Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunningham

School is back, and so are the questions. In this back-to-school Ask the Advocate, Karen Mayer Cunningham takes them live from parents, advocates, and educators sitting at the IEP and 504 table.

You don't know what you don't know, but you need to. This episode helps you close that gap and walk into your next meeting prepared.

In this episode:

Rachel Irizarry studied for every test and prepared for every quiz, and her grades still would not move. Around fifth grade, her mom trusted her gut, asked the school to evaluate her, and everything changed. Today Rachel is a titleholder in the Miss Volunteer America system, is on track for a doctorate in physical therapy, and uses her SERVE initiative, Learning Disabilities Endless Possibilities, to tell students one thing: a learning disability is part of your story, not your whole story.

In this episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham and Rachel walk through what actually helped in the classroom...

Do you know your rights at the IEP table? In this live Q&A, Karen Mayer Cunningham (Special Education Boss®) answers real questions from parents, paraprofessionals, and educators on the issues that actually show up in meetings — no fluff, no legal jargon, just clear preparation.

Karen breaks down what really happens after a young child makes a threat (hello, MDR and FBA), why an IEP is written for the full instructional day, and why agreeing to a half-day can quietly release the district from its obligation to deliver FAPE. She tackles ESY denials and the second prong nob...

What happens when the people responsible for carrying out your child's IEP were never trained, supported, or backed up to do it right?

This week, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Michelle Williams, a 26-year veteran classroom teacher who has taught elementary and mathematics in rural, urban, and suburban schools. Michelle has watched teacher support erode from the inside, and she is not staying quiet about it. 

This is a conversation every parent, advocate, and educator needs to hear. Michelle pulls back the curtain on what is really happening in schools, and Karen connects it s...

Where Are All the Special Education Attorneys? The Truth About Reading, IEPs, and Enforcement — with Diane Dragan

There are millions of children in this country with an IEP. And by attorney Diane Dragan's count, maybe a thousand lawyers nationwide are willing to take these cases to court. Sit with that.

In this episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Diane Dragan — special education attorney, founder of Dragan Law Firm in St. Louis, and host of the Litigating Literacy podcast. Diane didn't set out to do this work. She was a federal public defender until her own...

There's no shortage of information when you're raising a child with a disability. There's a shortage of trusted information you can actually use.

In this episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham talks with Lauren Hasz and Brodie Simmons about Uniquely You, a free magazine launching in North Houston that celebrates the disability community and connects families to real, vetted resources.

They get into what makes this different: it's free, it's opt-in, it comes in print and digital, and every cover celebrates an individual or family navigating disability, birth to 100+. Karen, Lauren, and Brodie talk about the resources...

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 episode of Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunningham, Karen sits down with special education attorney Maria McGinley for an honest, practical look at special education dispute resolution: mediation, state complaints, and due process. Maria brings a rare perspective to the table. She is a former special education teacher, a practicing a...

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 are built to get compliance in the moment. They manage the behavior and miss what is actually driving it. And when the same kind of plan fails for the fifth or sixth time, the child is the one who walks away believing they are the problem.

This conversation flips that.

Here is...

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 numbers go down and the access goes up. In this live Q&A, Karen Mayer Cunningham takes questions from parents, advocates, paras, and educators - and does not hold back.

If your school called you to pick up your child early, that was a day out of placement. If they told you they do not provide...

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 Cunningham answers more than 50 real questions straight from the audience. No scripts, no fluff — just clear, practical answers on the things you are responsible for but were never taught.

WHAT WE COVER

→ How to set up next school year before summer ends — including the "Zach Pack" every educator should get on day o...

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.

Some episodes stay with you.

This is one of them.

Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Sarah Harter - mom, anesthetist, and one of the most determined advocates her daughter Mia has ever had - to share a story that is honest, hard, and ultimately full of hope.

Mia was born fi...

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 everyday issues showing up at IEP and 504 tables right now.

This rapid-fire Q&A covers some of the most common — and most frustrating — special education concerns families are facing, including transportation, one-on-one paraprofessionals, behavior support, progress data, related services, accommodations, private school questions, eligibility, bullying, and what to do when the IEP does not match what was dis...

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 education right now.

Plus - big announcements. The Epic Educator Academy launches June 1st at 7PM Central. The Two-Day Advocacy Intensive is live in Lexington, Kentucky on May 30th and 31st. And the Epic IEP workbook is almost done.

Questions answered in this episode:

- What happens after a school...

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 Cunningham, Karen sits down with Rick and Doris Bowman of Bowman Consulting Group for a deeply important conversation about behavior, trauma-informed support, nervous system regulation, and what schools must understand when working with students who have big behavioral needs.

Rick and Doris bring decades of experience in education, mental health, behavior support, collaborative probl...

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 Chana Dixon - special education supervisor with 23 years in the field - for one of the most honest conversations in special education. This is not about paperwork. This is about people.

In this episode:

- Why special educators are on an island. In most schools, special ed teachers are the minority...

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 resource?

No. No. And absolutely not.

HERE'S WHAT KAREN COVERS:

→ Why resource rooms are required under IDEA 300.115 and what to do if your school says they eliminated resource
→ The two MDR questions both must be answered — and what happens when the school tries to skip the second one

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 paraprofessional roles, raw data, ESY, reading levels, 18–21 transition services, and IEP service minutes, this conversation is packed with practical insight to help you show up more prepared at the table.

In this episode, Karen covers:

✨ Tools that may support students with dyslexia, including Learning Ally and Kurzweil
✨ Whether behavior services can be provided under SLD el...

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, advocates, and educators about the issues showing up in IEP meetings right now, with 35 days left in the school year.

Here's what Karen covers:

→ What paraprofessionals can and cannot do under NCLB and ESSA — and why the new Epic IEP Para book changes the conversation

→ The best assistive technology tools for students...

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?

In this episode of the Special Education Boss® podcast, Karen Mayer Cunningham breaks down a real IEP meeting in Texas where the district's own deliberations confirmed that a general education teacher delivered the specially designed instruction and a paraprofessional collected IEP goal data — with no special educator involved. All year. In Houston. On the record.

Karen walks through what fe...

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 statutes, the DSM-5, and zero patience for made-up rules.

In this episode:

- The brand-new Epic IEP Para book: all 50 states, all federal laws from 1965 to 2015, everything you need to know about what paras can and cannot legally do.
- AAC rights: what to do when your child's communication device is...

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 looks like to grow up with learning differences—and why success isn’t about labels, it’s about strategy, support, and resilience.

In This Episode:

Sean shares his journey navigating ADHD, dyslexia, and academic challenges—from early testing and accommodations to earning his MBA and building a successful career in sales and leadersh...

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 know how vision services work.

In this episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Abel Perez, CEO, from Ready Sight Go, a Certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired (CTVI) and Orientation & Mobility Specialist (O&M).

Together, they unpack one of the most misunderstood disability areas in speci...