Better IEPs

Welcome 2021! 🥳 It’s back to work for me, and I couldn’t be more excited to help out a couple new clients today! Watson the therapy dog-extraordinaire has other thoughts and plans, however! 😴🐶🖤

What’s your top priority for your child during the second half of the school year?

Something to think about...

Sad but true. Enforcing the Individual Education Disability Act falls squarely on the shoulders of parents. It is overwhelming to parent a child with a disability while simultaneously forcing a school district to adhere to the law.

Cannot wait for the annual Master IEP Coach®️ conference this weekend! (Virtual, of course.) 💡

Happy Father’s Day to all the extra special dads out there!

Jack had just started reading CVC words and mastering more sight words when COVID closed down schools.

To say I was devastated would be an understatement.

And it wasn't until now, during a virtual meeting with my Master IEP Coach® mentor and other colleagues, that I realized I was experiencing GRIEF.

It took me years of being a special needs parent to get out of my constant "fight or flight" mode. Every scenario was a show stopper; every situation make or break. I finally trained my brain to remove the emotion (as much as possible) and focus on data and facts. Now this.

But as the ultimate control freak I've had to relinquish power to a global, unprecedented health crisis. I've been reminded that the only thing I can actually control is my own actions.

Let me help you get there, too. Let's let go of the fear and anxiety. Instead, we'll have conversations and discuss considerations for how parents and school staff can work together to do what's best and within our control for our extra special children during this historic time.

Reach out. I'm passionate about helping IEP teams work together to better prepare children for the future! 🥰

The science of reading has been proven over and over again for decades, yet so many educator prep programs continue to train pre-service teachers in balanced literacy. (I know, I was one of them!) This trickles into classroom practices, and before you know it we have 1 in 3 kids who can't read at grade level. This is a tragedy.

If you're in NC I highly recommend you get involved and follow this situation closely. Our children deserve to have high quality reading instruction based on four decades of evidence and science.

Every Child Is Unique… and Every Child Has to Learn the Same Skills Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Maryanne Wolf for adding her thoughts this piece More the same than different Many of us assume that, because each child is a unique human being, every child learns to read …

I'm sure you've seen the blue infographic supposedly from the CDC that's been floating around social media for the past couple of days. The fact that "guidelines" is spelled wrong was my first clue this wasn't official. But that doesn't mean it didn't go viral and upset everyone out there, most notably our club: the special needs community. Never forget what we tell our own children and our aging parents: don't believe everything you read on the internet.⠀
⠀
Will school look different in the fall? YES. But our extra special children don't give up their right to (everyone together now) "a Free Appropriate Public Education that meets their unique needs and prepares them for further education, employment, and independent living."⠀
⠀
This will require us to think outside the box and work with our IEP teams to come up with creative solutions so that our children get the appropriate education they deserve.⠀
⠀
I'm passionate about working with teams to figure out how to meet the unique needs of children. Reach out - I can help!

How is everyone feeling about their child understanding social distancing? Shout out your thoughts and ideas below! 📣

Special Education + Social Distancing

There are going to be significant challenges with social distancing for many students.

Inside of our special education community we "get it".

Outside of our special education community, it's going to be hard for others to understand why the rules won't always work.

We need to start this conversation NOW both inside and outside of our community.

Tell me... is your child going to be able to follow a 6 foot rule?

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, especially those of us mothering extra special children. 💐

I am getting bombarded with messages from parents telling me they're overwhelmed by homeschooling their child with an IEP. I GET IT. Remember, I've got my own extra special little guy! ☺️ (PS: homeschool isn't going that great for his typically-developing big brother either!)

When I'm feeling anxious about everything that's happening and wondering how it will impact our children with special needs down the road... I take a deep breath and remind myself that there are other things we can work on besides counting to 20 or spelling CVC words.

The purpose of special education is to meet a child's unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.

That's literally what IDEA says.

So teach your child how to make toast. Have them help with yard work. Play a board game where they have to take turns.

Get around to (some of) the school work when you can. You have my permission to leave the bulk of the academics to the teachers. They'll be waiting with open arms the second schools are back in session.

💙💜💚