The Collaborative IEP

It Doesn’t Have to Be This Hard, friends.  That’s the name of my friend, Michelle Morgan’s, new e- book about dyslexia advocacy, and it’s also a very true statement.  In today’s episode we give you a little preview of Michelle’s book, which walks parents of dyslexic children through evaluations, eligibility, development of the IEP, and progress monitoring.  Michelle gives lots and l...

Ready, Set, Goals!!!  Special Education puns.  That’s how low I am willing to sink for a podcast title.  Sorry, not sorry.  In today’s episode I’m giving you the ten-minute ditty on why we have goals in special education.  We won’t spend a ton of time talking about how to write goals, elements of a good goal, progress monitoring, or other nitty gritty goal topics.  Ra...

Big celebrations happening over here at ABCo! The Cincinnati Bengals are going to the Super Bowl, our podcast has been downloaded 25,000 times, AND we’re publishing Podcast #75!!!! To celebrate, I’m bringing you a biggie: Everything You Need to Know about Special Education… Say what? In today’s episode I’m telling you the three concepts you’ll need to master (or at least familiarize yourself with)...

I call it “relentless optimism.”  It is an attitude that serves me well in IEP meeting after IEP meeting. In today's episode I will share with you how this one simple mindset shift can make a huge difference in your advocacy. This tip has never been as important with teachers completely exhausted and overworked. You must BELIEVE that everyone on the table wants to help. You must BELIEVE that...

We talk about community a lot over here at ABCo.  In this bonus episode, I chat with Angela Tyszka, advocate and speaker at this year’s SEA Conference.  Angela has worked in universities, elementary, middle, and high schools; and she has extensive experience in participating in and organizing parent support organizations.  We chat about the importance of this groups, as well as how...

I’ve seen this a million times.  A student’s evaluation report shows average scores - maybe with a few relative weaknesses- but the student’s performance in school is mediocre or worse.  Missing assignments, disciplinary actions, and bad grades demonstrate that the student isn’t meeting his or her apparent potential in school.  Confidence wanes as the student becomes frustrated. &nb...

What do you want from me?!!!!  That’s what my clients sometimes want to ask of their child’s teachers.  Parents struggle with special education communication.  What do I say?  When do I communicate?  Why does the teacher need some information and not need others?  And do the school people talk themselves?!  In today’s conversation I sit down with my friend, Rebec...

Stars: They’re just like us.  Special Education: It’s just like your every day life. For many reasons, advocating for a child with in special education is intimidating, but in today’s episode, I’m making a real life analogy for you.  I started running in April 2020, and over the past few months, I’d had a lot of time to think about how my improvement in running- and the tracking of it-&n...

Now that we got your all organized last week, it's time to dive into your child's profile. Remember that the "I" in "IEP" is "individualized." I see so many IEPs that do not address the specific needs and strengths of the child. What's more - the meat of the IEP is "specially designed instruction." That's right, the IEP has to be specially tailored to meet the unique needs of the child. In this we...

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...