Conversations by IEP Assure

When a parent brings an advocate to the IEP meeting, does your team feel supported or under attack?

In this episode of Conversations by IEP Assure, Allie Wilson sits down with Dr. Destiny Huff, LPC, a mental health therapist, special education advocate, and parent of two neurodivergent learners. Together they explore how IEP teams can move from shifting blame to solving problems together, even in the middle of a staffing crisis.

In this episode:

- Why "we don't usually do that" is not the same as "we can't"

- How to document student needs honestly when staffing is short

- The disconnect between district decisions and classroom realities

- Why advocates can be facilitators, not adversaries

- Using work samples and parent data to take emotion out of the meeting

- Building student self-advocacy for college and career

Season 2 explores partnerships within education and family. New episodes every other Thursday.

Subscribe for more conversations with the leaders shaping special education.

Learn more about IEP Assure: iepassure.com

Follow us: @iep.assure

What if the biggest challenge facing special education isn't funding—it's the systems surrounding it? Allie Wilson and Christina Santoro discuss inclusion, staffing shortages, teacher burnout, compliance, and how school leaders can create sustainable change that supports both students and educators.

School leaders everywhere are facing the same challenges: growing special education needs, staffing shortages, compliance pressures, and shrinking budgets. The common response is simple—schools need more funding.

In this episode, Allie Wilson, founder of IEP Assure, sits down with education consultant Christina Santoro to explore a bigger question: Are outdated systems preventing schools from effectively supporting students, teachers, and families?

Together, they discuss:

• Why special education teacher shortages continue to grow
• The hidden cost of underfunding inclusion
• How districts can rethink resource allocation
• The connection between compliance issues and system failures
• Why teacher burnout is a leadership and systems challenge—not just a staffing challenge
• How school leaders can begin building sustainable, long-term solutions

This conversation challenges the idea that more money alone will solve education's biggest problems and offers a fresh perspective on what meaningful change could look like.

Guest: Christina Santoro

Host: Allie Wilson, Founder of IEP Assure

By middle school, many students have already started to disengage from their education—not because they can’t learn, but because they don’t understand themselves as learners.

In this episode of Conversations by IEP Assure, Allie Wilson is joined by Marjorie Archer to unpack what’s really happening during those critical middle school years. From students hiding their struggles to avoiding accommodations, they explore how a lack of self-advocacy leads to disengagement, behavior challenges, and missed opportunities.

You’ll walk away with practical strategies you can implement immediately, including how to:

• Teach students to understand and name their disability
• Normalize accommodations in the classroom
• Build self-advocacy skills early
• Use data to motivate and empower students
• Shift from compliance to connection

If you’re a teacher, parent, or leader, this conversation will challenge how you think about support—and show you how to help students reconnect with their learning before it’s too late.

In this episode of Conversations by IEP Assure, Allie Wilson sits down with Peter Kauffman to unpack the legal foundations of special education compliance.

With experience spanning teaching, school governance, and education law, Peter provides a rare, full-system perspective on how compliance actually functions—and where it breaks down.

This conversation focuses on helping educators, administrators, and families better understand the legal realities behind IEP implementation, documentation, and student rights.

• What legally qualifies as a denial of FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education)
• The difference between procedural vs. substantive compliance issues
• Why documentation (service logs, communication, progress monitoring) is critical in legal disputes
• Common compliance gaps that occur across schools and districts
• The role of educators vs. families in protecting student rights
• How legal protections shift from IDEA (K–12) to ADA (college and beyond)
• What proactive compliance systems should look like in schools

Strong compliance is not just about doing the work—it’s about being able to clearly show that the work was done.

• Special Education Directors
• School and District Administrators
• General and Special Education Teachers
• Parents and Advocates
• Anyone navigating IEP implementation or compliance

Compliance gaps are rarely caused by lack of effort—they’re caused by unclear systems, inconsistent documentation, and misaligned expectations.

Understanding the legal framework behind special education helps schools move from reactive problem-solving to proactive, student-centered support.

In this episode, Allie sits down with Eric Roma, the Chief Technology Officer of IEP Assure, to officially introduce him to the community and share the story behind how the platform is being built.

Eric has been part of IEP Assure from the very beginning and formally transitioned into the CTO role in November. Together, Allie and Eric discuss what it takes to build special education software responsibly—from data integrity and compliance guardrails to why accuracy, trust, and educator workflows matter more than flashy AI features.

This conversation takes listeners behind the scenes of:

• What a CTO actually does in an early-stage edtech company
• How IEP Assure approaches AI with intention and safeguards
• Why technical decisions directly impact teachers, students, and districts
• How firsthand classroom experience shapes product architecture

Whether you are an educator curious about how edtech tools are built, a district leader thinking about compliance risk, or a founder navigating technical leadership, this episode offers a transparent look at how mission-driven education technology comes together.

In this episode, Allie and Joe explore what it really means to adapt your work to your needs — not the other way around.

Rather than chasing more tools or faster fixes, they talk through the mindset shifts educators and leaders need to make, how to identify where automation can genuinely help (and where it shouldn’t), and how to build systems that support sustainability instead of burnout.

They discuss:

• How to identify pain points worth automating — and which ones aren’t
• Mindset shifts that help educators work with systems instead of against them
• Why personalization matters more than speed
• How adapting workflows can reduce cognitive load and compliance stress
• What “supportive automation” actually looks like in real classrooms

This conversation is reflective, practical, and grounded in lived experience — focused on making the work of education more humane and manageable.

In this episode of Conversations by IEP Assure, Allie Wilson sits down with special education advocate and educator Mantha Camacho to discuss the real challenges educators face when supporting students with disabilities.

Together, they explore what it actually looks like to implement IEPs in real classrooms, the pressure teachers experience when balancing compliance with meaningful instruction, and why many current systems make special education harder than it needs to be.

Mantha shares her perspective from working directly with students and educators, highlighting the gaps between policy and practice and the importance of tools that support teachers rather than overwhelm them.

This conversation also dives into how technology, when designed correctly, can help educators stay compliant while focusing on what matters most: supporting students.

Topics we discuss:

• The reality of implementing IEPs in busy classrooms
• Why documentation and compliance create stress for educators
• How special education systems can better support teachers
• What meaningful progress monitoring actually looks like
• The role of technology in improving special education outcomes

IEP Assure was created by educators to simplify documentation, track accommodations, and help schools ensure students with disabilities receive the support they deserve.

Learn more about IEP Assure:

www.iepassure.com

What if the support a student needs isn’t another intervention—but a different environment?

In this episode of Conversations by IEP Assure, host Allie Wilson sits down with Alicia Powell, an educational leader with experience in both traditional public schools and a private school model built around personalized, one-to-one learning.

Together, they explore how learning environments shape student outcomes—especially for neurodivergent learners, students with IEPs or 504 plans, and families navigating school placement decisions.

This conversation unpacks what truly changes when schools shift from rigid systems to flexible, student-centered models—and why no single setting works for every learner.

• The biggest differences between public and private school settings
• How sensory environments (lighting, noise, space) impact learning
• Why one-to-one instruction can accelerate self-advocacy skills
• How flexible pacing and assignment formats improve engagement
• Supporting students with dyslexia, ADHD, and autism through modality choice
• The role of real-time documentation and communication with families
• What an ideal handoff between schools should include
• Why documentation shouldn’t feel like a burden—but a bridge
• How teachers are often doing far more than paperwork reflects
• Preparing students to advocate for themselves beyond K–12

Sometimes, the most powerful intervention isn’t a new strategy—it’s a better-matched environment.

When educators, families, and systems communicate clearly and document intentionally, students gain something far more lasting than accommodations: self-understanding and agency.

In this episode of Conversations by IEP Assure, host Allie Wilson sits down with Nicholas Ditto, founder of Fort Worth STEAM Academy and her very first principal, to talk about what it really takes to make STEM accessible for every learner—not just the ones already “on level.”

Together, they unpack:

• The mindset shift from “Why aren’t they passing?” to “How do we get them there?”
• How belief in student potential drives teacher actions and classroom culture
• Practical ways to support diverse learners in STEM without lowering expectations
• Why teacher time, high-quality materials, and collaborative planning matter so much
• How campus leaders can reduce busywork and use tools (like IEP Assure) to give teachers their time back

You’ll hear concrete examples from classrooms and campuses, strategies for co-teaching and cross-content collaboration, and honest reflections on how admin can support teachers with data and encouragement.

If you care about making STEM more inclusive, supporting teachers sustainably, and using documentation to inform instruction instead of overwhelm it, this conversation is for you.

🎧 Subscribe to Conversations by IEP Assure for more episodes on special education, innovation, and real-world teaching.

Educational Diagnostician | Learning Advocate | Founder of Opportunity Consulting

Allissa Clark is an educational diagnostician on a mission to help families and schools truly see their learners. As the founder of Opportunity Consulting, Allissa brings a vibrant, student-centered approach to evaluations—turning complex data into clear stories about how kids learn, thrive, and grow.

With over a decade of experience across public schools, higher education, and private practice, Allissa has become known for her rare ability to blend deep diagnostic expertise with warmth, humor, and a genuine passion for empowering families. She specializes in supporting multilingual learners, twice-exceptional students, and children whose strengths often get overlooked in traditional systems.

Allissa is also a powerful advocate for more equitable identification practices in Texas. She partners with districts, mentors new educators, and collaborates with organizations that push the field forward. Whether she’s breaking down cognitive scores for a parent or coaching a team through intervention strategies, Allissa makes the process feel human, hopeful, and full of possibility.

At the heart of her work is a belief that every learner has a story worth telling—and when we understand that story, we unlock opportunities that can change a child’s life.