Using AI to Advocate for Your Child with Charmaine Thaner of The Collaborative Special Education Agency

In this powerful and eye-opening conversation, Vickie Dickson welcomes parent advocate and former special education teacher Charmaine Thaner to Unjaded’s AI Summer Series on Conscious Creation in the Age of AI. While most of the series has focused on entrepreneurs using AI to grow their businesses, Charmaine brings a refreshing and deeply meaningful perspective—using AI to support parents advocating for their children with disabilities.

Charmaine shares how she’s built custom GPTs to help parents write clearer emails, analyze IEP meetings, role-play difficult conversations with schools, and even reshape the limiting beliefs of the people parents are dealing with at the schools.

With a deep understanding of both the education system and lived experience as a parent of a child with Down syndrome, Charmaine bridges the gap between AI and human centred advocacy—always keeping values, voice, and vision at the forefront.

You’ll hear about:

• The difference between summarizing and analyzing AI prompts—and why it matters
• How Charmaine’s “Belief Shapeshifter” GPT tool helps shift resistant narratives in school systems
• Why she prioritizes human connection alongside technology in her membership community
• Tips for entrepreneurs and advocates alike to better prompt, edit, and verify AI-generated content
• Her candid thoughts on AI-assisted podcasting—and the surprising audio project she uncovered on her own book!
• A heartwarming update on her son Dylan and how advocacy made his inclusive education and independence possible

This episode is a must-listen if you’ve ever wondered how AI could be used not just to grow a business, but to create lasting social change and support families navigating systems stacked against them.

Charmaine’s tools and wisdom remind us that AI is only as powerful as the human intention behind it.

Resources & Links:

The Art of Advocacy by Charmaine Thaner

Connect with Charmaine and access her tools: iep.today/charmaine

Connect with Vickie:

Follow along on Instagram @vickie.dickson

Learn more about Vickie’s work at vickiedickson.com