The Special Education Advocacy Blog

    A few weeks ago, I spoke at Lehman Learning Center (Seattle), and the theme of the presentation was titled, "The Canary in the Coalmine Kids".  Simply, the talk highlights what I have observed during the last 18 years: an amazingly sensitive group of...

As a parent listens to teachers and other district personnel talk about "best practices", "research-based", and "common core",  which all serve a justifiable purpose when discussing instructional practices, there comes a time when the conversation needs to shift to...

Finland continues to provide the gold-standard of success when comparing national education systems. From my perspective, the wisdom of Peter Pan* provides valuable insight within this inquiry: "All you need is a little faith, trust, and pixie dust", when developing a...

"True love is understanding."  Thich Nhat Hahn  Within the context of special education and the development of school-based interventions, understanding provides the foundation for our work as a team between parents, staff, teachers, and community.  Seems so obvious....

The idea of ESY (Extended School Year during summer) services is not appropriate for everyone on an IEP.  However, for those students who experience a significant skill loss and drop-off during extended breaks, ESY support is critical for the IEP to explore.   For...

Navigating the Special Needs path tends to be a maze through an alphabet soup of  IEP, 504 Plan, and RTI intervention.  Something so important as your child's education should be much easier then what unfolds. So we created The INSIDERS GUIDE TO SPECIAL EDUCATION...

The simplest way to define "effective advocacy" is founded upon the notion of working from the heart, a position of love and appreciation.  In contrast, divisive advocacy, often thought of as adversarial, is grounded in fear and doubt.   This plays out everyday in the...