Practical Special Education for Parents
Hello, I'm David Poeschl, a retired school district special education director and Cal State University lecturer.
For the past 10 years I have been providing individual advocacy services to parents of students with disabilities.
Currently, I speak to 300-400 families per year and work closely with 40-50 of those.
I see every day the difficulty parents have trying to access the system initially, and the struggles to get and maintain a good special education program for their children over time.
I also know that knowledge is power, particularly when one is facing a complex and sometimes incredibly frustrating system. Studies consistently show that parents who are better informed are more satisfied with their children's IEP programs.
The podcasts in this series are designed to provide you with both the facts and, more importantly, the context and meaning that my experiences bring to the facts.
In my professional career, I chaired thousands of IEP meetings, set-up school and district programs, both special and general education, and provided training to hundreds of teachers and paraprofessional staff.
At a Cal State campus, I taught the one special education course required for general education credential and masters candidates. I taught thousands of students about the field and how to work with students with disabilities.
Although the program is geared towards California, there is universally applicable information in each episode.
There are several types of episodes that encompass different areas of special education. Here is a list of the categories:
IEP Meeting Series - Insightfully presented information about the nuts and bolts of the IEP process. This is not just about what an IEP is but also includes the real-world experiences of someone who has been there.
IEP Tidbits - short and to the point IEP technical information.
Behavior Series - a deep dive into Positive Behavior Support theory and practice. This series was originally meant to be used for school district paraeducator training, but I decided to release it here. The information is relatively complex at times.
Behavior Tidbits - short additions to the Behavior Series that help explain and clarify the longer behavior episodes.
For Your Information - explanation and examples of best practices in the field.
Commentary - Examination of current problems and possible solutions in special education.
Policy and Law - Often focused on California, information that parents need to know regarding special education programs.
Musings - Short, real-time episodes with my reactions to things that happen in my work on a daily basis.
Practical Special Education for Parents
Person First Language (For Your Information)
In the United States, Person First Language is mandated for use in education through IDEA. This means defining others as people first and not being defined by their disability. For example, John has autism. Not John is autistic. However, for autism in particular, there is some controversy about this concept. In other developed countries Person First Language is not used. And I have seen recent research articles that study school age student's attitudes, and they are not necessarily using person first language. I'll discuss what (I think) is the current state of affairs.