Student Success Beyond Expectations

Adva is a self-proclaimed IEP kid. “Having an IEP doesn’t mean students will struggle their whole life,“ said Adva. Even with this positive attitude as an adult, she struggled all throughout school and felt as though she was not understood by her teachers. In the mist of getting her two bachelor degrees and soon after to earn her Master’s Degree, she found and read one of her IEP’s from high schoo...

When students have positive experiences, the outcomes can be many. Such outcomes can be the development of positive self–concepts and an increase of confidence in one’s own abilities. However, when children have repeated negative experiences they can contribute to their inability to be resilient and decrease their confidence in their own skills and abilities. When we explicitly teach students towa...

You are the secret ingredient to your child's speech therapy success! You just need a guide. Amanda Owens is a speech language pathologist and homeschool graduate that equips moms that want to be involved in their child's speech therapy by doing private speech therapy at home through courses, coaching, and online support. Find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/illuminatecommunicate Connect...

Today's guest is Dr. Julian Reed, Co-Found of Walkabouts. Walkabouts is a computer program that requires students to integrate physical activity into the learning process while learning online. Walkabouts is recommended for all students including those who struggle with distractibility. Within the 7–10 minute lessons, students are engaged physically and cognitively as they learn academically. This...

Tina LaRusso is the president and founder of the Mount Sinai SEPTO and a special education advocate. She has two children who have special needs and is passionate about advocating for children and educating parents. She says, “Everyone needs to be educated on executive functioning.“ Now more than ever, parents, educators and even children need to understand what executive functioning skills are so...

We’re ringing in the new year of 2023 with insights for parents of two college freshman students. One of them being my very own son MJ! Together with his friend Ryan, they share some insights on their experiences and needs as freshman students. As a parent, I share some of my experiences of my one and only child going away to college. 2022 has been a big transition year for us and it’s been a grea...

“Communication is the key to success”, says Speech Language Pathologist Ivy Meyers. Communication allows children to express their feelings, wants and the ability to interact with others. Basic verbal and nonverbal communication strategies such as eye contact, good listening, words of kindness, and vocabulary all lend themselves to effective communication. Listen to learn more about how to support...

By 8-9 years old, Dr. Shirag Shemmassian developed facial and vocal tics. He was later diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome and knew he had involuntary tics but was unable to stop them. Dr. Shemmassian attended an all Armenian private school where there was no understanding of what Tourette’s syndrome was. His parents would tell him to just stop making the tics. He shares his insights that parents b...

Are SAT and ACT exams truly optional when applying to colleges? Dr. Kelly Frindell owner of In-House Test Prep says that the data is beginning to show that “yes” submitting scores is important to the application process. Dr. Frindell reports that the percentage of students who were admitted into colleges and had submitted their test scores had significantly higher rates than those who had not. She...

Have you been feeling stuck in the world of IEP’s, extra help and tutoring services to continually see your child perform below grade level? Lorraine Driscoll, Registered Nutritionist and Educational Therapist focuses on healing the brain-gut connection through bio- individual nutrition therapy combined with neuroplastic learning therapies. This combination stimulates the brain so individuals can...

Stephanie Haynes Educational Coach and Consultant educates teachers and faculty how to infuse their daily teachings and interactions with students to help create inspiration around their interests so they learn what skills and education is necessary to make these interests a reality. Learn ways to help students capture and embrace student dreams and aspirations in a way that can help them learn wh...

Special education teacher Page Park talks to us about the importance of building relationships in the school environment as well as outside of school. Page has a diverse background as a special education teacher and also connects with youth as a yoga teacher. Page says, “Connecting about life outside of school is so important because the building of relationships are vital.” We talk to you about h...

Managing anxiety, a mood disorder and ADHD took Ashley Cross years to find the most effective strategies for her to find happiness and peace. She talks about anxiety nightmares and how she used specific strategies to let go of the hyper- viligence that these nightmares and anxiety caused. Together, we explore some of the symptoms of these disorders as well as how she is now able to help the high-p...

Sara Glendenning failed third grade because she was reading on the kindergarten level and the struggle was too big for her to overcome at the time. Sara has a visual perceptual disorder which made it very difficult for her to recognize letters including differentiating if they were uppercase or lowercase. In kindergarten, Sara thought the only thing she could do was to cheat on her alphabet test....

Dana Kay is a board-certified Holistic Health and Nutrition Practitioner who specializes in working with children who have ADHD. Dana talks about the top three inflammatory ingredients to avoid eating, gut- brain health and helpful supplements to support children. Dana shares that when we, “Reduce inflammation in the body, it reduces inflammation in the brain which allows them to thrive.” Learn mo...

Three percent of children younger than 18 are blind or visually impaired (CDC) and according to the NCBI approximately 500,000 children become blind annually. The CEO of Helen Keller National Center and Helen Keller Services for the Blind educates us on the importance of accessibility for this diverse population of individuals. Integrating the hearing and deaf worlds can be supported through schoo...

How did parents and teachers not know that a 15 year old adolescent has been blind since birth? Stephanie discovered that her son who was a high-achieving AP student was blind when he couldn’t recognize himself in a family picture. Listen to this episode as a mother describes her journey to get her child the diagnosis of CVI ( Cerebral Visual Impairment). CVI is a medical diagnosis that affects th...

“You’re smart. You just learn differently…“ said Michelle Steiner’s parents as they came to grips with the fact that Michelle had a learning disability. At a young age Michelle‘s parents noticed that she was having difficulty performing simple tasks that other children her age were able to do. She had a difficult tying her shoes, coloring in the lines and she struggled a lot in math. These struggl...

Are you preparing for your child’s CSE meeting? Beth Liesenfeld from The IEP Lab shares some strategies to prepare you for your child’s meeting. Several suggestions that we speak of is parents can ask for a draft IEP to feel more prepared, review evaluation reports from service providers, bring your progress reports from outside service providers and ask questions. If you are a parent, you know yo...

When Gary was a new father, he felt like a failure. At the time, he saw his daughter struggling and unhappy. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with autism and speech processing disorder did he begin to understand what she needed from him. As his daughter Monica learned from her service providers, so did Gary. Now Gary helps other parents and children with disabilities. Listen to his journey, how h...

Lindsay Ann Anderson, owner of The Tailored Teacher talks about the importance of children knowing how to advocate for themselves. Being diagnosed with ADHD herself, Lindsay Ann supports students and adults in how to empower children by teaching them how to use specific strategies to support their executive functioning skills. Visit https://www.tailoredteacherllc.com/. New exciting news! We are on...

As a parent it is easy to put aside your own health and wellness. Dr. Tamara Beckford, an emergency room doctor and CEO of Urcaringdocs.com says, “Life comes at people fast” and it is important to build a positive network of people to ground you. It is after being able to express yourself that you will have the energy and be able to move on. Remember to take time out for yourself. You are importan...

Dr. Nerissa Bauer, a behavioral pediatrician and CEO of Lets Talk Kids Health shares the importance of communication between families, doctors and educators. Dr. Bauer talks about how developmental pediatricians can support their patients’ education at home and in school. She says that families “drive the agenda“ to ensure the necessary information is shared between the professionals servicing the...

Aimee Buckley, the CEO of Study Help shares five strategies to look for when deciding if online tutoring is right for your child. 1- Does the tutor teach for understanding? 2- Is there a connection between the tutor and your child? 3- Is the tutor able to focus your child when needed? 4- Does the learning keep moving forward? 5- Parent tips to be used at home. New exciting news! We are on Feedspot...

Music impacts the brain and body. Music therapy is a clinically proven intervention to help individuals with and without disabilities. Several benefits are improving your memory, cognitive flexibility, stress, anxiety and more. Learn about the benefits of music therapy and music lessons. Then decide if music is the missing piece for your child and family. This week's guest is Nick Farr,MS, MT-BC,...