In this episode, we have our first dad on the podcast but not just any dad, Author, Advocate + IEP Expert, Aaron Wright. We will explore some of the hard truths, pitfalls, and insights that we hope empower you as a parent having to navigate services, support, and accommodations for your children with autism or any child with exceptional needs. He wrote a memoir titled 13 Doors that illustrates what he + his wife, Lisa Wright, educator + now Certified IEP Coach herself went through with their child.

You can see their Beginner's Guide to IEPs here.

Additionally, this is an Advocacy Toolkit, which is mentioned that Jean, Co-Host recommends to the families she mentors, along with acquainting themselves with Wright's Laws.

Top Tips:

• To Advocate is to be curious and keep asking questions.
• It is up to the parent to "police" the system.
• Educating the parents is universal but it doesn't exist for everyone.
• It is important to be conscious of your mental health because this can serve as chronic aggravation.
• Eligibility is different from a diagnosis.
• What is medically necessary isn't educationally necessary.
• You don't have to agree to anything in the actual meeting. Take your days.
• Foster & Maintain relationships with your child's team.
• It is automatically, by design, a contentious relationship.
• Get to know your Procedural Safeguards: Designed to protect the rights of parents and their child with a disability, and at the same time, gives families and school systems several mechanisms by which to resolve disputes.