Catherine Whitcher, M.Ed

The Xceptional Leaders Podcasts highlights businesses who serve the special needs community. Listen in as Catherine talks about the Master IEP Coach Mentorship + Network and the Special Education Inner Circle.

Find more at:

Master IEP Coach Mentorship http://www.masterIEPcoach.com

Special Education Inner Circle http://www.specialedinnercircle.com

Special Education Teamwork! It’s possible!

These 3 women live across the country from me and flew into Chicago a few weeks ago to work together on creating a legacy of change in special education through the Master IEP Coach mentorship + network.

Change for parents. Change for teachers. Most of all, change for students!

We don’t have to wait for legislation to improve. We can improve ourselves, our strategies, our solutions and we can help others improve. Making special education “better” doesn’t have to happen through the law. It can happen through you.

If you feel like special education is stuck in the dark ages, you’re right, but it doesn’t have to be.

You and I both have a choice to find the creative solutions, inside of a broken school system, to make sure every child is prepared for further education, employment and independent living.

If you’re tired of IEP goals that don’t have a...

Back to School IEP tips for Parents and Teachers to help make this the best school year ever!

Special Needs Parents & Special Education Teams, find the IEP help you are looking for at www.specialedinnercircle.com

Connect with a Master IEP Coach at www.myiepcoach.com

Become a Master IEP Coach at www.masteriepcoach.com

If I asked you to tell me 3 things you don't like in Special Education, I bet you could tell me immediately what's been on your mind. Especially with back to school season right around the corner (ok, it's actually here for some). You're probably even losing sleep over school schedules, support services, safety, IEP goals and so much more.

Whether you're a parent, teacher, therapist or admin, the negative in special education is super easy to find. 

So let's flip things, for just a minute. Can you tell me ONE thing you love about Special Education. Yep. Just one. C'mon, you can do it. I'm serious, you can send me an email right here and I'm going to read it and smile and know that you are the exception to the rule.

You are the person who knows the solution for special education being all that we need it to be for kids isn't hiding inside of a negative Facebook group. You know that the strategies we need to create aren't built over a venting session on a group chat. And you...

You can become a Master IEP Coach! 

ENROLLMENT IS CLOSING TONIGHT - GET IN HERE

There are two F's that happen all the time in Special Education... watch the video and hear them loud and clear. (Sorry, I got a little fired up with everyone who was watching on FB when I was teaching. You might need to turn your volume down.)

Are you ready to take the two F's out of YOUR special education experience?

Say yes to one of these next steps and make it happen!

1. Become a Master IEP Coach - Parents, Teachers, Therapists, Admins... you are ALL welcome here. Learn More
   
   
2. Parents - Focus on your own child's education and get everything you need to build the best IEP from the comfort of your home. You'll get your own special education video library and 24/7 access to our private community. JOIN NOW

I can't wait to work with you!

-Catherine

Special Needs Parents & Teachers, It's time to stop drowning in IEP stress. Take these steps and FEEL better in your next IEP meeting!

We all know there are hundreds of things that seem to need to be done before the meeting. Even just thinking about it can cause sleepless nights, high anxiety at home and overwhelm that just keeps building until meeting day.

Here's how I lower stress when prepping for IEP meeting after IEP meeting after IEP meeting... some of these might seem like they are "feely", but they work!

1. Get all your IEP papers in one place. Physical papers in one place. All emails organized into folders inside of your email account. You don't have to go through all of it right now, just get it together.
   
   
2. Write your parent input statement. (Teachers, help your parents build this statement.) It builds desired outcomes BEFORE the meeting. Not sure what I'm talking about? Parents, I teach you exactly how to do this, here. Teachers, you can get the tools,...

I wish you could've heard the conversation I had last night with an Occupational Therapist who works in both the school system and a private therapy clinic.

I mean it's one thing for me to share with you my experiences as a former special education teacher and decades of special education consulting and it's a whole other level when you hear the experience from someone who is still in the trenches everyday.

First, let me just disclose... she loves her job in both locations, but she had to accept that they serve VERY different purposes.

At school, she's limited to how many minutes she provide, how she can advocate for a child, what tools she can use and what tasks she can tackle.

In her clinic she has opportunities to get creative and serve the child and family in whatever manner is needed to get results.

Now, you'd think this would make her dislike her job at the school, but it doesn't. It's just different. She told me over and over how she wished parents knew the difference of...

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!

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...