Claim OwnershipSpecial Education; Parents' Library of Useful Information
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© 2026 David Poeschl
Description
This no-nonsense, no interview program is for parents who want to hear research-based information about the IEP process.`
In addition, parents can hear about the latest research in the field that has practical implications for classroom practices.
Research is clear that parents who know more about the special education process are able to get better IEP programs and outcomes for their children with disabilities
(https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10631414/).
David Poeschl is a retired school district special education director and California State University Lecturer. He currently works as a parent advisor with a non-profit agency in Northern California providing no fee consultancy and training to parents in the area.
This program is intended to be a library for parents who need information on a wide variety of special education related topics. Most of the research reviews are the result of questions from parents the host works with.
25 Episodes
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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 program. In any dispute between parents and school districts, the notes help mediators and others who are analyzing the IEP to, again, understand the itent of the IEP team. With this episode, I am providing a link to a writing by a prominent California law fi...
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 students grow (the percentage of the total student population in California is currently 20%) the number of children damaged by the school system grows as well. Research is clear as to both the inappropriate structure of schools, and the long-term emotional ...
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 population, but some are able to not only attend, but to succeed at highly competitive colleges and universities. What is the secret to their success? It probably won't come as a surprise that a lot of it depends on nurturing the special interest or in...
Matrix Parent Network and the Marin Center for Independent Living funded and supported the production of this podcast. Pairing students with autism with neurotypical peers is proving to be a powerful tool in teaching the critical life skills of self-advocacy and self-determination. We'll define these terms and explain how they fit together before looking at the research and model programs that use mentoring as a tool. Articles used for this podcast: 1.) Advanced Autism Mentorship (https...
In this short episode you will learn why the "almost there" times, when a child makes progress on a behavior goal, but there is still a ways to go, those are the times they need to be recognized and reinforeced for that partial success. The episode may be short, but I have found this concept alien to many educators. You can make sure partial successes are recongized by your child's teachers. You can also incorporate this concept into your home immediately. It's a matter of looking...
Matrix Parent Network and the Marin Center for Independent Living funded and supported the production of this podcast. If you are the parent of a child with a disability you have very likely experienced a feeling that you missed something when you walk out of an IEP meeting. Many parents report that schools seem to go through the steps of the IEP but what comes out is a muddled mix of goals, accommodations and services. Parents also report that they don't feel like they are true m...
Matrix Parent Network and the Marin Center for Independent Living funded and supported the production of this podcast. S.M.A.R.T. Goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, Time Bound, are the basis of a good IEP. Everything either leads to the creation of goals or lead from it in the form or services and placement. Research indicates there is a direct relationship between parental knowledge and their satisfaction with their children’s special education programs. I...
Matrix Parent Network and the Marin Center for Independent Living funded and supported the production of this podcast. This month we look at a common barrier to successful transition from school-based programs to adulthood for students with high functioning autism. The acronym BIMS stands for burnout, inertia, meltdowns and shutdown. These are the most common reactions many autistic people experience when facing overload from stress, anger and other negative emotions. ...
Matrix Parent Network and the Marin Center for Independent Living funded and supported the production of this podcast. Self-Advocacy is a phrase that is used often in special education, but often with little context as to what it means. What does it mean for a student to be an effective self-advocate and why it is so important? In this episode of the Matrix Parents Practical Special Education Podcast for Parents, we look at what the term really means and why it is a critical...
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 their body is experiencing by being unable to recognize the physical symptoms they are experiencing, leading to a potential crisis when the build up becomes too much. Or, an autistic youth may go without eating or drinking anything for an entire school day. ...
In this episode, the first in my IEP Basic Series, we’ll look at accommodations (and modifications) on an IEP. This is the first in the series due to the critical nature of accommodations to learning for students with disabilities, and also the complex nature of actually having them work in a classroom. There are many times a student would have little chance to survive in a general education setting, much less succeed without effective accommodations. Accommodations provide ...
In this episode, we’ll learn how a group of successful adults with learning disabilities became successful. There are identifiable, teachable attributes they have in common that are instrumental in their ability to lead successful lives. I use a study conducted by the Frostig Center, a well-known and highly regarded school and research institute serving students with learning disabilities. It followed the lives of students from the time they entered the school to 20 years a...
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 Behavior Support is supposed to work, the better off you will be at IEP meetings and in being a full member of the team. Here are a couple of links to more information on reinforcement. An explanation why reinforcement in a behavior plan m...
In this episode we explore the often times very intense personal interests of people with high functioning autism. Are they damaging or should I actually encourage my child to pursue them? We explore this question by reviewing a research article about special interests and autistic adults. The article explores the practical and emotional side of interests that of autistic people's interests, what they are, how they affect the lives on those involved, and what are the emotional benefits ...
This episode looks at the current state of education for high school students with high functioning autism. It is not good. It is not good, but there is hope. The students we are discussing experience exceptionally high rates of intense anxiety in school settings. A combination of factors including the sensory overload, behavior issues due to social skills deficits, academic struggles because of organization and focus problems are among the most common ones leading to school...
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 academic skills. There is a better way that can include work from school, but in a way that will reduce stress, reduce anxiety, and hopefully help you get rid of that feeling of dread when homework time approaches. Thanks to soundimage.org for the free acc...
In this, the third episode in the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) series, the importance of teaching a socially appropriate behavior to replace a maladaptive one a child has been using is discussed. As described in the initial PBS episode, there is a linear sequence to teaching a child what is acceptable behavior in social environments, of which replacement behaviors fill a central role. However, the idea of making behavior interventions more sensitive to the underlying needs many children ha...
To understand how to create an effective behavior plan* a crucial piece is to understand why a behavior occurs. Without this piece of information, accurately determined, a behavior plan will simply not work. It is more complex than it might seem to figure out why a child does what they do, obvious answers can often be wrong. The IEP team needs to know how and what to teach as a replacement behavior that meets the same need as the problem behavior. As a parent, your input into th...
In this episode, the 4th in the High Functioning Autism and Internet Dangers series, the discussion turns to how to keep your child safe. But not only safe but knowing how to become a digital citizen with the rights and responsibilities that go with it. Online activities can be beneficial for this population, but some commonsense limits can greatly increase the chances of its appropriate use. The program looks at what the term digital citizenship means and what goes into efforts to spre...
In this episode we continue out look into the radicalization dangers of the internet for autistic children and youth. How do kids go from being "alt right curious" to actually joining a radicalized group? And how does the group support these young people's needs once they are involved? The article used in this episode describes a study of young people from Canada and the U.S. who are autistic and became radicalized. In a series of structured interviews the authors elicited answers that ...
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