Contributor Bekah McNeel has been working on a series of posts about special education. On Charter Moms Chats, Inga Cotton interviewed Bekah about two posts that published in April.
In “Social Distancing Drives Innovation in Special Education Evaluation,” Bekah shared how Assessment Intervention Management adapted quickly to be able to provide tele-evaluations. Students who were on the verge of getting evaluated—a key step to unlocking special education services—were afraid that COVID-19 and social distancing would derail the process. Instead, AIM found ways to overcome regulatory hurdles and reluctant test publishers, and connected students with evaluators in separate rooms. Even after COVID-19, this innovation may help students in rural areas to have better access to special education evaluations.
“Decoding the IEP: Parents Learn From a Special Education Advocate”: Bekah visited an elementary school to hear a special education advocate from the Brighton Center speak to a group of parents about how to understand an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Armed with this knowledge, parents of special needs students can learn how to be on top of things at their children’s ARD meetings. Every child needs a plan that fits them and will help them get the help they need to succeed in school.
Bekah is working on more topics in this special education series. Look for new posts May 13 and 27, and Bekah will be back on Charter Moms Chats in June to discuss them. The posts share stories of families and children with special needs, and solutions for helping them reach their potential, with a goal of raising awareness and helping families to advocate and problem solve. Bekah also writes on her own site, The Hall Monitor, and for national sites like The 74.
