“These headphones aren’t working,” nine-year-old Jeremiah Ryan said to his mom, Sheila. They fished around for another pair. Those were “broken” too, he said. And so were his brother’s ear buds and his sister’s headphones. After some back and forth,… Continue Reading
Precilla Pena’s story started out like many stories in the special education world. Things seemed to go well for her daughter Ava throughout preschool and kindergarten. There were little things, here and there, she said, a turned letter, typical pre-literate… Continue Reading
It was a gorgeous, crisp, spring morning when I sat down on Jasmin Dean’s back porch to walk through the dyslexia simulator. I had my pen ready, my Experience Dyslexia packet printed and neatly stapled. Like Dean, I grew up… Continue Reading
Growing up, Jasmin Dean remembers being a “teacher’s pet.” Her husband had been a teacher’s pet as well. They assumed that their bright, pleasing first born would be the same. The student who was “a delight to teach” and “the… Continue Reading
I have to admit that I was shocked when Maribel Gardea said that she was pleased with San Antonio ISD’s special education services during the COVID-19 school closures. Gardea’s son has multiple medical complexities, and she has been an active,… Continue Reading
IEP. ARD. LRE. 504. FAPE. PBIS. IDEA. ADA. RTI. ESY. MTSS. SPED. Somewhere, drowning in alphabet soup, are the vital services your child needs. For the parents of students receiving special education services, some of the acronyms become so familiar… Continue Reading
Becky McMains didn’t wonder whether her daughter would need special education services. She knew she would. Her daughter has a neurological condition that manifests both physically and cognitively, and had been seeing numerous specialists from the day she was born. … Continue Reading
Jamie Storm requested a special education evaluation for her daughter in February. She knew her child had ADHD, and hoped that a few simple classroom accommodations would allow the first grader to excel at BASIS North Central. It can be… Continue Reading
Editor’s note: We are featuring the work of guest blogger Bekah McNeel, who writes on our site as Hall Monitor, in a four-part investigative series entitled Punished, Not Served: Unfair Discipline for Students with Disabilities. This is Part IV, the… Continue Reading
Editors’ note: We are featuring the work of guest blogger Bekah McNeel, who writes on our site as Hall Monitor, in a four-part investigative series entitled Punished, Not Served: Unfair Discipline for Students with Disabilities. This is Part III. In… Continue Reading
