Are you tired of being on IEP teams that get and stay stuck?
Are you tired of Being on IEP teams that get and stay stuck?
It’s back! The 2024 Free Virtual Special Education Conference is on January 19 and 20, 2024, and it’s better than ever! If you are a teacher, caregiver, or related service professional, you won’t want to miss our expanded, comprehensive, inspiring FREE conference!
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Welcome to the Conference! Give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve set aside time in January to empower yourself with information and to dig a little deeper into special education. You won’t regret this commitment!
We’ve got a jam-packed schedule for you and hope that you find each and every workshop helpful, inspiring, and maybe even a little fun!!! NEW this year… we’ve divided the conference into Tracks specifically designed to meet the needs of Teachers/School Staff and Parents/Caregivers. We hope you’ll consider inviting all the members of your IEP teams to attend and maybe even to debrief over coffee afterward!
What is the SAEC Conference?
I'm ready for this!
Live session
10AM
sign me up
with ashley barlow
Communication and Negotiation at the IEP Table and Beyond
Caregiver Track
friday
all times are EST
Wouldn’t it be great if Educators, Administrators, Related Service Professionals, Parents, and other members of IEP teams attended the same workshops? What if everyone heard the same things about the law, effective teaching practices, and advocacy? Yep! Rebekah Poe Teacher and Ashley Barlow Co. have partnered to provide one- and two-day workshops intended to EMPOWER every person on an IEP team.
New to the Conference this year, the EmpowerED Workshop is a one-day sample of programming that Ashley and Rebekah can bring to your school, organization, or community group. We’ll address important topics like behavior, inclusion, communication, and collaboration in concise-but-thorough presentations. Then, we’ll take time to dive into your actual IEPs and cases, and we’ll provide directed prompts to help you reflect on your own contribution to your IEP teams.
If you’ve ever wanted to attend a comprehensive “How To” on special education advocacy, this one-day conference is what you want. If you’ve ever wanted to bring one to your disability organization or school, grab a ticket and give it a try!
Live session
12PM
Building a Collaborative IEP TEAM – Focusing on the Team
Live session
11AM
with rebekah poe
Differentiation, Accommodation, and Modification- Oh, My!
Teacher Track
Live session
1PM
Say What? Behavior as Communication
Communication and Negotiation at the IEP Table and Beyond
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! As a teacher-turned-SPED-attorney, I know this is the key to effective advocacy. But effective communication isn’t all that’s needed for effective advocacy. In this session we’ll work on communication and negotiation strategies in a brief presentation. Then, we’ll tease out an issue you’ve been meaning to address with one of your IEP teams and start outlining your notes for a more effective strategy.
what we'll cover
with ashley Barlow
Building a Collaborative IEP TEAM – Focusing on the Team
Have you ever sat at the IEP table and said, “Hey, team?” Do you have an IEP team with a mascot? No? Why not?! Here’s the point… IEP teams are … TEAMS!!! And there’s all sorts of research on executive leadership and teamwork. Using that research, we’ll dive into the concept of teamwork in the context of an IEP team. Then, we’ll workshop some ways you can be a leader on your own IEP teams to increase collaboration and to benefit the student.
Differentiation, Accommodation, and Modification- Oh, My! (a la Wizard of Oz)
In this session, we delve into differences between differentiation, accommodations, and modifications, and how each strategy caters to diverse learners. Teachers will discover practical techniques to tailor instruction through differentiation to meet all learners’ needs, unpack the subtleties of accommodations to give each learner equal access to knowledge, and gain insights into modifications, learning how and when to adapt curriculum content, methodology, or assessment to meet individual student needs. Elevate your teaching arsenal and empower every student through this comprehensive exploration of special education methodologies.
WITH REBEKAH POE
Say What? Behavior as Communication
Say What? focuses on helping educators learn what influences student behavior and decoding what function that behavior serves. Teachers will learn to develop a behavior hypothesis and determine appropriate "replacement behaviors" that do not limit the child's voice, but instead teach them how to communicate that feeling in a more positive way.
saturday
Caregiver Track
Teacher Track
Live session
9AM
Tame Your Stress - How to Find Control Even When Life Is Messy for Caregivers
with Bryan Holyfield
Live session
9AM
Understanding Your Rights: Navigating the Eligibility Process for Children with Learning Disabilities
with Rebekah Poe
Live session
9AM
Advocating for Neurodivergent Affirming Approaches at Your Child’s School
with Dr. Taylor Day
Breakout session
10AM
Data Collection for Parents and Guardians
with Caitlin Beltran
live session
10AM
The Importance of Strategy in IEP Advocacy
with Jen Feerick
live session
10AM
Intro to Gestalt Language Processing for Caregivers
with Katja Piscitelli
live session
11AM
How to Advocate for Inclusion with My Child
with Kayla Coburn
breakout session
11AM
A Caregiver's Guide to a Calm Home: Positive Behavior Strategies for Common Toddler Behavior
with Abigail Moehringer
breakout session
11AM
Increasing Engagement By Using Adapted Books for Caregivers
with Tara Phillips
breakout session
12PM
Both Sides of the Team; Mediation From the Heart for Caregivers
with Jamiel Owens
breakout session
12PM
The Art of Parent Input: Effective Parent Input Techniques
with Shemica S. Allen
live session
1PM
Hope for Weary Parents: Finding Rest When You’re Stuck in the Rat Race
with Lauren McKenzie
breakout session
1PM
Finding Advocacy Clients with a Limited Advertising Budget
with Angela Tyszka
live session
2PM
Inclusion In and Beyond the Classroom
with Suzanne Lezotte
live session
2PM
Getting MORE Out of the IEP with Accommodations and Modifications
with Ashley Barlow
breakout session
9AM
IEP & Behavior Data Collection
with Caitlin Beltran
breakout session
9AM
Both Sides of the Team; Mediation From the Heart for Teachers
with Jamiel Owens
Live session
9AM
Intro to Gestalt Language Processing for Teachers
with Katja Piscitelli
live session
10AM
Tame Your Stress - How to Find Control Even When Life Is Messy for Teachers
with Bryan Holyfield
breakout session
10AM
10 Easy Behavior Management Strategies You Can Implement Tomorrow
with Abigail Moehringer
live session
10AM
Supporting Neurodivergent Children to Effectively Regulate their Emotions
with Dr. Taylor Day
live session
11AM
rEaD: A spED Attorney’s Journey Into OG Tutoring
with ashley barlow
live session
11AM
Engaging Students with Games and Movement Using Low-Tech Methods
with Michelle Breitenbach
live session
12PM
Say What? Behavior as Communication
with Rebekah Poe
live session
12PM
How to Get Inclusion at a School That Isn't Practicing Inclusion
with Kayla Coburn
live session
1PM
6 Simple and Low Prep Strategies to Accommodate and Modify ELA and Math for ALL Teachers
with Cara Vega
breakout session
1PM
Feeling Confident with Co-Teaching
with Danielle Gilliland
live session
2PM
Frazzled to Flourishing: Practical Hope for Fatigued Teachers
with Lauren McKenzie
breakout session
2PM
Increasing Engagement By Using Adapted Books for Teachers
with Tara Phillips
Meet the Experts
your special education bff's
I’ve hand-selected a field of over 15 experts that are teachers, doctoral-level behaviorists, school psychologists, literacy coaches and specialists, attorneys, advocates, and parents that have tried and true strategies to share with you. This line up of experts is a dream come true for me, because I’ve followed many of them on social media for years, and I’ve heard several of them speak at other conferences.
ashley barlow
REBEKAH POE
AWARD-WINNING SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER
Ashley Barlow co.
Caitlin Beltran
Certified Behavior Analyst
Abigail Moehringer
Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Kayla Coburn
Lauren McKenzie
adult-child relationship strategist
founder of Inclusion Starts Now
Angela Tyszka
AWARD-WINNING SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER
JAMIEL OWENS
FAMILY RELATIONS COORDINATOR
Danielle Gilliland
Cara Vega
special education teacher
middle school special education teacher
Bryan Holyfield
Certified Personal Trainer + Certified Nutrition Coach
Jen Feerick
Attorney, co-founder IEP Prep Online
Michelle Breitenbach
founded Read to Rewire
Dr. Taylor Day
Tara Phillips
founder, Autism Little Learners
CEO and founder, Dr. Tay Concierge Clinical Care
Katja Piscitelli
owner, Total Spectrum Speech Therapy
SHEMICA S. ALLEN
NON-ATTORNEY SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVOCATE
Suzanne Lezotte
author, Raising Owen: A Memoir on Motherhood
Understanding Your Rights: Navigating the Eligibility Process for Children with Learning Disabilities
A crucial professional development session tailored to empower parents navigating the complex landscape of special education. This session focuses on demystifying the eligibility process, guiding parents through the intricacies of evaluations, and unraveling their rights throughout the journey. From decoding evaluation criteria to advocating effectively for their child's needs, participants will gain invaluable insights, strategies, and resources to navigate the system with confidence. This session offers a supportive space where parents can equip themselves with the knowledge and tools necessary to ensure their child receives the appropriate support and services they deserve.
Meet Rebekah
with Rebekah Poe
award-winning special education teacher
Rebekah Poe is an award-winning former special education teacher and national teaching conference presenter. She has over a decade of experience in special education. As an educator, Rebekah believes all behavior is communication and all feelings are valid, and she focuses on providing equitable education and establishing connections to students of all ability levels in an inclusive setting.
Rebekah has taught in multiple settings- from co-teaching middle school ELA and Math to high school multi-disability classrooms to primary grade resource rooms. She believes inclusion is not a place, but a mindset, and her passion lies in helping teachers feel more confident when providing services and accommodations to students with IEPs within the general education setting. Her first book, Blueprint for Inclusion, will be released in the summer of 2024.
When she's not working, you can find Rebekah at the closest coffee shop with a good book and a piping hot latte or spending time at home with her husband and daughter, along with their two cats, one dog, and an axolotl! You can reach her at instagram.com/rebekahpoeteaching where she encourages you to slide into her DMs and start a conversation!
Say What? Behavior as Communication
Say What? focuses on helping educators learn what influences student behavior and decoding what function that behavior serves. Teachers will learn to develop a behavior hypothesis and determine appropriate "replacement behaviors" that do not limit the child's voice, but instead teach them how to communicate that feeling in a more positive way.
10 Easy Behavior Management Strategies You Can Implement Tomorrow
In this workshop you will learn 5 minutes or less behavior strategies guaranteed to reach your one most challenging student, simple tweaks to your classroom that will reduce your behavior challenges, how to speak to students so they listen, and easy but powerful moves to take back your classroom.
Meet Abigail
with Abigail Moehringer
award-winning special education teacher
I have always wanted to be a teacher- bringing extra worksheets home and making my little sister be my student! I
I received my undergraduate degree in Childhood Education and Special Education with a math minor (so I tutor high school math as well). I received my masters degree in Literacy.
I absolutely love learning, so I continued on to receive my BCBA certificate (Board Certified Behavior Analyst). I always love to learn and I feel as though there is always more to learn!
Most recently, I have moved into a behavior specialist role and love supporting teachers AND parents!
A Caregiver's Guide to a Calm Home: Positive Behavior Strategies for Common Toddler Behavior
A workshop designed to provide you with a comprehensive toolkit to tackle the unique challenges of parenting. You will learn a deep understanding of toddler behavior, practical tips that actually work (coming from someone who is also in the thick of it), learn not just to survive but to thrive when faced with a meltdown, and discover the secrets to preventing behaviors altogether.
IEP & Behavior Data Collection
This presentation will review the importance of collecting consistent data toward IEP skill and behavior goals. Attendees will learn how to implement printable or digital data collection systems and how to analyze data efficiently in order to make decisions.
Meet Caitlin
with Caitlin Beltran
award-winning special education teacher
Caitlin is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and has her Masters in Special Education. She has classroom experience both as an aide and a special education teacher in a private school for students with autism. These experiences drove her to pursue her BCBA, and she currently works as a district behaviorist for a public school. In addition, she teaches part time for Rutgers University in the Graduate School of Education.
Data Collection for Parents and Guardians
This presentation will review data collection methods that parents and guardians can implement in the home setting to complement school programs. Attendees will learn several user-friendly techniques to collect skill or behavior data in home or community settings.
Finding Advocacy Clients with a Limited Advertising Budget
You've started your advocacy business now how do you find clients? Just starting out you may have limited funds for marketing and advertising your services. This session will provide you tips and tricks for finding clients on a budget.
Meet Angela
with Angela Tyszka
award-winning special education teacher
Angela Tyszka has almost 20 years of experience advocating for student with disabilities in both a personal and professional capacity. She received a B.S. in Community Development and an M.S.A. in Leadership from Central Michigan University. After college she spent 14 years working in student services at Cooley Law School, with seven of those as a disability services coordinator. As the parent of two children with IEPs, she has devoted much of her time volunteering for various parent organizations. She is a member of her local Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), and was the committee chair for two years. She also helped create and facilitate a parent resource and support group for her local school district. In 2021 she founded MI Student Advocacy Services LLC, a special education advocacy and consulting business focused on educating and representing families in the special education process. She is also a member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) and the Michigan Parent Advocate and Attorney Coalition (MIPACC).
How to Get Inclusion at a School That Isn't Practicing Inclusion
This presentation will be giving you the information and resources you need to bring back to your school to educate them on how to start inclusive practices successfully. I will go over the steps that I took as a special education teacher to bring more inclusive practices at my former school sites and where those schools and students are today.
Meet Kayla
with Kayla Coburn
award-winning special education teacher
My name is Kayla Coburn, I am a former para, former special education teacher, former education specialist, now inclusion specialist and founder of Inclusion Starts Now, LLC. My passion for inclusion has shown thorugh my entire career.
How to Advocate for Inclusion with My Child
This presentation will focus on IEP rights, conversations to be having with your school site, and the importance of advocacy when a school isn't already practicing inclusion. This presentation will give you inspiration to connect to your school site and IEP support to build more inclusive goals.
Both Sides of the Team; Mediation From the Heart
Both sides will be able to consider a perspective when faced with issues in an academic setting concerning a Neurodiverse child.
Meet Jamiel
with Jamiel Owens
award-winning special education teacher
As a Father of a 15-year-old boy who is on the Autism spectrum, he is truly an advocate for his son Shayne and other Autism parents. Jamiel has been through many challenges and triumphs in his life as a disabled individual himself, which has led him to give back to other men that may be experiencing the same issues within their own life, but without someone to speak to about them. Raised in North Philadelphia, Jamiel has served his and other communities as a law enforcement officer, and a civil servant, and is currently the Family Relations Coordinator at the Center for Autism Research at CHOP, and a volunteer firefighter.
There is a disconnect in the Autism (Ausome) community regarding the masculinity of a Father, and what "it looks like" to the world when looking from the inside in regarding a parent to a child with special needs. The core of my conversation will be to speak on events in my life as being disabled myself, and the beauty that has come about from understanding my son Shayne and his Autism; to encourage the men that stripping themselves of ego and pride will not only increase their foundational growth within themselves and their foundation(home), but will also strengthen their sense of compassion, empathy, courage, and love; the true building blocks of being an Alpha male and what the world needs now. To inform those of my community (Black and Brown) that Autism prevalence is NOTHING to be ashamed of, but something to be diagnosed (if questionable in one), learned about, embraced, educated on, and listened about. I have personally seen too many parents stray away from inquiring of possible diagnoses due to being scared of "additional labeling" of their children due to society and close friends and family. This is something that we cannot allow to continue on; seeing a man like myself, with a disability, and the compassion and articulation to speak out whoto my community and the world, will hopefully bring other parents to step up.
Hope for Weary Parents: Finding Rest When You’re Stuck in the Rat Race
Feel like you’re running 100 miles an hour and can’t find the exit ramp to respite? In this workshop, we’ll explore a hopeful and realistic approach for finding rest.
Meet Lauren
with Lauren McKenzie
award-winning special education teacher
Adults get emotionally worn out when kids are difficult to deal with, and this wreaks havoc in every area of their life. Lauren McKenzie is an adult-child relationship strategist. Using a proven framework, she shows grown ups how to take control of their emotions and positively engage with kids so they can gain cooperation, escape overwhelm, and show up as the best version of themselves.
A certified professional coach with the heart of a teacher, Lauren loves equipping and encouraging others. When she's not coaching or speaking, you can find Lauren enjoying her family or
Frazzled to Flourishing: Practical Hope for Fatigued Teachers
Demands are intense. Support feels frivolous. What’s a frazzled, fatigued teacher to do? In this workshop, we’ll explore realistic tools for finding respite in the storm.
Feeling Confident with Co-Teaching
You've started your advocacy business now how do you find clients? Just starting out you may have limited funds for marketing and advertising your services. This session will provide you tips and tricks for finding clients on a budget.
Meet Danielle
with Danielle Gilliland
award-winning special education teacher
Danielle Gilliland is a laid back middle school special education teacher her in the beautiful Surf City; Huntington Beach, CA. She has exclusively co-taught language arts and history, executive functioning skills, American Sign Language, and is one of the district's tech liaisons. She is a content creator on Instagram as @survivingthemiddle but prefers to be at the beach with her dog and son or creating something for her home or classroom.
6 Simple and Low Prep Strategies to Accommodate and Modify ELA and Math for ALL Teachers
Do you struggle to differentiate for all learners in your classroom? By the end of this session, teachers will be able to add to their already existing toolboxes 3 strategies to modify and accommodate ELA and 3 strategies to modify and accommodate Math. The strategies will be low prep with materials you probably already have in your classroom! These ideas will be adaptable for all types of curriculums and for all grades.
Meet Cara
with Cara Vega
award-winning special education teacher
Cara Vega is a current elementary special education teacher filled with a ton of passion and dedication living in New Jersey with her husband, 3 year old daughter, pup and future baby boy due in March 2024!
Cara started her career as a paraprofessional for a special education classroom and then went on to be a co-teacher and resource room teacher in Spotswood, NJ. In 2015, she started her journey working with Camden City Public Schools for five and a half years as one of the model co-teaching classrooms in the district. There, she led various positions such as the content lead for ELA in her school. Cara has led multiple professional developments for teachers about co-teaching and about how to best use data to inform ELA instruction. Cara's last year in Camden City School District was during the pandemic where she was teaching a self contained autism classrooom. Going virtual was a HUGE adjustment for all students, but especially our special education students. There, her passion was ignited for figuring out creative and simple ways to meet learners where they are in order to give them access to curriculums and personal goals. In 2021, Cara moved to Woodbury City School District where she is currently working as a special education co-teacher in a 3rd grade classroom.
Over the years, she has taught a range of grades from 2nd-6th grade. However, most of her teaching life, she has lived in the upper elementary space.
You may have seen Cara's face as a frequent contributor on the We Are Teachers channel on Instagram. You can also find Cara on her own Instagram account, withloveyourcoteacher.
Engaging Students with Games and Movement Using Low-Tech Methods
This webinar will show ways to increase student engagement with low-tech methods and how to add games or movement to every part of a phonetic lesson, whether online or in person.
This webinar is for teachers/tutors/homeschool parents/virtual tutors of early literacy students, students with dyslexia, ADHD, and students with learning disabilities. It will outline ways to add movement to motivate students, support inflexible thinkers through games, and how use your materials and turn them into games on the spot during a structured literacy lesson. It will provide multiple ways to engage your students with limited prep that you can start using tomorrow.
So, let's get ready to move and play because teaching and learning how to read should be fun!
Meet Michelle
with Michelle Breitenbach
award-winning special education teacher
Meet Michelle Breitenbach, an enthusiastic and dynamic presenter who will have you up and moving. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, she is a certified dyslexia practitioner. After seven years as a special educator, she founded Read to Rewire in Miami, Florida. Michelle provides online support as a private educator and offers coaching to teachers worldwide. Her passion lies in teaching others how to replicate the in-person experience online to reach and teach kids with dyslexia globally —especially those without access. Michelle successfully transitioned to online teaching before the pandemic and provided valuable resources and webinars to support educators during that challenging time. Her interactive webinars have focused on enhancing student engagement, embracing multisensory methods, minimizing tech reliance for successful online lessons, teaching online quickly and setting up private tutoring businesses, establishing effective behavior systems, and seamlessly integrating motivating activities into every facet of a structured literacy lesson. Not only does she run her own company to support students with dyslexia online globally, but she has also been a presenter for The Literacy Nest (November 2023), Tutor Success Academy, Climbing the Ladder of Reading Conference (March 2021) and has presented webinars for Nancy Telian from Reading with TLC Four Times on various topics to support students with dyslexia online.
The Importance of Strategy in IEP Advocacy
This presentation will help attendees understand the need for strategy in approaching IEP meetings as well as the overall IEP process. Attendees will learn how to develop long-term and short-term objectives for the student, ways to prioritize those objectives, and strategies for achieving those objectives. Sample cases will discussed, along with how the strategy benefited the situation and what other strategies could have been implemented.
Meet Jen
with Jen Feerick
award-winning special education teacher
Jen Feerick, Esq., started her career as an attorney in New York City. She began advocating for the children of family and friends early in her legal career and quickly realized how often the needs of students in the special education system were left unmet. Before she knew it, Jen’s passion for special education advocacy was ignited and she became a devoted champion for families and children with special education needs. After she moved to California, she started acting as a non-legal advocate for such families and students on a pro bono basis. Because she so enjoyed attending IEPs without the adversarial nature of both attorneys being present, she decided not to take the bar in California and to focus on working cooperatively with the local districts to create meaningful IEPs.
In 2017, Jen earned her Certificate in Special Education Advocacy from the PELE Institute in Special Education Advocacy at William & Mary Law School. She continues her special education advocacy education through her attendance at COPAA Conferences.
Also, in 2017, Jen founded Feerick Advocacy, LLC, and discovered a particular love for helping families advocate for appropriate reading services for students with dyslexia, an issue that was close to her heart because of its prevalence among her extended family members. She also assisted families with children who had other learning struggles as well, including autism, ADHD, dyscalculia, mental health diagnoses, behavior challenges, etc. She found the implementation of strategy in the special education process to be the most important aspect of her work. Jen always finds time for pro bono special education advocacy services, where she emphasizes parent education and mentoring. In doing that work, Jen has created a loving and educated network of parents whom she now asks to attend IEP meetings with any new pro bono clients, always taking the time to prepare them both beforehand.
In order to continue empowering and educating parents, Jen, along with her partner, Laura Cannon, recently founded an online education advocacy and coaching resource for parents called IEP Prep Online, LLC.
Tame Your Stress - How to Find Control Even When Life Is Messy
Stress is a necessary part of life. But what do you do when your stress becomes unmanageable? I want to help you understand your stress, identify your triggers and give you practical tools and strategies to TAME your STRESS. I will also leave you with helpful resources that can help you reduce stress for years to come!
Meet Bryan
with Bryan Holyfield
award-winning special education teacher
Bryan Holyfield is married to his high school sweetheart, Hannah. They met as missionary kids whose families were serving in Moscow, Russia. Together, they are raising their four sons to be men of character and faith. Bryan has a bachelor's degree in Secondary Social Sciences and a Master’s in Russian and East European Studies. He was a successful social studies teacher and soccer coach before he founded Holyfit Coaching and transitioned into full time fitness and nutrition coaching. Bryan is a Certified Personal Trainer through NFPT and Certified Nutrition Coach through Precision Nutrition.
Bryan played soccer in college but let fatherhood, education and career get in the way of protecting his health. He suffered a low back injury in his late 20’s that made him realize he needed to start taking better care of his body to be able to be the man and father he wanted to be! When the pandemic hit three years later, he saw so many colleagues and friends allow their health to suffer. Bryan knew that he had the experience and communication skills to have an impact on a great number of people.
Bryan is passionate about building strong and healthy leaders to the glory of God with a global and missional impact. Outside of work, Bryan stays active coaching his son’s sports teams, hiking, duck hunting, playing soccer and disc golf, and a leader in his local church. If you ever need to know about the best coffee or hiking in North Georgia, Bryan has the inside scoop for you.
Increasing Engagement By Using Adapted Books!
This can help children with difficulty maintaining attention to stay engaged and actively participate in the reading experience. Adapted books can be tailored to the needs of individual students, making them as simple or complex as necessary.
What you will learn in this presentation:
- How to adapt board books
- Why adapted books increase engagement with parents & educators
Meet Tara
with Tara Phillips
award-winning special education teacher
Tara is a speech/language pathologist who has been teaching young
autistic children for over 2 decades.
Tara founded Autism Little Learners in 2019 and started a membership for parents and educators in 2021. It can be so difficult to find good resources that are relevant for the early childhood level. Like many of you, Tara was already making many of her own materials for her students. Autism Little Learners provides resources at the "just right" level for young autistic children and children with other social and communication disabilities.
The Art of Parent Input: Effective Parent Input Techniques
Participants will learn:
- The importance of a Vision/Parent Input statement
- How to develop an effective Vision/Parent Input statement
- The importance of data collection to a Present Levels Statement
- Easy to use data collection techniques for parents
Meet Shemica
with Shemica S. Allen
award-winning special education teacher
Shemica S. Allen is the owner of Personalized Learning Solutions, LLC, and a former educator with over 15 years of teaching and administration experience working with students with disabilities and their parents/guardians. She has been in business for 10 years helping parents in Texas and other states. Shemica received her Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Arkansas and a Master of Science in Kinesiology with a specialization in Adapted Physical Activity from Texas Christian University. She was named to the Continuing Advisory Committee for Special Education (CAC) for Texas in December 2017 to help make decisions that will improve Special Education in the state. She served on the committee until 2022. Shemica is now a Special Education Advocate Training (SEAT) 1.0, 2.0 & Business of Special Education Advocacy Instructor for COPAA where she helps to train others to advocate for students with disabilities. She also has completed Advanced Advocate Training: Representing Parents in Impartial Hearings through COPAA. Her philosophy is to work collaboratively with schools as well as to help parents/guardians develop a mutually trusting and respectful relationship with the school so the child can be better served. Shemica has extensive experience working with parents & schools in IEP/ARD committee meetings & Section 504 Plan meetings which requires effective communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and conflict resolution. She has also published an eBook titled Ridiculous & Red-Flag Statements Said At IEP Meetings that is available on Amazon.
Inclusion In and Beyond the Classroom
This presentation will focus on inclusion, and ways to implement small steps for a more inclusive life that can set a child up for more independence. I will address ways in which we focused on independence for our son, who is now 20 and attends community college.
Meet Suzanne
with Suzanne Lezotte
award-winning special education teacher
Born and raised in Michigan in a family of nine kids, Suzanne has been writing since she was a child. She moved to Los Angeles after college and began a corporate career in PR and marketing. When she and her husband welcomed their first child, Owen, they had no idea the new world of parenting they would embark upon. His diagnosis of Down syndrome at seven days old turned her world upside down. She became an early advocate for inclusion and adopted the motto “life will not be a special needs class.” Her son is now 20 years old and attends Ventura College part-time while applying for university programs for adults with disabilities. She has three kids, and resides in Westlake Village, CA. Her book, “Raising Owen: A Memoir on Motherhood” is published by Aristata Press.
Intro to Gestalt Language Processing
- How to identify a gestalt language processor
- How to support kids who use delayed echolalia to communicate
- Understanding of the Natural Language Acquisition Stages (NLA)
Meet Katja
with Katja Piscitelli
award-winning special education teacher
Katja Piscitelli is a speech therapist and owner of Total Spectrum Speech Therapy INC, located in Sacramento CA. Katja specializes in supporting autistic children / gestalt language processors, through play-based, child centered therapy.
Advocating for Neurodivergent Affirming Approaches at Your Child’s School
Meet Dr. Tay
with Dr. Taylor Day
award-winning special education teacher
Dr. Taylor Day is a licensed psychologist specializing in neurodivergent affirming care for autistic children and their families, including very early diagnosis and early intervention. She has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is the CEO and founder of Dr. Tay Concierge Clinical Care. Her practice integrates The Whole Family Approach, a process she created utilizing evidence-informed principles after seeing a gap in autism care. Her passion for child psychology and her focus on autism is in many ways tied to her own personal experience growing up with a brother who was diagnosed at 23 months of age.
Supporting Neurodivergent Children to Effectively Regulate their Emotions
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If you’re ready to learn more about special education advocacy to support your family, students, and clients, but you struggle balancing it all (hellllooooo, all of us!), this is for you! Think of Club like a magazine subscription. You don’t have to read a whole book… you get little bite-sized tidbits, dropped right into your Inbox and organized in a tidy app, so you can consume information one Diet Coke at a time.
New to the Club this year…. after the thousandth request, I’ve done it… I’ve made an IEP Binder that is full of templates for you and exclusively available to ABClub Members. That’s right… Join the Club, and receive a monthly drop to build your IEP Binder.
Every month we’ll drop a template to help keep you organized and effective in all things special education. Templates included in the 2024 Club membership include:
- The entire Back to School Communication Binder (as updated in 2024)
- Additional communication templates to request evaluations, deliver a Future Planning Statement, request an IEP meeting, or request progress monitoring data
- Progress Monitoring Checklists
- A Goal Writing Template
- A Bell Curve tutorial (so you can understand those darn evaluations)
- A cute, personalized IEP Binder Cover Page
- A tutorial to help organize your child’s materials
- And more!!!!!
Can I get Continuing Education Credits/Units?
We will provide you with a certificate of completion following the Conference. We are also happy to sign any documentation that you submit to your state’s licensing board to confirm attendance at the Conference if you apply for Continuing Education Credits yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I attend the Teacher or Parent Track?
Either! Choose the track that speaks most to you! If you’d like access to both tracks, consider the VIP ticket, which offers on demand access to every session (yes, playbacks!) for a year.
I’m not a Teacher or a Parent. Can I still attend?!
Of course! This conference is for ANYone who sits on an IEP or works at a school! Our mission here at ABCo is to encourage collaboration amongst IEP teams, so if you’re in it for the students, this is the place for you!
Can I invite my friends?
Yes! We envision IEP Teams attending together, meeting after, and sharing ideas into eternity! Do you hear the Enya playing in the background?! Seriously, though, we have discounts on bulk tickets if you have a large group or organization for whom to purchase tickets. Drop us a note here.
If you are a special education teacher looking for ways to improve your practice
If you have a student with an IEP in your home
SAEC is right for you if:
If you are a general education teacher looking for ways to create a more inclusive learning environment
If you provide care for a student with an IEP
sign me up
If you are a related service provider looking for ways to play a more active role at the IEP table
If you want to have a deeper understanding of the IEP process
If you are an educator feeling overwhelmed by a never-ending “to do” list
If you want feel confident advocating for your student at the IEP table
Caregiver Workshop Pass
Access to exclusive conference chat community
$150
Access to Conference Freebie Library
Access to the exclusive Caregiver private chat
Access to Caregiver Workshops Live and On-Demand for 30 Days Post Event
Teacher Workshop Pass
Access to exclusive conference chat community
$150
Access to Conference Freebie Library
Access to the exclusive teacher private chat
Access to teacher Workshops Live and On-Demand for 30 Days Post Event
Workshop Bundle
Pass
Access to exclusive conference chat community
$225
Access to Conference Freebie Library
Access to the exclusive caregiver private chat
Access to caregiver Workshops Live and On-Demand for 30 Days Post Event
Access to the exclusive teacher private chat
Access to teacher Workshops Live and On-Demand for 30 Days Post Event
Saturday Conference Bundle
Access to exclusive conference chat community
$115
Access to Conference Freebie Library
Access to the exclusive caregiver private chat
Replays of All Saturday Caregiving Sessions for One Year
Access to the exclusive teacher private chat
Replays of All Saturday Teacher Sessions for One Year
2 Day
VIP
Pass
Access to exclusive conference chat community
$325
Access to Conference Freebie Library
Access to the exclusive caregiver private chat
Access to caregiver Workshops Live and On-Demand for 30 Days Post Event
Access to the exclusive teacher private chat
Access to teacher Workshops Live and On-Demand for 30 Days Post Event
Replays of All Saturday Caregiving Sessions for One Year
Replays of All Saturday Teacher Sessions for One Year
Digital
Swag
6 months of Free Access to ABClub Monthly Membership