Samantha Pierce

Late night last minute preparations for a CSE meeting for one of the children in the morning. I already know what I'm going to say and I already have information at hand to back me up. New York state education regulations as written and implemented tend to throw stumbling blocks in the paths of students with IEP/504 Plans. A student with an IEP/504 Plan that includes an extended time testing accommodation can end up enduring 12 hours of testing to complete Regents exams if they have two exams scheduled on the same day. New York doesn't reschedule these exams to accommodate students with IEP/504 Plans. One option is for student to take one of the exams months later during one of the other allowed testing period in January, June, and August. The other option is to not take one of the exams at all. I'm not a fan of any of those options for my children or anyone else's. So I've got my copy of the full text of IDEA, all 162 pages of it. Download your copy to...

Re-posting from my other day job. All the Parenting Hats Some days it feels like being a parent requires me to be a general education specialist, a special education expert, a psychologist, a neurologist and neuroscientist, a geneticist, an education law specialist, a diplomat, and a hunting dog all at the same time. It is exhausting. But it’s what you do. Will there be a time when I’m not going to advocate for my children and others like them? When I’m dead maybe. My kids want to go to college. That means it’s my job to make sure everyone does their job to give my children that opportunity. Sometimes that means holding my children to a higher standard than others have for them. Sometimes that means cutting them some slack. It’s a delicate balance that requires knowing the child in question and what best motivates them. ​ Mostly it requires being present and aware of my child and their needs. It means setting in my mind that they can achieve their goals and working alongside ...