Catherine Whitcher, M.Ed

Dangerous situations haunt special needs parents, but is there something we can do in the IEP to help?

YES!

Sign up here for the free IEP Goal Writing Webinar and find out how!

Heather's son, Elijah, struggled for 3 years to make progress on his IEP goals. 

She knew something needed to change.

She took the leap and decided to Become an IEP Coach for her family and for her community.

You have to watch this video to see what has happened!

Now it's YOUR TURN to BECOME AN IEP COACH!

Enrollment is CLOSING - Sign Up Here

See you in the mentorship!

-Catherine

There's a common theme happening in Special Education and it's nothing new, but it needs to change. 

Listen to the video and then choose which one is right for you...

1. Become an IEP Coach Mentorship
2. Online IEP Help Center for Parents

Special Education can get sticky for everyone involved. Teachers, parents, therapists, and admins all struggle at some point to navigate and negotiate their way through rules and regulations that don't always make sense.

However, sometimes it's not the system that is stopping us from moving forward with what is better for a child. It's us, getting in our own way because we've been burned before or we think we've tried everything.

The next time you're feeling frustrated (or better yet, before you get to that point)... make sure you've tried these 5 strategies:

1. Make Eye Contact - Don't just rely on notes and emails to make sure the team is understanding what you are trying to communicate. Whether you're part of the school team or you're a parent, we know everything has to be in writing, but face to face contact is critical for working together as a team.
   
   
2. Know the Rules - Don't assume something can or can't be done. Always look for policies in writing and ask for them when necessary....

It's that time of year again! Too many parents are going to be posting on FB how their child was NOT included in the holiday celebrations at school this year.

Many parents will not even post about it. They will keep it to themselves and push down the feelings of being excluded.

Here's the real deal - 99.99999% of the time, this does not happen on purpose.

Teachers and special education teams are working hard just to hold it together through the chaos of December in school and organizing the supports needed for ALL students to participate in holiday celebrations gets forgotten.

This doesn't mean it's right. It's just the reality.

Good thing there's an easy solution!

Start the conversation, TODAY, with your child's team on how your child can be part of the school community through holiday celebrations.

Make sure the team knows you aren't asking for your child to be plopped on the end of the choir riser to pretend to sing jingle bells. Let them know you are open to creative solutions...

O.M.Goodness! This video!!! I'm asked all the time how I still have overflowing passion and joy when it comes to special education and IEPs after 20+ years... little Sara saying "Thank you, Catherine" explains it all.

Meet Gracjana... Sara's mom. Her daughter is transitioning from Pre-K to Kindergarten, which we all know means there's a bit more stress involved than just an annual IEP meeting.

Hours of prep work, 4 programs visited, binders full of notes and plans. 

The team expected the meeting to last more than 90 minutes. It didn't. In fact, we were done in one hour. In just 60 minutes we worked with the team to change two proposed IEP goals, get a plan in place for transitioning smoothly to the new school, modifications made to seating in the "bigger" school and even talked about (and agreed upon) how inclusion is going to work.

Gracjana is not only a rockstar special needs mom, but she has also completed the IEP Coach Mentorship. She is diving deep into special education...