Carla Vasquez - IEP Parent and School Advocate and Consultant

School is not always easy but I am grateful that my Son, my love, has such a great support in family. We all love him and look forward to seeing all goodness life has to offer him in his upcoming adventures.

Praying for this incredible young girl and her supportive family. Any help, prayers, and contribution is greatly appreciated.

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This moment was made possible by my 13 yr old son. He asked to spend time with me and go pick apples at an orchard like we did in his younger days.

For any parent of a teen boy you know they are looking for their freedom at every turn. So to spend quality time with my amazing son makes today the happiest day of the year for me. I am filled with gratitude and joy.

There is no need to return to old ways especially if they were not working for you. Lean in and make this an opportunity for change. How can our children be best supported for success?

Is The Pandemic A Chance To Reimagine Special Education? Special education was imperfect before the coronavirus crisis. As districts contend with the fallout from slapdash online classes for kids with disabilities, will the pandemic prompt a reckoning?

Lawmakers Make Push To Fully Fund IDEA Citing a "huge amount of momentum," lawmakers are introducing legislation calling for the federal government to significantly increase its spending on students with disabilities.

Good Resource to look into when researching support for our families

Financial Assistance for Training | Disability Assistance, Support & Advocacy The Financial Assistance for Training distributes consumer stipend funds to enable people with developmental disabilities & their families to attend conferences of their choice that are directly related to developmental disability issues.

This popped in my memories and I was instantly nostalgic. Physical activity is essential for my sensory seeker. Good times with good friends were a way of life pre pandemic and roller skating lessons were just one of the many fun activities I miss having with my son. He never knew I was always looking for fun ways to strengthen areas of need. He only knew I made friends and fun activities a priority.

As an IEP coach some of the things I look for in the IEP documents are:
1. How do these goals easily transfer into everyday living? Such as enhancing self esteem and social skills in order to build and maintain meaningful relationships.
2. Has the team discussed if the student has been assessed for low muscle tone or poor motor coordination and how that impacts the student's academics and daily living? What supports can the student receive that would make a meaningful impact inside and outside of the classroom?

Just because you met one person with autism means you met one person with autism.

Coming from a special needs mom autism is so many things. But I know I'm blessed to have my favorite person and he has me always and forever 💕

When Your Child Is Sensitive to Noise, Lights, Tags Is your child sensitive to noise, bright lights, and fabrics or tags? Hypersensitivity is common among kids with ADHD, who do better when we work to mitigate these sensitivities with these tools.

12 Unique Strengths of Autistic People That Prove the Spectrum Isn’t All the Same There are truly many facets to living on the spectrum!