Early Pickups, ESY Denials, and the Truth About IEEs - Summer IEP Questions Answered

Celebrating the Disability Community: Uniquely You Comes to North Houston (with Lauren Hasz & Brodie Simmons)

There's no shortage of information when you're raising a child with a disability. There's a shortage of trusted information you can actually use. In this episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham talks with Lauren Hasz and Brodie Simmons about Uniquely You, a free magazine launching in North Houston that celebrates the disability community and connects families to real, vetted resources. They get into what makes this different: it's free, it's opt-in, it comes in print and digital, and every cover celebrates an individual or family navigating disability, birth to 100+. Karen, Lauren, and Brodie talk about the resources families actually need, the businesses that serve this community in person and virtually, and why the adult and transition "capacity stories" we never hear are some of the most important ones to tell. Whether you're a parent, an advocate, a provider, or a business owner who wants to reach and support this community, this conversation shows you where to start. WATCH THE FULL EPISODE https://youtu.be/FIx0zHzRPxY GET INVOLVED WITH UNIQUELY YOU NORTH HOUSTON (launching 2026) Subscribe FREE to the magazine: https://forms.gle/ePkhizd7aT7tY15A8 Nominate a story or refer a business: https://forms.gle/jEncgnc6cfpzXvxW8 Learn more: https://www.uniquelyyoumag.com/ Reach Lauren directly: lauren.hasz@n2co.com New episodes of Special Education Boss drop every Tuesday. Follow, rate, and share with a family who needs it. Questions for the show? advocate@specialeducationacademy.com Learn with us: https://specialeducationacademy.com When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. - Karen Mayer Cunningham Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2464872/support] ✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨ 👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss® Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence. 👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week! 🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources 🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy [https://academy.specialeducationacademy.com/theepiciep-courses/the-academy/] First month free, after that, cancel anytime.  📱 Follow Karen on: * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@specialeducationboss] & Instagram: @specialeducationboss * YouTube: Special Education Academy [https://www.youtube.com/c/SpecialEducationAcademy/videos] 🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game? Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence. 📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl [https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl] (As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.) Because when...

Where Are All the Special Education Attorneys? The Truth About Reading, IEPs, and Enforcement — with Diane Dragan

Where Are All the Special Education Attorneys? The Truth About Reading, IEPs, and Enforcement — with Diane Dragan There are millions of children in this country with an IEP. And by attorney Diane Dragan's count, maybe a thousand lawyers nationwide are willing to take these cases to court. Sit with that. In this episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Diane Dragan — special education attorney, founder of Dragan Law Firm in St. Louis, and host of the Litigating Literacy podcast. Diane didn't set out to do this work. She was a federal public defender until her own three children were diagnosed with dyslexia and she ran into the same wall every parent hits: "Your diagnosis means nothing. He's doing good enough." So she became the attorney she couldn't find. This is a straight-talk conversation about how special education actually works — and why so many families feel like the system is built to exhaust them before they can hold it accountable. WHAT WE GET INTO - Why there are almost no special education attorneys, and the financial reality that keeps it that way - The reading crisis: why 40%+ of kids need explicit, systematic phonics — and why so many schools stopped teaching it - Balanced literacy vs. structured literacy, and the "just right book" myth - The teacher-training gap: how educators are sent in as generalists without the specialized instruction their students need - Poorly written IEP goals — sight words before phonics, missing oral reading fluency norms, and goals that don't match need - Enforcement: why schools only follow the law when it becomes more expensive not to — and who actually enforces a due process win (often, no one) - Independent Educational Evaluations: your right to a free second opinion, and why current data changes everything - How to build a "suspicion of disability" using your own state's learning standards - The tutoring trap: how tutoring at home can skew the data and let the school take credit - When a family needs an advocate vs. an attorney - Why "fixing" a bad IEP can wreck a case before it starts - The "good relationship" myth, and what the internal emails actually say Whether you're a parent, an advocate, or an educator at the table, this one will change how you read every IEP that lands in front of you. You don't know what you don't know — but you need to. This is why we sit at the table prepared. A note: This conversation is educational. We're not giving legal advice — we're educating you. For advice about your specific situation, talk to a qualified attorney in your state. More on Diane: Dragan Law Firm, LLC (St. Louis, MO) — https://www.draganlawfirm.com — or find her Litigating Literacy podcast. LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE Special Education Boss with Karen Mayer Cunningham — new episodes weekly. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/special-education-boss-with-karen-mayer-cunningham/id1805933912 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03I43tikXlYvR6xIe3F24w Buzzsprout: https://specialeducationboss.buzzsprout.com iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/271518986/ Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d75378a3-0f8b-4fd1-989b-67a5723b5377 Learn with us at Special Education Academy: https://specialeducationacademy.com Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2464872/support] ✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨ 👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss® Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence. 👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week! 🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources 🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy [https://academy.specialeducationacademy.com/theepiciep-courses/the-academy/] First month free, after that, cancel anytime.  📱 Follow Karen on: * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@specialeducationboss] & Instagram: @specialeducationboss * YouTube: Special Education Academy [https://www.youtube.com/c/SpecialEducationAcademy/videos] 🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game? Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence. 📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl [https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl] (As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.) Because when...

When Advocacy Isn't Enough: Special Education Due Process Explained (with Attorney Maria McGinley)

No parent sits down at the IEP table hoping for a fight. And no family ever says, "I cannot wait to go to due process." But when advocacy alone is not getting your child what they need, you deserve to understand what comes next. In this episode of Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunningham, Karen sits down with special education attorney Maria McGinley for an honest, practical look at special education dispute resolution: mediation, state complaints, and due process. Maria brings a rare perspective to the table. She is a former special education teacher, a practicing attorney, and a parent who has navigated the IEP process for her own child. Together they unpack what every parent and advocate should understand before a dispute escalates, including: - Why advocacy always comes first, and due process is the last resort - What due process actually is, an administrative trial, not Law and Order, and the emotional and financial toll it carries - Why your paper trail is your evidence, and your memory is not - How to respond to your IEP and the district's deliberations in writing - What the Endrew F. decision means for "meaningful progress" - Burden of proof, and why it matters which state you are in - Independent Educational Evaluations, recording IEP meetings, and knowing when it is time to bring in an attorney This is educational training, not legal advice. The goal, as always, is to help you sit at the table prepared. Have a question for our team? Email advocate@specialeducationacademy.com. Explore the Academy at specialeducationacademy.com. Guest: Maria McGinley, Esq. — mlgsped.com When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everyone. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2464872/support] ✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨ 👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss® Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence. 👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week! 🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources 🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy [https://academy.specialeducationacademy.com/theepiciep-courses/the-academy/] First month free, after that, cancel anytime.  📱 Follow Karen on: * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@specialeducationboss] & Instagram: @specialeducationboss * YouTube: Special Education Academy [https://www.youtube.com/c/SpecialEducationAcademy/videos] 🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game? Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence. 📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl [https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl] (As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.) Because when...

Beyond Behavior Management: What the Science Actually Says

You cannot punish a child into having a skill they do not have. In this episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Doris and Rick Bowman to unpack one of the most misunderstood parts of special education: behavior. Most school plans are built to get compliance in the moment. They manage the behavior and miss what is actually driving it. And when the same kind of plan fails for the fifth or sixth time, the child is the one who walks away believing they are the problem. This conversation flips that. Here is what Karen and the Bowmans get into: * Why behavior is not the problem, the nervous system is * The difference between access to the thinking brain and the capacity to meet a demand * What a "state of protection" looks like in your classroom or at your kitchen table * Why connection is the primary intervention, not the reward at the end of it * The trap of praise as judgment, and the neutral "I noticed" language that actually regulates * How predictable, empathetic interactions re-pattern the stress response over time * Why proactive regulation beats reactive regulation every single time * A one-minute regulation practice an adult can do in the middle of a full classroom This is not about labels. ADHD, ODD, autism, trauma — the diagnosis does not change the work. The work is the nervous system and the missing skills underneath the behavior. If you have ever sat in a meeting and heard "we have tried everything," this episode is for you. We are not giving legal advice. We are educating you — so you can sit at the table prepared. When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everyone. — Karen Mayer Cunningham ABOUT OUR GUESTS — DORIS & RICK BOWMAN Doris and Rick Bowman are "Team Bowman," founders of Bowman Consulting Group and trainers, consultants, and coaches on trauma-informed, neuro-affirming practices. With a combined 50+ years working with the students schools struggle most to serve, they have sat on every side of the table — as the school, the parent, and the advocate. They are the authors of two Amazon #1 books: Your FBA Is a Fantasy! and Facing the Fantasy, Finding the Way Forward. Find their books and trainings at https://www.bowmanconsultgroup.com LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/special-education-boss-with-karen-mayer-cunningham/id1805933912 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/03I43tikXlYvR6xIe3F24w Buzzsprout: https://specialeducationboss.buzzsprout.com iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/271518986/ Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d75378a3-0f8b-4fd1-989b-67a5723b5377 CONNECT Website: https://specialeducationacademy.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpecialEducationBoss/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/specialeducationboss/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpecialEducationAcademy Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2464872/support] ✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨ 👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss® Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence. 👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week! 🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources 🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy [https://academy.specialeducationacademy.com/theepiciep-courses/the-academy/] First month free, after that, cancel anytime.  📱 Follow Karen on: * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@specialeducationboss] & Instagram: @specialeducationboss * YouTube: Special Education Academy [https://www.youtube.com/c/SpecialEducationAcademy/videos] 🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game? Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence. 📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl [https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl] (As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.) Because when...

Early Pickups, ESY Denials, and the Truth About IEEs - Summer IEP Questions Answered

Karen answers summer IEP questions live - ESY eligibility and transportation, early pickups as removals, IEE limits, and how to get your child's data. Full Description (plain text, copy-paste ready) Summer is when the numbers go down and the access goes up. In this live Q&A, Karen Mayer Cunningham takes questions from parents, advocates, paras, and educators - and does not hold back. If your school called you to pick up your child early, that was a day out of placement. If they told you they do not provide ESY, that is not true - every district provides ESY under federal and state law. And if you are counting on an IEE to fix a bad evaluation, Karen explains why an IEE is like a scratch-off ticket - you can get one, but you are probably not going home with a million dollars. In this episode: * Why summer is the best time to file a robust state complaint and meet with leadership * Early pickup calls are days out of placement - a legal decision the school is making * ESY: who qualifies, how to prove regression with the district's own data, and the truth about ESY transportation * IEEs: what they can actually do, what districts are never required to implement, and when one is worth it * When a school must convene an IEP meeting (eligibility and minutes) versus what can be handled by paper amendment * ADHD supports: why services come before accommodations * Reading mastery, dyslexia, and why you never graduate from dyslexia - you move to maintenance * Transition planning, work-based learning, and the Oregon Transition Resource Handbook * The Zack Pack: how to introduce your child and put the full IEP in every teacher's hands * How to request data in writing and what to do when the district will not provide it (34 CFR 300.613) * Records after graduation: what to request and how long districts keep them * Karen announces a press conference June 17 at 6:00 PM at Bellaire High School regarding Houston ISD's plan to consolidate self-contained programs Resources mentioned: * The Epic IEP, The Epic IEP: PARA, and the Epic IEP Federal and State law book [https://amzn.to/3Ll0Dos]- available in the shop and where books are sold * The Epic IEP Workbook - releasing in approximately two weeks * The 2-Day Special Education Advocacy Intensive [https://specialeducationacademy.com/training] - live virtual August 22-23, 2026 * The Epic Educator Academy [https://specialeducationacademy.com/educator]- Mondays at 7:00 PM Central, for school-based educators only, 27 dollars a month * Special Education Academy [https://specialeducationacademy.com/training] - free for the first month, training every Monday at 8:00 PM Central You don't know what you don't know - but you need to. When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everyone. - Karen Mayer Cunningham Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2464872/support] ✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨ 👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss® Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence. 👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week! 🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources 🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy [https://academy.specialeducationacademy.com/theepiciep-courses/the-academy/] First month free, after that, cancel anytime.  📱 Follow Karen on: * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@specialeducationboss] & Instagram: @specialeducationboss * YouTube: Special Education Academy [https://www.youtube.com/c/SpecialEducationAcademy/videos] 🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game? Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence. 📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl [https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl] (As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.) Because when...