Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunningham
The Special Education Boss® Podcast is where advocacy meets action. Join Karen Mayer Cunningham each week as she empowers parents and professionals to understand their rights, navigate the system, and show up strong at the IEP table.
Episodes
148 episodes
When Advocacy Isn't Enough: Special Education Due Process Explained (with Attorney Maria McGinley)
No parent sits down at the IEP table hoping for a fight. And no family ever says, "I cannot wait to go to due process." But when advocacy alone is not getting your child what they need, you deserve to understand what comes next.In this ...
Beyond Behavior Management: What the Science Actually Says
You cannot punish a child into having a skill they do not have.In this episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Doris and Rick Bowman to unpack one of the most misunderstood parts of special education: behavior. Most school plans a...
Early Pickups, ESY Denials, and the Truth About IEEs - Summer IEP Questions Answered
Karen answers summer IEP questions live - ESY eligibility and transportation, early pickups as removals, IEE limits, and how to get your child's data.Full Description (plain text, copy-paste ready)Summer is when the num...
EP Minutes, Comp Services, ESY & Retention — Ask the Advocate LIVE
Were you ever actually trained on what you are expected to do at the IEP table? Most parents, advocates, and educators were not — and that is exactly why we sit at the table prepared.In this live Ask the Advocate session, Karen Mayer Cu...
She Knew Something Was Wrong. She Was Right. | Mia's Story | Special Education Boss®
Sarah Harter trusted her gut for two years before anyone believed her. Her daughter Mia survived brain surgery at age two and has been defying expectations ever since. This is their story — and the resources that helped them get here.Som...
IEP Questions Parents Are Asking Right Now: Paras, Placement, Progress & Support
What happens when your child has an IEP but still isn’t getting the support they need?In this episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real-time questions from parents, educators, and advocates about the ...
Prior Written Notice, ESY, Dyslexia Evaluations & What to Do When Districts Break the Law | Ask the Advocate | Special Education Boss
It is the last full week of IEP meetings and Karen Mayer Cunningham is answering your live questions - and none of the answers are soft. This is a fast-moving Ask the Advocate session covering some of the most important questions in special edu...
Behavior Is Communication: Trauma-Informed Strategies for Special Education Teams
Behavior is not just a choice. It is communication, capacity, nervous system response, and often a reflection of the support a child has — or has not — received.In this powerful episode of Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunn...
What Special Ed Teachers Need You to Know | Chana Dixon & Karen Mayer Cunningham | Special Education Boss
Nobody prepared you for what it actually feels like to sit across from a teacher in an IEP meeting. And nobody prepared that teacher for what it feels like when you walk in.Karen Mayer Cunningham, Special Education Boss, sits down with ...
Can They Drop the IEP by Phone? Remove Kids on Test Day? Skip Resource? No, No, and No.
Can a teacher call you on the phone and ask if you want to drop your IEP and go to a 504? Can the school relocate self-contained students because they are too loud during state testing? Can your principal tell you the campus does not have resou...
Procedural Safeguards, Child Find, Prior Written Notice, and Parent Rights in Special Education
In this live Q&A episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real questions from parents, educators, and advocates about some of the biggest special education issues showing up right now.From dyslexia tools and ADHD support to paraprofes...
Can a Paraprofessional replace a special educatin teacher?
Can a paraprofessional replace a special education teacher in the classroom? What tools actually help kids with dyslexia? And what is ESY — really?In this LIVE Q&A, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real questions from parents, a...
The Para Problem: What Every Parent and Advocate Needs to Know Right Now
Can a paraprofessional deliver specially designed instruction? What are the paraprofessional laws in your state? And what happens when a school district admits — in writing — that no certified special educator has been in the classroom all year...
Paras, Pain Plans & the Truth Nobody Told You | Ask the Advocate
If someone at your school said it was fine without showing you the law - it probably was not fine.Karen Mayor Cunningham answers your live questions on this Ask the Advocate session of Special Education Boss. She brought the federal sta...
From Struggle to Strength: ADHD, Dyslexia & Real-World Success
What happens when a student with ADHD and dyslexia doesn’t get boxed in—but instead learns how to push forward anyway?In this powerful conversation, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Sean Foley to talk about what it really l...
Vision Impairment in Special Education, What Parents and IEP Teams Must Know
Most people sitting at an IEP table understand autism, dyslexia, and speech services.But when a student with a visual impairment enters the conversation, many teams suddenly realize something important…They don’t actually k...
Ask the Advocate: IEP Questions Parents Are Asking Right Now
Ask the Advocate | Real IEP Questions from Parents and EducatorsParents, teachers, and advocates ask hundreds of questions every week about special education. In this Ask the Advocate episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real q...
From Classroom to Advocate: What Schools Do When You Bring an Advocate to the IEP Table
What really happens when an advocate walks into an IEP meeting?In this powerful episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Paige Fitzgerald and Kate Magaldi, former special educators turned ...
IEP Implementation, ESY & Compensatory Services | Ask the Advocate LIVE
Guess who’s back?In this Ask the Advocate live session, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers rapid-fire questions from families and educators about:IEP implementation failuresParaprofessional layoffs and 1:1 suppo...
RTI Is NOT a Gatekeeper + Why Schools Can’t Delay Evaluations (Live Q&A Fire)
Guess who’s back?Fresh off the inaugural Epic IEP™ World Book Tour — eight stops in five days, professional developments, book signings, and hundreds of powerful conversations — Karen is back answering your biggest specia...
From 504s to One-on-Ones: Real Talk from the IEP Table | Special Education Boss®
“Data doesn’t have feelings. It has evidence.”In this high-energy TikTok Live replay, Karen Mayer Cunningham dives headfirst into real-time questions from parents, teachers, and advocates navigating the special education process.<...
IEP Meetings, Procedural Safeguards & What Schools Don’t Want to Put in Writing | Ask the Advocate
In this Ask the Advocate episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real questions from parents, educators, and advocates navigating complex IEP issues — from unfinished Monday meetings to missing data, p...
Ask the Advocate: Compensatory Services, Eligibility Traps, IEP Teams & School Pushback
In this Ask the Advocate episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real-time questions from parents, educators, and advocates navigating complex IEP situations — from compensatory services and ...
“Paras Can’t Take Data”? Let’s Finish the Sentence. | Ask the Advocate
Today’s Ask the Advocate starts with a celebration—The Epic IEP is officially hitting hands soon—and then we go straight into a question that’s blowing up in schools everywhere:Can paraprofessionals take data and deliv...
When Schools Say “No”: AAC Updates, Triennials, Toileting Support, and Your IEP Rights (Q&A)
Did your IEP team say “we don’t have staff,” “we’ll just do a records review,” or “they don’t qualify because grades are fine”?In this rapid-fire Q&A episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham (THE SPECIAL EDUCATION BOSS®) goes rogue and...