I am a school psychologist. My main job is to evaluate students to see if they are eligible for special education. In order for a child to be eligible they have to meet criteria for one of 13 disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). If they do not meet criteria for at least one of these 13 …
What Can You Do if Your Child is Having Persistent Problems in School? (Tips for Parents)
The contents in this article refer to public schools in the United States. If your child attends private school or school outside of the United States, speak to your child’s school to find out if their policies for addressing the matters discussed in this article are the same or different. When Would You Request an Evaluation by a School Psychologist? …
Break Ideas to Increase Student Motivation & Participation
Preface: When I was in college majoring in psychology, I learned that the famous actor and comedian, Jim Carrey, had behavior problems in Junior High School. One of his teachers told him that he could do a comedy routine for a few minutes at the end of class for following the rules and completing work. This had a huge positive …
Top 10 Tips to Get the Most from Your Child’s IEP
Published in Autism File Magazine Aug-Sept 2014 Issue 57-Republished with Permission When I first thought about the content of this article, I thought, well, this will be easy, I will just tell parents what I have found to be the key steps to take at Individual Education Program (IEP) meetings. After all, I just wrote a book that shows the reader, …
A True Story About A Child with Special Needs
Here is a true story from inspirational early-childhood educator, Nancy Howson, that encourages us to do aim higher, believe more, and assume the best in all of our kids!! This story is republished with author permission from ExamHealth. Seven years ago I sat in a room with my co-workers as they briefed me about the children who would be coming into my …