63. RTD | Individualized Education Programs, with Brian Middleton, Colleen Dorsey, and Michael Gilberg

Discover what’s possible when the student’s interests lead the team. 

This week’s episode is a recording of a roundtable discussion during one of our Global Autism Community exclusive events. The topic is Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs. 

The panelists include Brian Middleton, an autistic Board Certified Behavior Analyst; Colleen Dorsey, a special education teacher; and Michael Gilberg, an autistic special education and disability rights attorney. 

Other community members present at the event and part of the discussion are Jeff Snyder, Mary Johnston, Ryan Litchfield, Jessie Sheahan, and Morgan Ferguson. 

In today’s conversation, we discuss: 

• The different roles on an IEP team
• How to reduce combativeness between professionals at IEP meetings
• Finding the sweet spot when writing goals and encouraging independence
• How to best support families throughout the IEP process
• Helpful accommodations suggested by self-advocates in the audience 

Some acronyms mentioned in the conversation are IDEA, BCBA, and ABA. IDEA is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which is an American piece of legislation that ensures eligible students with a disability are provided with Free Appropriate Public Education that is tailored to their individual needs. BCBA stands for Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and ABA is Applied Behavior Analysis. 

These monthly roundtable discussions are open exclusively to members of our Global Autism Community. A new topic is selected based on each month’s theme. If you’d like to attend and participate in any of our future events, you can sign up today at community.globalautismproject.org. 

To learn more about the panelists in this discussion, you can visit:

Brian Middleton: https://beardedbehaviorist.com/

Colleen Dorsey: @autismausome

Michael Gilberg: https://www.michaelgilbergesq.com/ 

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