Category: Special Education

General education classroom, special day class (SDC), homeschool, home hospital, non-public school (NPS) — what do they all have in common? In the IEP world, this is called placement, and it’s always paired with something called the least restrictive environment (LRE). Basically, it means our kids should be part of the general education classroom as …

Celebrating our children’s upcoming transitions, like birthdays, is often filled with laughter, fun, and lots of cake — but educational transitions, like to a whole new school, are often a different story. These exciting milestones in our kids’ lives can also bring plenty of fear and uncertainty — for both them and us. Whether we’re …

As parents, we all want our kids to thrive at school, but sometimes things don’t go as smoothly as we’d hoped. When it comes to IEPs — whether it’s accommodations, modifications, placement, or inclusion — we just want everything to come together in a way that truly supports our children. But sometimes, wanting all the …

When it comes to navigating school, IEPs might be the one thing parents dread the most. It’s not just the meetings — it’s the paperwork, the emails, the sheer number of people, the stress of making sure nothing gets overlooked. It’s walking into a room where everyone seems to be speaking a different language and …

Behavior. Such a small word, yet it can shape so much of our daily lives as parents. If you’re raising a child with a disability, you’ve probably heard it all — “Your child is non-compliant.” Or “Your child wandered off again today.” Or maybe just the frustratingly vague “We don’t understand why [insert “bad” behavior …

If learning to read and write were as simple as surrounding kids with books and letting them soak up the magic, every child would be a natural. But despite what some teaching methods suggest, reading and writing don’t happen by chance — they need to be explicitly taught. And yet, myths about how kids — …

“I can’t wait to do my algebra homework!” said few kids ever. Let’s be real — math, especially algebra, can feel intimidating on a good day and completely overwhelming on the tough ones, especially if your child struggles with it. Many of us grew up memorizing abstract formulas and racing through problems, wondering, “When will …

IEP goals are kind of a big deal, and they’re also one of the hardest parts of an IEP to get right. Many parents share similar concerns, like: “My child has an IEP but hasn’t made any progress,” “How can I tell if my child is actually meeting their goals?” or “Why do they keep …

When your child has complex or higher support needs, it can be hard to know how to prioritize what they need first. These incredible kiddos often face challenges with things like speech, mobility, vision, schoolwork, behavior, and/or daily life skills, and it’s hard not to feel like you’re constantly playing catch-up. A new or co-occurring …

Progress reports, baselines, hard data, service logs, present levels, school metrics, — sounds like a giant word salad, right? It’s easy to wonder — do these numbers and reports really matter? Can’t we just save all the data talk for the annual IEP meeting? But understanding how our kids’ progress is measured and reported, and …