The Collaborative IEP

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,...

Today’s episode has nothing and everything to do with special education advocacy.  I’m sharing a few tips that I have learned the hard way on how to be efficient- how to manage the chaos in your household so you can be more present for advocacy, work, and fun!!!  I run two businesses, manage the schedules of two busy boys, volunteer at school and elsewhere, and carve out time for myself....

You’ve probably attend a zillion and one seminars about writing IEP goals.  Don’t get me wrong… I do think those are helpful.  IEP goals are very important, but the goals have to be written with specific purposes.  That’s why it’s so important to have very specific information before you even write the goals.  In today’s episode, I’ll give you a list of 6 things I think you mus...

We’re talking gratitude on the podcast today. When I taught, I found the job to be somewhat thankless. I’ll explore why I think gratitude should play a role in every IEP team and how you can take the lead.

Sensory Integration is what makes the world go ‘round in the Barlow household.  You know that shirt from the 80’s that said, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”  At our house the phrase, starts, “If Jack is dysregulated, …!”  In today’s episode I’m sharing sensory strategies that work for us and how we use them.  I’m also explaining sensory regulation – from the perspect...

Go.  To.  School.  If I could give you one tip about how to advocate for your child, it would simply be to go to school.  Get involved.  Be present.  Ask questions.  This can all be done by going to school.  I give a talk to organizations all over the country on Effective Parents in Special Education.  My #1 tip in that presentation is to Be Involved, a...

Respect. Aretha Franklin saying about it for a reason. It’s something we all deserve and something we all crave. But sometimes when we are trying to support a child behaviorally, we forget about respect. I see this so often in schools and even in homes. Rachel Schwartz is a BCBA and has a PhD in special education. She knows her stuff and brings so much information on behavior support in today’s ep...

“How do you do your job?  How do I get a job doing this?”  If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked this question, well, as BNL would say, I’d be rich!!!  In today’s episode, I walk you though the common paths that people take to start on a journey in special education, some of the personality traits that are important to channel as a special education advocate, and also tra...

Last week I interviewed two special education advocates on Instagram live, and you learned a lot about their day-to-day lives. In today’s episode, I summarize it for you. I describe exactly what an advocate does. This may help you make the decision of whether to hire an advocate to support your family or even to decide if you want to be an advocate yourself!

This is one of the questions I’m asked most often when I speak to disability organizations, so I’m giving you my answer in today’s episode.  I think it’s always helpful to bring an advocate to a meeting, but I’ll help you decide if you need an advocate – or could benefit from one- in today’s episode.

Some people are just extraordinary at their jobs!  I can’t wait for you to meet Military Mom, Special Education Advocate, and Teacher Carla Wyrsch.  She’s a true student of teaching methodologies and advocacy, and when she sees a problem, she faces it head on.  In today’s episode, Carla talks about an issue she has researched so much, one that affects thousands of Americans- access...

Holy cow!  The floodgates have opened!  I think I got a new referral every day last week, and SO MANY of the cases had to do with COVID-19 learning.  I was astonished at some of the things people were telling me about how their children’s IEPs were serviced during last school year.  It’s no surprise that children are now falling behind academically, functionally, behaviorally,...

If there was a foreign language in special education, it would be Transition to Adulthood.  When IEPs start to consider a child’s transition to adulthood, things over get willy nilly.  I think it’s mainly because parents – while often quite innocent about special education already – are REALLY intimidated by All Things Transition.  That’s why I invited advocacy rockstars,  Jawa...

Tina B., life coach and parent in our big, beautiful disability community, delivers life lessons through storytelling.  Today we wrap up our 3-part series with Tina with an episode on Losing the Loneliness.  Even though you feel like you may never be alone, you also have undoubtedly experienced loneliness as a parent of a child with a disability.  Do the other parents know how it fe...

“When we believe that we are in control, it adds to the chaos.”  Oh man, friends!  You’re in for a big treat in this podcast episode, Part 2 of our 3-Part Series of Lessons of a Life Coach with Tina B.  Tina and I dig deep into the chaos, how hard it is but also accepting it and even learning to be happy in the chaos.  To achieve this Tina takes us through a journal prompt to h...

My 1 Year Anniversary gift to you is a podcast series with Tina Beauvais, a life coach that has been “refined through the fire,” a parent like you who took the lessons she learned as the mom to a beautiful young lady with muscular dystrophy to help athletes and parents navigate life’s struggles.  When you think “Coach,” you probably think about Craig T. Nelson…. or the coach of your favorite...

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...