having a legitimate purpose, and that learning new behaviors consists of mastering a number of steps that make up the skill. Recognizing partial success is an important part of recognizing and rewarding success in that part of the skill set bei...

In this episode, we’ll look at accommodations on an IEP. There are many times a student with disabilities would have little chance of succeeding in a general education setting without effective accommodations. Accommodations provide the scaffolding and safety net for students with disabilities to experience the benefits of an included education. Here are links to information about accommodations f...

Many autistic people are twice exceptional learners (2eASD).  This means they have an area of unique talent or intellectual strength along with an identifiable disability. The rates of high school failure are elevated for this population, but some are able to not only attend, but to succeed at highly competitive colleges and universities.   What is the secret to their success?  It probably won&apo...

A study conducted in Great Britain examined potential cognitive gifts of neurodivergent, or 2e people possess.  It found, in fact dyslexic thinkers are our future.   In the context of the study, We are not talking about a reading disorder, but rather a way of interacting with the world. Dictionary.com defines dyslexic thinking as, "“…an approach to problem-solving, assessing information and l...

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a method of teaching that embeds accommodations for all students into general education settings.  Students who are visual, or auditory, or tactile/sensory learners are taught, and the student can show mastery, in the way that uses their strengths.      UDL has been successfully implemented in thousands of classrooms around the country and its efficacy has be...

Interoception, the ability to recognize  bodily signals like heart rate, hunger, temperature..., is often a significant  source of  stress and anxiety in autistic youth.   They may struggle to control the overload their body is experiencing by being unable to recognize the physical symptoms they are experiencing, leading to a potential crisis when the build up becomes too much. Or, an autistic you...

IEP Meeting notes; a part of the IEP process that is often overlooked, or does not reflect what the IEP team agreed to. IEP meeting notes allow parties not on the IEP team to understand and effectively implement the special program program. In any dispute between parents and school districts,  the notes help mediators and others who are analyzing the IEP to, again, understand the itent of the IEP...

A commom complaint from parents of neurodivergent children is that homework is a nightmare.  The stress and anxiety it creates for everyone in the family is often far more emotionally costly than any benfit that comes from practicing academic skills. There is a better way that can include work from school, but in a way that will reduce stress, reduce anxiety, and hopefully help you get rid of that...

This episode will provide you with information on the major components of Positive Behavior Support (PBS) that is required by federal law to be used in all public schools with all students. For students with disabilities there are extra layers of PBS that are required, including Positive Behavior Support plans (BIP) which are explained in this episode. Five minutes will give you a basic understand...

It has been clear for years that the school system in the United States is not welcoming to neurodivergent (ND) students. School is an intensely intimidating and frightening place for many ND kids.  As the percentage of identified ND students grows (the percentage of the total student population in California is currently around 20%) the number of children damaged by the school system grows as wel...