Special Education in Five Minutes
If you are a parent, general educator, or special educator wanting to stay up to date with your knowledge of special education, this program will provide you with expert knowledge in concise (+/-) five minute episodes.
David Poeschl is your host. He is a retired school district special education director and Cal-State University lecturer. He currently works as a no-fee advisor to parents of children with disabilities in Northern California.
The content of the podcasts comes from his extensive experience as an educator and the most asked questions parents bring to him in his practice.
The purpose of the program is to share information about those questions and more so parents can be on equal footing with school staff they are working with. In addition, many general education teachers need and want additonal ways of helping kids with disabilities, as well as ways to improve their instructional practices.
Episodes
21 episodes
IEP Services: Where the Rubber Meets the Road in Special Education
This episode will address the critical role of the human side of an IEP, who works directly with a child and how effective is that work? Frequently asked questions that parents the host works with are answered and lots of reference...
SMART Goals: Clear and Concise Goals Lead to Good IEPs
SMART goals in special education stands for, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound.This episode will provide a clear example of a SMART goal and the skills that a student needs to learn to master it....
For Parents (mainly): Legally Required IEP Team Members and Roles
Who is required to be at an IEP meeting. In this episode we briefly look at IEP meeting roles and legal requirements for participation.This is the first of the For Parents (mainly) series that will look at how parents interact with...
General Education Behavior Supports: the Importance of Attitude, Training and Relationships
With more students with disabilities have been placed in mainstream classes over the last 50 years has increased exponentially. In 1975, while there are no official numbers, it was exceptionally rare to see a child with disabilities being...
General Education Class Sizes and Inclusion: Bigger is Not Better
Does class size affect student achievement. For decades, this debate has been shaped by the studies conducted to measure achievement.Math and first (native) language test scores showed a negligible effect. As these were the o...
When Father Christmas is the Gaslighter: Parents' Experiences with Special Education
Parents of children with disabilities in the Global North share an unfortunate reality; schools don’t always have the best interests of their students as a first priority. Schools are under pressure from many directions,...
Behavioral Skills Training (BST): Research Based Training for General Education Teachers and Classroom Assistants
A huge gap exists between a written Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) and its actual implementation.One of the primary reasons for this is the lack of training and support general education teachers and instructional assistants receive fr...
Good News for Struggling Readers: Technology
Technology has advanced enough to start making a dramatic difference in how struggling readers can keep up with grade level curriculum.Reading pens, text readers, and other text-to-speech devices and apps are now sophisticated enough for...
Behavior Series #3: Reinforcement - the Heart of a Behavior Plan
In this episode we'll get into the most important part of a behavior plan, reinforcement. Learn what it is and what it looks like. Remember, the more you know about special education practice, particularly how Positive Behavi...
Special Interests: A Necessity for Many Neurodivergent Children and Adults (with a downside)
In this episode, both the vital nature, and significant dangers, of special interests are explored and put into context of how they are a non-negotiable for many neurodivergent children and adults. When does a needed and healthy in...
The Tragedy of Exclusion - Students with Emotional Disabilities
In the past 50 years the numbers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders who are suspended. expelled and or placed in isolated classrooms or schools has not changed in any significant way.Whlle Black boys are signifcantly more ap...
Behavior Series #2- the Importance of Recognizing Partial Success
In the behavior field that consistis of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and its offshoot, Positive Behavior Support (PBS) a critical ideas of all behaviors having a legitimate purpose, and that learning new behaviors consists of mastering a num...
The IEP Process: Accommodations - How They Work
In this episode, we’ll look at accommodations on an IEP.There are many times a student with disabilities would have little chance of succeeding in a general education setting without effective accommodations.Accommodations provide...
Successful Autistic College Students: What is the Secret?
Many autistic people are twice exceptional learners (2eASD). This means they have an area of unique talent or intellectual strength along with an identifiable disability.The rates of high school failure are elevated for this popula...
The Gift of "Dyslexic Thinking"
A study conducted in Great Britain examined potential cognitive gifts of neurodivergent, or 2e people possess. It found, in fact dyslexic thinkers are our future. In the context of the study, We are not talking about...
The Key to General Education Success: Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a method of teaching that embeds accommodations for all students into general education settings. Students who are visual, or auditory, or tactile/sensory learners are taught, and the student can sho...
How Come They're Never Cold (or Hungry or...). Interoception May Be the Answer.
Interoception, the ability to recognize bodily signals like heart rate, hunger, temperature..., is often a significant source of stress and anxiety in autistic youth. They may struggle to control the overload thei...
The IEP Process: The Critical Importance Meeting Notes
IEP Meeting notes; a part of the IEP process that is often overlooked, or does not reflect what the IEP team agreed to.IEP meeting notes allow parties not on the IEP team to understand and effectively implement the special program progra...
Homework - Elementary: No More 2 Hour Nights!
A commom complaint from parents of neurodivergent children is that homework is a nightmare. The stress and anxiety it creates for everyone in the family is often far more emotionally costly than any benfit that comes from practicing acade...
Are Public Schools Toxic for Neurodivergent Students?
It has been clear for years that the school system in the United States is not welcoming to neurodivergent (ND) students. School is an intensely intimidating and frightening place for many ND kids. As the percentage of identified ND...
Behavior Series #1: Positive Behavior Support Basics in Schools
This episode will provide you with information on the major components of Positive Behavior Support (PBS) that is required by federal law to be used in all public schools with all students.For students with disabilities there are extra l...