Today, my son Spencer is a thriving young adult with autism.  But when he was three years old, our world looked very different.

Spencer had significant developmental and communication needs, and his pediatrician referred us to our local school district for an autism evaluation.  That was our introduction to special education.   ​And we had absolutely no idea what we were walking into.  If only I had the IEP Advantage course back then to help us, things could have gone so much better!

We didn't understand autism, the IEP document, the IEP meeting process, what services might be available, what questions we should ask, or even what our role was supposed to be at the table. We certainly didn't know what to do when we disagreed with the school, or how to advocate for our child's needs.

When the school district showed up to our IEP meeting with an attorney, we didn't even understand what that meant for us or whether we should seek outside help of our own. We were simply parents trying to make the best decisions we could for our little boy, while everyone else in the room seemed to understand a process that was completely foreign to us.

Our first IEP meetings were overwhelming.

Creating Spencer's initial IEP took several meetings, and at one point, the district's special education superintendent and attorney became involved because we couldn't agree on what Spencer needed.

I remember sitting in those meetings feeling intimidated, confused, diminished, bullied, and completely outmatched. I didn't know who to trust or whether the information we were being given was truly the right option for our son. What became painfully clear was that the people sitting across the table understood the IEP process. We didn't.

Eventually, we reluctantly agreed to enroll Spencer in the district's special education preschool program. Later that school year, we withdrew him because it wasn't going well. By that point, some of my interactions with school personnel had left me feeling bullied and even more uncertain about what to do next.

Looking back on that experience, I eventually realized something that changed everything for me:

Our biggest disadvantage wasn't that we didn't care enough. It was that we didn't know enough.

We didn't understand the IEP document or the process surrounding it. We didn't understand our rights or our role as parents. We didn't know which questions to ask. And when we disagreed with something, we didn't know how to speak up confidently and participate meaningfully in the decisions being made about our son.

I never wanted to walk into another IEP meeting feeling that unprepared again.

So I Started Learning.

I became determined to understand the IEP process. I learned about the IEP document, the meeting process, how to prepare beforehand, what to look for, what questions to ask, and how parents could become knowledgeable participants at the IEP table. Most importantly, I discovered how different an IEP meeting can feel when you walk into it prepared instead of trying to figure everything out while you're sitting there.

Eventually, I developed my own system for preparing for IEP meetings. Instead of walking into a meeting and hoping I remembered everything, I had a process I could follow beforehand. For the first time, I had a plan.

And once I had that plan, I wanted other parents to have one too.

Back in 2007, I began sharing my process with parents through something I called my “IEP Help Disk.” Yes, an actual CD! I mailed it to parents and walked them through the steps I used to prepare for IEP meetings. I loved knowing that something I had learned through such a difficult experience could help another parent walk into their child's meeting feeling more knowledgeable and prepared.

Then, Years Later, I Asked Myself a Question...

In 2022, my youngest son Grant was finishing high school. One day while I was at his school, I saw a child with autism and found myself thinking about those early years with Spencer. Nearly two decades had passed, and I wondered, “What do parents have today to help them prepare for an IEP meeting?”

Surely, after all those years, there would be a simple, comprehensive system showing parents what to do.  There is certainly more information about IEPs available online than ever before. But that was actually part of the problem. There were articles, websites, videos, Facebook groups, laws, definitions, checklists, and opinions everywhere.

A parent could read a thousand articles about IEPs and still not know what to do before their meeting on Tuesday.  There was no online system that just told parents what to do.

That's when it clicked for me. Parents didn't necessarily need more information thrown at them. They needed that information organized into one course. They needed someone to explain the process in a way that made sense and then show them how to actually use what they learned to prepare for their child's meeting.

And I already had the foundation for that system.​

  Quite the opposite. I created it to help parents understand what's happening, know what to look for, know what questions to ask, and be ready to meaningfully participate in the decisions being made about their child.

I want parents to walk into their IEP meetings INFORMED about the process and the document in front of them, EMPOWERED to ask questions and participate in the conversation, and PREPARED for what happens before, during, and after the meeting.

Because your child's IEP meeting is too important to spend it sitting there wondering, What am I missing? What should I be asking? What does this mean? Should I agree to this? What do I do next?

You shouldn't have to learn the IEP process the hard way like I did. I've already done the work of organizing what parents need to know and turning it into a step-by-step system.

So when your child's next IEP meeting arrives, you don't have to walk in hoping you're ready.

​​​​You can walk in knowing you're prepared.