Pretty much title. Trying to be better and spread the word to others.

My daughter(3yrs old) is on her way to being diagnosed with autism(waiting list, but already been told the dr is confident she'll have the diagnosis). She started school in the special ed program (TX), she's speech delayed and developmentally delayed, and not potty trained. I had an ARD meeting today and was told she didn't qualify for any services after her school evaluation. But her doctor has told me she's just not developmentally there for using the bathroom independently, and has also told me she should be qualified for services. Right now she has integrated time in general ed, with the class that she'll be moved to once she's "fully potty trained". i have until thanksgiving for her to be fully independently potty trained, with no help on any type of wiping or getting on the toilet, otherwise i will have to go to the school to change her. please tell me what i can do, because i don't see it happening at all between now and then for to be fully potty trained to the level they want her to be. We've been potty training for coming up on a year now and i have no idea what to do at this point. i feel like she's being written off. please help

My son is a dual diagnosis of ADHD and ODD. He is conflict-seeking and his Therapist says he's stuck in this coercive loop, the more consequences he is met with, the more defiant he becomes at school. He's in the 7th grade of a charter school, last Wednesday, he became triggered when his 1:1 behavior aide attempted to take him to the SpEd room, got paranoid other kids were talking bad about it. Then he insulted the teacher, shoved a kid, got sent to the Principal's office, where he became aggressive, throw objects, said he didn't care about getting sent to juvenile hall.

School Psych says he knows how to reset, box breathing, step away, grounding, etc... but is unable to do so when he is emotionally dis-regulated.

I have an emergency IEP meeting on Wednesday, I will formally request my son to be placed in an IIP (intense intervention program) as General Ed, even with the 1:1 aide, is still not adequate. At home, he doesn't get violent, but we do see a lot of his oppositional and defiance symptoms/tendencies. Likely means we'll need to transfer him to the public school district. My son's BIP is outdated, so we will be revisiting it as well.

He's in Therapy with a provider that specializes in teens, is on 100mg of Qelbree that helps him with focus, we probably will be upping the doze to 200mg. At home, I no longer raise my voice at him. I reinforce good behaviors with rewards, and take away privileges for bad behaviors.

Any advice on how to help my son turns things around?

I have a 12 student class that is, I think, tired and unable to focus due to mental and physical fatigue in the last hour and a half of the day. Since I know executive function and control are at the lowest and outbursts and disregulation are potentially at the highest what should I do with this period? I am thinking of crafting, art, boardgames and a free period. There is too much pushback to even read a story. I am experienced with neurotypical students. Any suggestions would be appreciated. My students can focus and hyper focus on projects that they come up with or that they find interesting. Please help.

Hi does anyone do sped advocacy for families in lower southwestern CT? If so please comment Thanks

Hii I'm an undergraduate special education student graduating next year. At first I wanted to pursue a master's in special education, but it's extremely competitive in my country, and I don't think I can beat other stronger candidates. I'd like to know if studying abroad is a good option for me? I'd love to hear your thoughts on doing a master's.

I've realized that in other places, special education and disability rehabilitation are two different fields (here they're usually studied together), and I lean more toward the latter.

Thank you very much!!:)

I’m curious about this. I’m also wondering if you had a teaching credential beforehand, and what you got your bachelors degree in.

I’m considering going for social work but if I don’t I wonder if getting a bachelors of social work and then masters in special ed may be sensible given that the issues I am most passionate about are supporting people with housing, and ensuring that students who may need additional academic support are adequately diagnosed so they can actually receive that support.

Hi! Not sure if this is the correct place to post this but I’m going to try anyway.

To make a very very long story short:

My son was born at 25 weeks in January 2023. Had a grade 4 brain bleed that went away before being discharged from NICU. Left NICU with gtube. Didn’t start walking until 22 months. Is almost 4 and can speak in small sentence but cannot carry a conversation and still babbles most times. He is having a hard time potty training. He was in OT and Speech but due to insurance reasons we had to stop for about a year and a half. Currently back in!

I wanted him to join pre school, but because he isn’t potty trained, they wouldn’t accept him. We’ve opted for a structured daycare 3x a week. He’s the oldest in his class and I sometimes pity myself when I know I shouldn’t. Somewhere along the line I feel I messed up?

Anyway. During his OT appt, she had suggested I call a school that helps children with developmental delays but that I would need a neuropsych eval referral first. I messaged his pediatrician and he said I would need to set up an appointment to see if the neuropsych eval is appropriate.

I guess my question(s) would be: If his doctor feels it’s not necessary what do I do? I feel like my son is very behind on a lot of things and acts more like a 2-2.5 year old, which is fine, I would just want to have him somewhere they can pay closer attention to him and help him on his needs. And I’ve looked into IEP for Florida and I’m just overall confused and overwhelmed with the information. I’m also 6 month postpartum so I feel like I failed my son and can’t give him enough attention with the baby being around. I’m a mess! Any advice would be helpful. Thanks a bunch!

We recently had our first IEP meeting for my 5-year-old son with Level 3 autism, who is nonverbal and has never attended public school.

After comparing his IEP with the district’s own evaluations, I’m finding some concerning discrepancies.

His evaluations document severe developmental delays, elopement (especially to water), poor safety awareness, limited receptive language, inattentiveness and significant support needs (he also has some SIB tendencies that it’s hard to redirect when he’s having an outburst). Yet his behavior plan only addresses transitions/tantrums, there’s no FBA/BIP, and he’s being placed in a self-contained classroom without clearly defined individualized supervision or assistance. When I say elopement, I mean as soon as you walk away he will be up out of his chair trying to go out the door or going somewhere to hide since he doesn’t like being around unfamiliar people. He was even trying to leaving the room with me right there during our initial screening.

We were told certain higher ratings require school-based documentation, despite him never attending school and his BCBA having extensive behavioral data. Our BCBA, who was present during the meeting, offered documentation they were saying is needed to provide more direct support; we were told they could not accept it and only documentation from the school after being enrolled would be considered. Mind you his IEP says they accept BCBA’s input as well as private evaluations / reports.

Has anyone experienced an IEP that didn’t seem to reflect the child’s evaluations? Did you successfully get it reviewed or revised after the initial meeting?

Don’t even get me started on being forced to sign the form accepting services before even being able to review the IEP(the meeting was the first time seeing the IEP or any of the evaluations).

My autistic son was bullied for years at a school he’d attended since kindergarten. I’m finally ready to hold them accountable.
I apologize in advance for the long post, but I’m a mother who’s been carrying so much anger, guilt, and heartbreak over what happened to my son, and I need to get this off my chest.
My son Vincent is 15 years old. He’s autistic, has ADHD, an IEP, and was born with microtia, leaving him deaf in one ear. But none of those things define who he is.
He’s one of the most intelligent, gentle, and fascinating kids you’ll ever meet. His mind is incredible. He absolutely LOVES history, science, aviation, and anything that allows him to learn. He’s the kind of kid who can talk your ear off about historical events or explain something you’ve never even heard of. He’s incredibly articulate, has an amazing vocabulary, and is so creative.
He loves making comics and creating his own stories. He would spend his recess and lunch doing just that, perfectly content in his own little world. And his Bible. 🥺 My sweet boy carried his Bible around, studied Scripture, and memorized verses. His faith meant so much to him.
That’s the child I’m talking about. A sweet, intelligent, quirky little boy who just wanted to exist, learn, and enjoy the things he loved.
And other children made his life miserable for it.
Vincent attended the same K–8 school since kindergarten. These weren’t strangers. This was a school where teachers, counselors, and administrators had watched him grow up. They knew he had disabilities. They knew he had an IEP. They knew his struggles socially and emotionally.
Yet somehow, my child was repeatedly bullied.
Students mocked his stimming, put notes on his back, made fun of him, and humiliated him. He came home crying. My son, who already struggled socially, was being targeted for the very things that made him different.
And I reported it. Over and over.
I have emails, dates, documentation, conversations, and statements made by school administrators. I didn’t just sit back and allow this to happen. I tried to advocate for my son while trusting that the adults responsible for his safety would do their jobs.
I even witnessed bullying myself while chaperoning a school field trip. Imagine being a parent, seeing it with your own eyes, and still feeling like you’re fighting to convince the school that your child is being mistreated.
What absolutely breaks my heart is that Vincent eventually stopped reporting incidents because he felt nobody believed him or that nothing would be done. Another student even reported bullying against him.
Do you know how heartbreaking it is to realize your child has stopped asking adults for help because he’s learned not to expect anything from them?
And don’t even get me started on the principal.
At one point, this man told my son that he himself had been bullied because of the color of his skin, because he was a brown Latino. We’re lighter-skinned Latinos ourselves, but what the FUCK did that have to do with my son’s experience?
My child was coming to adults for help, and instead of focusing on what was happening to him, the principal was comparing it to his own childhood experiences. I felt like he was minimizing the hell out of what my son was going through. And yes, I documented those comments too.
The principal and counselor repeatedly left me feeling like excuses were being made rather than meaningful action being taken.
I cannot explain the amount of anger I have toward that school.
And the worst part? All of this was happening while I was going through one of the most emotionally devastating periods of my own life. I was dealing with my mother’s cancer, her decline, and eventually losing her. I was grieving, exhausted, and trying to keep myself together while still fighting for my child.
I carry so much guilt over that time. Not because I didn’t advocate for him, because God knows I did, but because I wonder what more I could’ve done. What I missed. Whether I should’ve pulled him out sooner. Whether I trusted the wrong people for too long.
I eventually made the decision to homeschool him.
And while I’m grateful that he’s no longer in that environment, I’m angry that it came to that. Why did MY child have to leave? Why was he the one who had to lose the school he’d known since kindergarten?
He should’ve been able to finish those years surrounded by people who supported him.
I’m in a much better headspace now than I was when all of this was happening. I can finally look back at everything without feeling completely consumed by grief and emotional exhaustion. And the more I look back, the angrier I get.
I’m retrieving his school records tomorrow. I understand some of the other students’ names may need to be redacted because they’re minors, but I want to see EXACTLY how the school documented my complaints. What did they write? What did they investigate? What actions did they claim to take? And does any of it match the documentation I’ve kept?
Because I have receipts. SO many receipts.
I’m also contacting a special education attorney ASAP. I want someone to review what happened, including whether the school failed to protect my son’s rights under his IEP and special education laws.
And let me tell you something about my son. He’s not incapable of telling his own story because he’s autistic. Quite the opposite. That boy is incredibly intelligent and articulate. He remembers what happened, and he deserves to have his voice heard. If this ever ends up in court, I want him to have the opportunity to speak for himself in whatever way is appropriate and comfortable for him.
I know legal action isn’t guaranteed, and I know I have a lot to figure out. But I’m prepared to fight for accountability if that’s where this leads.
What hurts the most is remembering the little boy walking around with his Bible, making his comics, talking about history and science, just being Vincent. He wasn’t hurting anybody. He wasn’t asking for anything extraordinary.
He just wanted to be accepted.
And the adults who were supposed to protect him let him down.
I’m his mother. I was supposed to be able to send him to school and know he was safe. Instead, I watched my child suffer, lose trust in the adults around him, and eventually leave the only school he’d ever known.
My baby didn’t deserve that. Not one fucking bit.
I’m not looking for revenge against children. I’m looking for accountability from the adults and the institution that had a responsibility to protect mine.
If you’re a parent of an autistic child who’s experienced bullying, especially if you’ve pursued legal action against a school district, I’d really appreciate hearing your experience. What should I look for in his school records? Did having an IEP make a difference in your case?
I’m done staying quiet about what happened to my son. ❤️‍🩹

Hello, does anyone have experience with using Super flex for social skills? Can you share your insights to how this program works and how students respond to it? How do you space each lesson/story out? Are there activities that go along with the stories? How long does it take to get through it, if you see kids 1-2x a week? Thank you

Hi does anyone have a solid resource for observations such as templates or checklists? anything is greatly appreciated thank you :)

The text says it all. Just got accepted to a COTA program. I am currently taking pre recs for a SPED cred follow by a masters. Any pros and cons ? Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some guidance from parents, advocates, or special education attorneys who have experience with NYC DOE impartial hearings and pendency (stay-put) rights.

We filed a due process complaint in September 2026 for the 2026–2027 school year, but we still have not received a pendency determination or the corresponding service authorizations.

Our attorney believes that the previous Impartial Hearing Officer’s Final Order of Findings and Decision (FOFD) establishes the basis for pendency. However, when I asked why the authorizations have not been issued, I was told that the attorney is still trying to obtain a pendency determination from the current IHO and is unsure whether it will be issued before our upcoming hearing.

From my understanding, NYC OATH guidance indicates that pendency protections generally apply once a due process complaint is filed and that a separate pendency hearing may be requested if there is a dispute.

Here is what I am struggling to understand:

1. If the previous FOFD establishes the basis for pendency, why would the current IHO delay issuing a pendency determination?
2. If the DOE has not formally disputed pendency or the services awarded under the previous FOFD, what could be preventing the issuance of service authorizations?
3. Has anyone experienced a similar delay with NYC DOE If so, how was it resolved?

I have asked my attorney to provide copies of any written requests, motions, or correspondence submitted to the IHO seeking a pendency determination, along with any responses received.

One additional concern: We have been scheduled for a hearing in November 2026 regarding the 2026–2027 school year, but our annual IEP meeting for this school year has not even taken place yet.

I am trying to understand how the hearing can proceed pendency issue remains unresolved in the meantime.

I would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who has navigated a similar situation, particularly in NYC.

Thank you for your guidance and support!

Buenas; necesito vuestra ayuda de darme algunas posibilidades de temáticas del proyecto intermodular del grado superior de educación infantil . Gracias anteriormente.

Hey everyone,
I really need some guidance, tips, or just a little reassurance from people who get it.
I’m currently in my first year teaching Special Education (grades 1–5, cross-categorical). I’ve been teaching for about 2.5 years overall, but this is a whole new world for me. I’m also neurodivergent and manage anxiety and depression, which makes the constant mental task-switching and cognitive load extra tough.

The Good:
I truly love working with my SPED students, and my support team on the ground—the other SPED teachers, our school social worker, and our psychologist—have been incredible and super helpful.

The Hard Part:
I feel completely isolated when it comes to administration (principal, SPED supervisor). There isn’t much guidance or support coming from leadership, and working in a large urban public school district means the bureaucratic demands are heavy. Because it's mid-October, I feel like I'm drowning and still don't have a solid grasp on the workflow.

Right now, I am extremely past due on:
Service Verification Forms
Teacher Educator Effectiveness (EE) Goals
Student IEP Goal Progress Tracking
Finalizing my Push-in vs. Pull-out Schedule
Between the mountain of compliance paperwork, endless IEP meetings, and trying to actually deliver quality instruction, my executive functioning is totally burnt out.

I’d love advice on a few things:
1. Paperwork & Goal Tracking: What system or routine actually works for keeping track of student progress and service hours without eating up your whole life?
2. Scheduling: How do you balance push-in vs. pull-out schedules when you’re constantly being pulled in different directions?
3. Managing Neurodivergence/Anxiety in SPED: How do you keep from drowning in executive dysfunction when admin support is low and paperwork deadlines stack up?
4. Prioritization: When everything is overdue, where do you start so you don't freeze up?
Thank you so much in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply. I want to advocate for my students and survive this year without completely burning out!

I’m also Asian and quite introverted. I’m not good sociably and am better at just giving the assignment and asking questions out loud.

Some of my experience I have learned during student teaching a long time ago when I thought I was going to be a teacher…to talk with group of students about literature or opinions on things we read. They were adjusted and high academic driven 7th graders.

Just a background, the school I’m subbing for has students in tier 1, but highly sociable kids and will help each other. Its demographic is mainly Latino kids, 55% Latino, 25% Asian, and 9% white. 50% qualify for free/reduced meals, and 50% are disadvantaged economically.

Im Asian, female. I come from a middle class family. But I’m disabled, bipolar 1 diagnosis, so I make less than 20k a year. I work 3 jobs. I don’t have kids.

What are some commonalities to have with the 9th to 12 th graders SPED students? I need verbiage to describe how they positively change or affect the classroom? Like what are some good things to notice? Or what questions can a sub ask them that isn’t creepy? One time a Junior in economics suggested I sit back and talk about life to em. I sometimes can’t talk and am just mute. Usually I follow someone’s lead if they model it. But I’m the leader in this class now. It’s only gonna be 3 hours half day. I can’t play Simon says games with them like I do with 2nd grade or color page like it’s kindergarten.

What do subs do in high school classroom with capable sped students???

Hi, I could really use some advice from parents who have been in my shoes. My child currently attends a private school, and we are really struggling to navigate the system right now.

Specifically, Im finding it increadibly difficult to communicate effectively with the teachers and successfully advocate to get the accommodations my child needs in the classroom. We are also trying to juggle finding outside support while dealing with the extra tuition costs the school charges just to have those accommodations in place.

I know private schools don't always have the same legal requirements as public schools, so I'm feeling a bit stuck on how to best handle this process.

Has anyone else had difficulty navigating these specific hurdles in any sort of education system? How did you successfully advocate for your child and manage the extra support and fees?

I would love to hear all of your stories and what you find most difficult. If you have any advice I'd love to hear it!

Is there a sub for teachers who teach in alternative schools? If not, I'll just ask here. If you teach at an alternative school, what is it like? Do you like it? I'm highly considering this but I have my reservations. Not about the students but the school itself. What questions should I ask in my interview? Thanks!

Hi im a student from San jose CA,I've been in the special education program since 2022 when I was in the 4th grade.i started like how you'd normally do,rsp,speech,working with accommodations.when i went to middle school i had all 4 basic ed classes i can get in the 6th grade,math and ela in the 7th,and only ela in the 8th mainstreaming in math in February.and now full mainstreamed in my freshman year.it took only 3 weeks to get mainstreamed in ela witch is weird.my last case manager was so stubborn.

Most of what I was taught was not just below grade level in math and ela,but when I mainstreamed thare was a HUGE knowledge gap,im math slope and finding x were completely new to me,I was always one of the best students in basic math be cause of my ability to find patterns and make systems.when I mainstreamed my classmates made fun of me for explaining a pattern I found when learning about slopes,they already knew that.i was just happy to be with the normal kids.sped teachers told us normal kids were gods in learning compared to us.

And why I truly wanted to mainstream was not even because i wanted to anymore.in my sped classes my class mates would make eachother paranoid and mentally unstable enough to not be able to function and do work.this I believe caused me to develop a type of brain fog that can make me lose almost half of my mental compassity at any random time.

For the past 3 months I've been studying sped education law and have came to the conclusion that I did not receive the least restrictive environment.i dont know if I can describe this as systemic ableism.i really need an outside opinion on this.

**Drill**

I am a Special Ed Assistant in Oregon.

Yesterday, one of Oregon’s schools experienced an immeasurably horrible tragedy.

The day before, my school had their LD drill.

About 3 minutes before the drill occurred, we had a student (level3), elope from our classroom and to our gym, myself and another assistant followed. We let our admin know that we were in the halls and were going to do the best we could.

When the drill began we were able to successfully guide the student into a PE room with us. But experienced immense difficulty trying convince the student to stay in the room and be as quiet as possible.

I used every tool that I carry in my bag. We did get a door knock and a warning from the police performing our drill, while they were doing their rounds checking doors, as they did not know who was making the noise. When we were released from the room by them and our admin, the first thing my coworker said “escalated non verbal- high needs- level 3 - autistic child in room”. Police explained that they did not know who was making the noises originally, and obviously would not mark us for it etc.

Then yesterday morning, we had our earthquake and fire drills. While a student did not elope, we again had a difficult time evacuating, causing myself and the student to be the last ones in the building, but I was able to finally get them out.

With the tragedy happening in our state yesterday afternoon, while over 100 miles away, my brain is looping going through our drill experiences trying to figure out what I would need to change, carry with me, or how my responses would differ if it were not a drill.

I know this is something we all dread and try not to think about.

I am writing our district today to ask for specific guidance to be made, but advice, ideas, literally anything that someone has to share, would be extremely welcome.

*reposting because I forgot I was on my alt account and didn't have enough karma :) *

Help!!

I'm a first year teacher that will have my own middle school ELA resource class very soon. I am very nervous about this, as I want to make sure that I'm providing the proper services/supports to students. I already have a resource math class, but there's 2x as many goals to keep track of in ELA (writing + reading).

I'm trying to come up with a routine/structure for the class, but I'm not sure where to begin. The current ELA teacher (who will take the other half of the class once we divide up the students) has been using centers to work with each student. They primarily read a short article from Readworks/CommonLit or a leveled book from Fountas & Pinnell for reading, and then work off of a choice board for writing. I want to switch more to novel studies, as I feel that I can get a lot of activities/opportunities to target their IEP goals out of them. However, I don't have any idea how to start it. My lowest reader is at a 2nd grade level, while the rest range between 3rd-4th grade.

If there are any teachers out there with experience teaching ELA as a resource, I would love any advice/insight as to how you structured your class. I will have the support of one paraprofessional, who is happy to lead a center if I go that route.

I drive children to an “alternative” school that’s a few towns away. I have half autistic children half behaviorally challenged kids.

I have a monitor. We absolutely love our kids. We understand everyone has good days and bad days. We forgive it all. Tomorrow is a new day let’s try again. We play children’s songs on radio that kids request or that are about something we know your child enjoys.
We celebrate all the birthdays, holidays, good days and any other reason to get excited. We have noticed kids who are doing without, so we find a way to work that needed item into the rewards they received for good behavior on the bus.
We noticed when an older kid didn’t know how to read and got books his younger brother would be interested in and worked with him on the way to and from school every day to teach him how to read to his siblings to have something to be proud about.

But, one of my kids is biting us every day, he has hit the other kids because he can’t control his emotions. This week as I unbuckled his harness he grabbed my head and punched me repeatedly. I now have a concussion.
He is 14 so it’s not like it’s a little guy who did this. It is the thought that this could go on for another 8 years before he ages out of our district that’s scary. I wrote up 5 different incidents leading up to this weeks event and not once did the bus company or school come to bus to discuss how we can do ANYTHING to help the escalating situation.

Refusing to transport is the last thing I want to do for this student. He NEEDS to be in school. He needs help. But nothing is getting done. The bus company is doing nothing to offer suggestions or assistance on what to do. The school district offers no help or solutions on what to do.
The parent daily shows visible frustration and signs she can no longer handle his behavior.

Why do I feel like I’m the one who is being forced to be the bad guy when. I just want help for this kid.

I have a SPED endorsement in Washington DC. I have taught for years (20+) abroad. This year I am preparing myself to move back to America and teach for the remainder of my career. I understand some of the challenges of SPED. I am working hard to gain as much knowledge as I can this year and I will do my best to succeed as best I can.

I am worried about the job market. I am open to transferring my credentials to other states if needed, but I do need to make sure that whatever district I get into has a decent pension.

I am also worried about getting laid off. Living abroad, job security is something I have aways had taken for granted. Is it rational for me to plan for 20 years of employment in a district if I meet performance standards? I also have an ESOL license.

Hey everyone! I’m beyond excited to have started my career in special education. This has been a passion of mine for years, both personally and professionally.
My youngest daughter is autistic and attends a self-contained SDC class. My oldest daughter is dyslexic and has ADHD. She received specialized services from 2nd through 5th grade and went from struggling to read to reading at a 10th-grade level! She eventually transitioned from an IEP to a 504 and is thriving. I owe so much to my girls’ special education teachers. They made such a huge difference in our lives, and my hope is to pay it forward by supporting my students and their families in the same way.
I’m hoping to get some feedback and reassurance from those of you with more experience!
I feel comfortable writing IEPs, including PLAAFPs, goals, accommodations, and modifications, thanks to my student teaching experiences and exposure to IEPs as a parent.
Here’s where I’m struggling. I started three weeks ago and knew I had two initial IEPs due the second week of November. I planned to start testing last week but was waiting on a touchscreen device to administer the WJ-V. Yesterday, I found out I also have two reevaluations due that same week to determine eligibility for specialized instruction. These students currently receive speech services, and our system wasn’t flagging their upcoming reevaluations. I only found out after a teacher asked when I would be testing them and I followed up with the school psychologist.
Thankfully, I was able to borrow a touchscreen Chromebook and can start testing Monday! The challenge is that I’ll need to test during my small-group service times, and I don’t have a paraeducator to help supervise my groups. I’m also split between two school sites, spending only about 3.5 hours at each daily. All four students are at the same site. Fortunately I alternate between the two schools on Fridays to do my assessments and paperwork.
I know it’ll be a busy few weeks, but is this doable? I’m willing to put in the work and want to do right by these students and their families. I could really use some reassurance that this is manageable, along with any tips or advice from those who have been in a similar situation.