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Special Ed Advocacy Topics

The 5 Critical Keys to Speak Up For Your Child

Developing SMART IEP Goals
- Specific,
- Measurable,
- Action word Oriented,
- Relevant, and
- Time Limited.
In more than 15 years of advocating in special ed, I have yet to see a set of goals presented by the school that met this criteria. The talk goes over how to spot poorly worded goals and transform them into SMART ones.

Understanding the Special Ed Process

Effectively Supporting Parents at ARD Meetings: for providers
This talk trains private SLPs, OTs, PTs, BCBAs, psychologists, or social workers who support families by attending ARD meetings with them. There are many tips and strategies that you can use to effectively support your family better. You must understand the parent’s rights at the meeting, how the meeting flows, how to address the politics at the meeting, and have strategies that ensure the parents concerns are properly documented and addressed.

Developing a SMART Transition Plan
Transitioning from public school to adult life and services is a big task. You have to consider what skills need to be developed in the areas of daily living, transportation, work, further study, social/community life, leisure, and accessing services in the adult service system. You can’t do this without a plan, and the best plan has SMART goals.

Understanding Evaluations
The FIE, full individual evaluation, is the foundation of the IEP . However, after it is presented, school staff and parents rarely refer to it again when they are developing the PLAAFP (present levels of functional performance) or the goals. The presentation explains this process in more detail and trains parents how to plot their child’s scores on a bell curve.
Legislative & General Advocacy Topics

Effectively Telling Your Story
- bore their audience with irrelevant details or too much history
- run out of time
- speak their written testimony
- forget to submit written data to back up their story.
I’ve coached over a hundred people to testify effectively for legislature, school district and state agency hearings. Come learn what works. As one experienced advocate told me, “The person who tells the last, best story wins.”

There Outta Be a Law: Overview to How to Get a Law Passed in Texas

Winning Your Appeal
- insurance
- special education
- state social services
- Social Security
At some point, you or your child will be denied a request for services. Every denial can be appealed. This talk covers how to put together a successful appeal that gets you and your child the resources they need.
Autism Topics

Autism Risk Management

10 Things Everyone Should Know About Autism

Dietary Interventions for Autism
- 9 point IQ gain in 12 months
- 18 months of developmental age gain
- improvement in a variety of digestive issues
- improvement in general health issues
- improvement in behavior.
This talk covers why “Food matters for autism.”
Wellness Topics

Caring For Caregiver

10 Ways to Transform Stress At Work
