Ask the Advocate: FAPE, Discipline, Transition, and Tough IEP Questions Answered

Are you sitting at the IEP or 504 table feeling unprepared, overwhelmed, or unsure of your rights? 

You don’t know what you don’t know—but you need to. 

In this Ask the Advocate episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham, The Special Education Boss®, tackles your most pressing questions with clarity, humor, and no-nonsense advocacy strategies. From discipline laws in Texas to IEP services not being implemented, Karen explains what IDEA requires, how to respond to school pushback, and why being prepared at the table changes everything.

✨ Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why accommodations are not specially designed instruction (and what that means for suspected dyslexia).
• Transition planning essentials and why there’s no such thing as an “emergency IEP.”
• How to address staff-to-student ratios, untrained staff, or unsafe environments.
• Discipline and ISS: what federal law actually requires when students with disabilities are removed.
• Why parents must use state complaints strategically to enforce IDEA.
• What happens to IEPs after high school—and how to prepare for college accommodations.
• Karen’s take on homebound, virtual services, and what schools often get wrong.
• Updates on the upcoming EPIC IEP Intensive (Sept. 27–28) + a special surprise giveaway.

👉 Join us every Monday night inside The Academy for live professional development: Join The Academy

👉 Register for the EPIC IEP Intensive – 2-Day Advocacy Training (Sept. 27–28, 2025): Register Here

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“When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody.” — Karen Mayer Cunningham