Inclusive Education Project (IEP) Podcast

When a child is struggling with behaviors at school, how do you know when it’s time to take a closer look at what’s really going on? And if a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) could help identify what’s behind those behaviors, how long should a team wait before moving forward? Today, we’re welcoming Dr. Desiree back for a candid conversation about FBAs, behavior intervention plans, data collection, and why it’s so important to understand not just what a behavior looks like, but what may be causing it.

Amanda shares a recent IEP experience involving a young student who was struggling with behaviors like elopement, unwanted physical contact, and property destruction. The team had already agreed to move forward with an FBA once the new school year got underway, but a new behavior specialist recommended waiting while the school tried more interventions and collected additional data. That raised an obvious question: If one of the purposes of an FBA is to collect and analyze behavioral data, at what point does waiting simply delay getting a student the support they need?

Dr. Desiree helps us unpack what should happen next. We discuss why behaviors need to be clearly and objectively defined, how understanding a behavior's function can guide appropriate supports, and why collecting good data is only part of the equation. The teachers, paraprofessionals, and other team members implementing the plan also need the training and tools to make it work. We also look at the difference between educational and medical services and how understanding both can help families make informed decisions about supporting their child.

Show Highlights:

• Why a team might consider an FBA when a student’s behaviors are interfering with learning
• Amanda’s experience with a behavior specialist who recommended delaying an already-planned FBA
• Waiting to collect data before conducting an assessment intended to collect and analyze data may be problematic.
• The importance of identifying and clearly defining target behaviors
• Why behaviors such as elopement can look different from one school year, classroom, or environment to another
• How the function of a behavior can be misunderstood when everyone on the team is using a different definition
• Why observations and behavioral data should be objective rather than relying solely on subjective reports
• Importance of identifying antecedents and understanding what may be triggering or reinforcing a behavior
• Why an effective behavior plan requires more than a well-written report
• The need to ensure teachers, paraprofessionals, and other staff understand how to implement a student’s plan and collect useful data
• Why behavioral documentation can help establish a student’s needs and provide access to appropriate supports
• The distinction between educational services addressing behaviors that impede learning and medical services that address a child’s broader needs
• Why families receiving private medical or behavioral services may want to consider how those services can complement school-based supports

Resources:

Connect with Dr. Desiree and Ness Behavior Consulting for information about behavioral services and support.

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn

Call NESS Behavior Consulting directly: (516)-252-1444

NESS intake form

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information about the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find the show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns: Facebook, Instagram, X, the IEP Website, or Email.

As the school year is off and running, we get the sense that everyone feels the pressure of juggling many moving parts. Our executive functioning skills are being put to the test, which makes today’s conversation extremely relevant. We are discussing all things executive functioning, including what these skills are and how we use them to complete tasks, manage emotions, and fulfill our obligations. These skills are important to students and adults in any educational setting, but they translate into real-world skills that are valuable in our lives at any age. Kids with learning challenges definitely need more support to learn and master these skills. How can we best teach these important skills? Join us for the conversation!

Show Highlights:

• Executive functioning skills must be taught with the HOW and WHY in mind.
• What is executive functioning?
• Executive function doesn’t automatically happen as a certain birthday comes.
• The steps to help a student develop executive function include showing/modeling, teaching/training, and stepping back to allow independence to occur.
• Simply teaching daily routines, even to preschoolers, develops executive function.
• An example of a useful tool: an assignment triage sheet to manage classwork/assignments
• Task chunking can be done with a variety of tools and devices that help with all facets of time awareness and management.
• “Let’s try this together” is a huge step that is missing, especially with older children.

Resources:

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information about the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns via Facebook, Instagram, X, the IEP Website, or Email.

With the start of a new school year, everyone involved in education feels a varying degree of anxiety and uncertainty. Today’s topic, the influence of AI in education, is relevant to everyone: parents, teachers, and students. AI has come to the forefront in recent years, along with debate about the pros and cons of screen time. An expert joins us today to explain how AI is changing the way children think and learn. Join us now!

Dr. Jonathan Strecker is an educator, author, commentator, and public thinker who has a background in neuroscience and psychology. He has spent the past 30 years in education, and he is currently the Head of School at Valley School of Ligonier, a private school in Rector, Pennsylvania.

Show Highlights:

• AI IS a disruptive technology. Will its impact be more positive or negative?
• An example of AI being used as “fake intelligence”
• AI can partner with learning as the brain primes itself through struggle.
• The value of boredom in helping the brain transition into creativity
• The fascinating aspects of the ADHD mind
• A statistic: Increasing the connectedness in a group of students brings an 11% boost in intellect.
• This moment, right now, is as influential as any other in history.
• Success in reading, writing, and math is a by-product of a “well-defined, intentional whole-child education.”
• We have to understand the underlying goals in teaching reading, writing, and math, like problem-solving, logical thinking, and communication skills.

Resources:

Connect with Jonathan Strecker: Website and Emergence book.

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information about the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns: Facebook, Instagram, X, IEP Website, and Email.

The school year is in full swing for most of the country. We want to remind you about your required 30-day transition IEP meeting if your child has transitioned to a new school or new program. If you haven’t been offered this meeting, request it now for a check-in. Even without a transition, you can still request this meeting to get updates on your child’s progress. Don’t delay! Now is the time! Today’s guest has her finger on the pulse of today’s special education programs, support, and funding, and she’s here to help us understand the current situation. Join us!

Jennifer Coco has a background in law and a focused passion for advocating for kids with special needs and disabilities. After starting in the civil rights field, she joined the Southern Poverty Law Center as a special education attorney to tackle systemic challenges in providing equal access and opportunity at the intersection of disability and race. Currently, she serves as the interim executive director of The Center for Learner Equity. This national organization cares deeply about kids with disabilities having equal access to high-quality school choices and opportunity.

Show Highlights:

• THIS moment matters! (“We are at a scary juncture.”)
• Is the infrastructure in place to follow through with the law?
• The federal government is not following through on the provisions of the IDEA.
• Understanding the gap between the provisions and implementation of the IDEA
• Solutions for charter schools in serving kids with disabilities: resources, access, and system capacity
• Jennifer’s approach to championing and advocating for charter schools
• The two biggest problems for charter schools with inclusive education are planning and design.
• Systemic problems affect us all!
• Key takeaways from Jennifer: “Don’t abandon hope! We need to hold hands and demand better for our kids.”
• Get involved!

Resources:

Connect with Jennifer Coco: Website, Jennifer's LinkedIn, and CFLE LinkedIn.

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information about the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns: Facebook, Instagram, X, IEP Website, and Email.

We spent much of the last school year discussing the changes in education and the uncertainty surrounding the federal Department of Education. Beyond the policy debates and headlines are real families trying to navigate very real questions about their children’s futures. For families of children with special needs, those questions can feel especially overwhelming: What happens after high school? How do we plan for adulthood? What financial, legal, and practical decisions need to be made—and when? Today, we’re shifting the conversation from what is happening in education right now to what families need to plan for the years ahead. Mary McDirmid joins us to share both her professional expertise and her personal experience as a mother of a child with special needs.

Mary McDirmid is a financial planner and the mother of two daughters, the youngest of whom is ten and has special needs. As her own family encountered the complexities of planning for their daughter’s future, Mary recognized how difficult it can be for families to know where to begin—and how much they need someone who understands both the financial and personal sides of special needs planning. That experience led her to focus her work on helping other families navigate these challenges through All Needs Planning, where she provides specialized planning and support for families at every stage of life.

Show Highlights:

• Understanding how a diagnosis changes everything for a family
• After simply surviving from birth to age 3, a family focuses on IEPs for the school years; next comes graduation, which is a big question mark. (“Now, what?”)
• Simply staying home all day is NOT the best choice.
• The one question that alerts you to the groups that are right for your special needs child in the post-education years
• Finding what benefits are available to pay for services
• The importance of community and connection for families with the shared experience of a child with a rare disease
• Mary’s work with families includes finding/applying for benefits and structuring special needs trusts, accounts, and estate planning
• How to think about naming people who can replace you in the future (Think of a five-year plan. You can reset it later.)
• Simply creating a special needs trust is not enough.
• NOW is always the best time for planning.
• Immediate steps for parents to take now: figure out the years your child has left in school, take inventory of the planning you have in place, and determine what is missing
• Mary’s easy trick to save digital documents related to your child and their care (Get them a Gmail account!)

Resources:

Connect with Mary McDirmid: Website and book, Care, Protect, Grow.

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information on the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns: Facebook, Instagram, X, IEP Website, and Email.

Welcome back, everyone! It’s back-to-school season across the country, and we are cautiously optimistic about this upcoming year. The sky has not fallen, and there is still work for us to do to effect change in the world of education. We are still here in the thick of the fight, ready for another school year. As always, we will continue to feature guests and informative conversations focused on funding, equity, inclusion, and the special needs of all students in classrooms. It’s a new academic year with new challenges and real opportunities for change. Join us!

Show Highlights:

• The state of education under the current administration: The shift is real.
• Participating in state and local elections is the best way you can make the biggest impact.
• This is not the moment for a “the sky is falling” attitude!
• We can “steer this boat” in a different direction!
• Our goal on the podcast is to help all of us understand the problems and discuss solutions, while keeping it fun and loose.
• We look forward to many meaningful conversations during this academic school year–and we have a lot to cover!

Resources:

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information on the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns: Facebook, Instagram, X, IEP Website, and Email.

We are officially here at the last episode before we take a summer break. We will return with new episodes in August. This last school year was one in which we felt the negative shift in our education system, but all hope is not lost. Our focus today is on how we can best prepare for the upcoming school year. We have a great responsibility! Join us to learn more!

Show Highlights:

• Problems as a result of workforce reductions in the Department of Education
• The process to file discrimination complaints against school districts (Only 1% of the complaints were resolved in 2025!)
• Problems with the voucher system in providing a “free and appropriate” education
• Current bills in Congress regarding the voucher system
• Your responsibility in the November elections (Do your homework!)
• The continuing struggle to fund special education
• Advocation for our kids depends on our awareness
• “Outside-the-box” thinking is vital when it comes to supporting our students.

Resources:

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information at the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us on: Facebook, Instagram, X, IEP Website, and Email.

Transition IEP meetings are essential when your child transitions from elementary to middle school, middle school to high school, and high school to college/vocational school. If you haven’t had a transition IEP meeting for the end of this school year, you can still get one scheduled as soon as the new school year begins. We are breaking it down in today’s episode. Join us!

Show Highlights:

• What the law provides for parents regarding transition IEP meetings
• The transition IEP meeting is NOT just a box to check.
• Waiting 30 days into the new school year means 30 days of missed opportunities for the student to be successful.
• From middle to high school, the student’s diploma track has to be determined.
• From elementary to middle school, executive functioning skills are put to the test; we need to prep the student.
• The transition IEP meeting is a chance to “think outside the box” to meet a student’s needs.
• How can we “front-load” a student for success in each transition?
• Each transition is a chance for a fresh start for students, parents, teachers, and the IEP team.
• Streamlining communication with the IEP team

Resources:

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information on the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns: Facebook, Instagram, X, IEP Website, and Email.

Crazy time is here! Schools across the country have a LOT happening in these final days of the school year. For parents, there is a sense of relief, along with the panic of realizing that summer is about to begin and that they need to plan what their kids will do. Having a structured literacy plan is key, but it doesn’t have to be complex. Don’t be confused by the plethora of reading programs that are advertised as a “must-have” resource. Today’s guest helps us understand what’s most important for parents to know as they help their children hone their reading skills. Join us!

Tara Giddings is from LearnUp Centers, a non-profit with the mission to reach and teach struggling readers in every community to read with confidence. Her passion for helping kids learn to love reading is the heart of her work. She has a master’s degree in educational therapy. She loves raising awareness about the right ways to teach kids to read, including helping parents understand the best resources and supports to cultivate good readers.

Show Highlights:

• The evolution of reading programs over the past few decades
• Understanding” structured literacy”
• Keep an open mind about how reading is taught today vs. many years ago; we need to understand the science of how the brain decodes and learns.
• Three categories of students who are learning to read
• Addressing gaps in students’ reading skills in higher grades: What is the best approach?
• Five pillars of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
• Determining when a child needs interventions to improve reading skills
• Dyslexia and other reading struggles are not indicators of lower intelligence.
• Recognizing the elements of a good structured literacy lesson
• Tara’s best tip for parents for the upcoming summer to boost their child’s reading skills

Resources:

Connect with Tara Giddings and LearnUp Centers: Website

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information on the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns: Facebook, Instagram, X, IEP Website, and Email.

Welcome to the final weeks of the school year. Across the country, school districts are winding down to summer break from now through mid-June. It is a busy time for everyone involved in education. Today’s episode explores the power of inclusion, particularly when policies don’t always align with what best serves our students. We are thrilled to welcome Andrew Goff back to the show for his unique perspective on this topic. Join us!

Andrew Goff taught early childhood special education in five different least restrictive environments over 12 years. He is currently the lead instructor at Colorado Northwestern Community College. Based on his life as an educator, he wrote the memoir, Love is a Classroom, and is a fierce advocate for “inclusion—early, everywhere, and always.” His latest book, Shattered and Becoming: A Teacher’s Journey Between Policy and Purpose, was published in March, 2026.

Show Highlights:

• Mixed messages and confusion for teachers
• Andrew’s motivation to write his second book, Shattered and Becoming
• Andrew’s message to teachers: “You are not alone. The system is set up to confuse you.”
• Recognizing the power dynamics in the educational system
• “What is my range of acceptable behavior?”
• It starts with trust. (Parents need to be able to trust their children’s educators.)
• Words to teachers who understand inclusion and need to advocate for students
• The importance of documentation
• Being curious is always the best approach.
• Concrete data can make all the difference in securing services for a student.
• Andrew’s message to administrators
• Creating community begins with shared values.

Resources:

Connect with Dr. Andrew Goff: Website, YouTube, and TikTok

Contact us on social media or through our website for more information on the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org.

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help other listeners find this show.

Connect with us and reach out with any questions or concerns via Facebook, Instagram, X, the IEP Website, or Email.