Tired of hearing... "His grades are fine."

"Yeah, this is working"

"He's making progress...."

... when you know they're not?

To the stressed out parent tired of getting the runaround from

your school district when it comes to their child’s IEP…

The IEP meeting had just ended.

“That went pretty well” you confidently say to yourself walking towards the school parking lot.

There was a thorough discussion of the ins and outs of your child's disability…

A roundtable conversation about academic modifications, appropriate breaks, and redirects…

Schedule changes were discussed and observed…

You spoke up and voiced your concerns, opinions, and recommendations to the staff and they seemed to be attentive to your needs.

That is... until you received a copy of the new IEP a few days later.

* buries face in hands *

All you want is for your child to get the services they need, get the education they deserve, and create a safe environment for them and the rest of the classroom.

Instead, you're feeling shrugged off, steamrolled, and gaslit.

With the lack of changes… despite speaking up.

The bullying and anxiety your child experiences… despite voicing your concerns.

And the school's lack of refusal to do... well, anything.

You begin to wonder if all of the fight is even worth it and seriously begin to contemplate pulling them from the system altogether and homeschooling.

You see other parents at local get-togethers and inside Facebook groups get the accommodations they need for their child.

Deep Dives in Special Education Topics

Understanding IEP Progress Monitoring, for Parents
Overview: IEP Transition to Adulthood
How to Write Meaningful IEP Goals
Understanding IEP Evaluations, for Parents
How to Make Sense of your Evaluation Reports
The Preschool to Kindergarten IEP Transition
What Parents Should Know about ESY-Extended School Year
Homework: Considerations for IEP Students
IEP Placement Decisions, explained.
Disability Eligibility Categories and Special Factors: Does it matter which box is checked?
Your Parental Rights/Procedural Safeguards, explained.
Assistive Technology, AAC and Your IEP
Why Your IEP Needs a Vision Statement, and how to create one.
All Things Behavior and IEPs, including FBA and BIP.
Student Discipline, Rights and IEPs/504s
Using Official (and impactful!) Language and Wording in your Communication to the School.
Aides, Paraprofessionals and Your IEP
LRE-Least Restrictive Environment and your IEP
Understand the Official IEP Forms we Sign.
IDEA, Special Education Laws and Supreme Court Cases
What are IEP Educational Surrogates? And how to become one.
What to Know About Middle and High School IEPs.
Transition Workshop 1: What IDEA Says
Transition Workshop 2: Evaluations and More
Transition Workshop 3: IEP Transition Goals and Supports
Transition Workshop 4: Overcoming IEP Team Hurdles
Transition Workshop 5: Adult Services
When your IEP Team Wants to Remove Services
School Refusal, School Avoidance and Shortened Days and Weeks
What to Do When Your IEP Child is Being Bullied.
Getting Involved in Lobbying Session 1
Getting Involved in Lobbying Session 2
IEPs Post Pandemic--What Now?
Should you Secure Private Services?
When the IEP isn't Being Followed

Professional Advocacy

Getting Started in Professional Advocacy
How to Set your Advocacy Prices
Tips to Onboard New IEP/504 Clients
IEP Record Review Worksheets
Advertising your IEP Advocacy Business
Time Management and Burnout Tips for Professional Advocates
Talking about Money with your IEP Clients
How to Deal with Difficult Clients and Difficult IEP Teams
Intangible Skills Needed for Special Education Advocacy
Are you ready to Open your Advocacy Business?
Advocates, Should You Work for Free? When? How often?
Attorney Chat: How do advocates know when a client is ready for an attorney?
Attorney Chat: What is due process really like?
Attorney Chat: Talking about "Pro Se" in due process (going without an attorney)
Disability Policy Director for a US Senator talking about contacting legislators

The 4-Step Transformation: How to develop your IEP strategy. Value $17
Data and Documentation. Understand why a solid paper trail is so important to the IEP process and how to do a thorough record review. Value $97
20-minute in-depth video tutorial with further explanation on gathering data. Explanation of companion documents and worksheets for participants.Value $97
Define what a FAPE is, understand the 6 principles of special education, plus know what you can ask for, for your child and if you have the data to support it. Value $97
Transition Workshop Series: Learn how to successfully navigate this important time with your IEP. Value $497
Live Chats with Attorneys: How do I put a value on that? Attorneys' fees are $300+ an hour and up!aAttlue $97

Understand the PWN and why it needs to be paired with a solid letter(s). .. it's a path to YES for your IEP team. Value $97
The School's actions (not ours). What to do when waiting for the school's response; how to not delay any additional evaluations; and, what to do AFTER the IEP meeting. Also, discover what are the procedural differences between a full new IEP vs. changes and revisions. Value $117
Dispute Resolution. Learn all about the various dispute resolution options and how to access them. Value $117
IEP Complaint options. Learn the various IEP complaint options, how to access them, and how to bring them forward to your school. Value $117
Interactive virtual support via private chat boards. Weekly live Q&A sessions held on Zoom for an additional charge. Value $1500

Over the past decade, I have attended hundreds of IEP and 504 meetings and manifestation hearings. With all kinds of kids and parents and school teams.

And what I've learned is this: Our kids may be very different from each other. But IDEA and the IEP process never changes. It is the same process for every child.

This exclusive academy contains the exact framework, resources, and tools that I use with my paying clients -- and now, I'm making them available to all parents.

When you follow the prescribed IEP process (per IDEA) and have solid documentation, IEP meetings are nothing more than an annual formality.

I want to provide you with comprehensive lessons to expertly guide you and provide new ideas to use in your advocacy. Plus, the camaraderie of LIVE virtual chats and private chat boards keeps you encouraged, motivated, and informed, so you're never left questioning or alone in the process.

Sure, other websites offer IEP training.

But, not many of them are created by someone who is both a parent and an advocate.

Most resources are put together by the school staff or clinicians.

With this IEP Academy, you don't just get a bunch of hard-to-understand, dry, and impersonal information (boring!) You get me teaching you everything I know, plus a live community where you can find support and answers to your most pressing questions and learn how to get to a "YES!" faster.

Plus the best and most helpful IEP advice you'll find online, literally thousands of satisfied customers depend on it.

Here is some of what is included:

The 4-Step Transformation: How to develop your IEP strategy. Value $17
Data and Documentation. Understand why a solid paper trail is so important to the IEP process and how to do a thorough record review. Value $97
20-minute in-depth video tutorial with further explanation on gathering data. Explanation of companion documents and worksheets for participants.Value $97
Define what a FAPE is, understand the 6 principles of special education, plus know what you can ask for, for your child and if you have the data to support it. Value $97
NEW THIS YEAR: 3 (so far!) recorded sessions with attorneys, including what Due Process is really like. Value $1000
How to effectively get to work communicating your ASK to your IEP team: putting all your data and concerns into official documentation. Value $97

Understand the PWN and why it needs to be paired with a solid letter(s). .. it's a path to YES for your IEP team. Value $97
The School's actions: What to do when waiting for the school's response; how to not delay any additional evaluations. Also, discover what are the procedural differences between a full new IEP vs. changes and revisions. Value $117
Dispute Resolution. Learn all about the various dispute resolution options and how to access them. Value $117
IEP Complaint options. Learn the various IEP complaint options, how to access them, and how to bring them forward to your school. Value $117
During the school year, weekly live chats, Q&As and sessions with professional advocates and attorneys. Value $1500 (what would 5-10 hours with an advocate or attorney cost?)

Is This an E-Book, Lisa?

This is not an e-book. This Academy is separated into 4 separate course modules. The core content, my advocacy strategy, is a series of 7 videos that can be completed in a weekend.

After that, what you complete and when is completely up to you. But you'll have almost 100 deep dive modules to choose from, training from attorneys, and more. This is a steal at $297.

Rest assured - No matter your IEP concern, you can run it through the 4-step process included in this resource and develop a concrete strategy to guide your way forward strategically. And if you run into issues or questions, I'm here to answer them during the question-and-answer timeframe.

Maybe you’ve been an advocate for some time and want an actual roadmap for each student you help. This is a fantastic resource for doing that!

And while I don't want to overwhelm anyone, there are over 90 videos in the training library. Explore Deep Dive sessions on everything from Behavior to IEP Transition and so much more.

There comes a time in every IEP parent’s life when he has to stand up and say, “enough is enough.” And that’s the day when you decide to change your child's education experience for the better by digging in and being the best IEP advocate you can be.

I know what it’s like.

When Kevin was a baby, I spent a lot of time just thinking about it.

I purchased a lot of books on the topic. I even attended school district training sessions.

Problem was...

I didn't know what I didn't know. Oh sure, all the IEP manuals and guides stacking up on my bookshelf and hard drive made it look like I was serious.

Problem is, I thought I was taking action.

I dabbled.

I did things like step out of my comfort zone and speak up at meetings.

And I would email my team, assuming they would follow through. Yet I never got serious enough about it to really understand my rights and the IEP process defined by IDEA.

But then, something happened that rocked me to my very core. And maybe you can relate to this…

One day, it seemed like everything was fine. I was going through life with two toddlers. Then, suddenly, I was knee-deep in the kindergarten Transition process. (and Kevin had just turned 4!)

I can’t even begin to tell you how those meetings shocked me.

It really was the proverbial wake-up call when the LEA said, "We appreciate your input, Mrs. Lightner, but we will not be making any changes to this IEP today."

Suddenly, I realized I had to get better IEP meeting results, or Kevin was going to end up in a placement that I loathed... and one that was really inappropriate for him.

You can bet I got serious really quickly.

I stopped messing around. I stopped dabbling.

And I started learning my parental rights and how to leverage the IEP process in my favor.

It wasn’t always easy.

I quickly found out that the learning curve is steep when you’re trying to learn about IEPs.

But I did it. In just about a year, I went from completely stressing about his placement to a desirable one. And, that was kindergarten -- he's in 11th grade now and still in the same placement.

-Lisa

"Your product helped me in many ways but to be honest, the biggest role it played in me helping my son was that I didn’t know ANYTHING about IEPs at the time. Therefore, I didn’t know anything was required, that I had rights and that I played a key role in the process. Because of the organizer (and the questions it helped me generate), I went from being a mom whose son never even had an IEP to a mom whose son was approved for a nonpublic school that can meet his needs. I went from being a total rookie to an all star."

But when you arrive at the administrative office the next day to voice your concerns, the SPED supervisor tells you,

“I wasn’t aware of that agreement, I’ll have to look into that when I have time next week.”

As you walk away without any answers once again, you sigh to yourself, "How could I be so naïve."

Instead, you're feeling shrugged off, steamrolled, and gaslit.

From one IEP parent to another - Can we have a real conversion for a minute?

List of Modules in Training Library

01

Develop an Advocacy Strategy

02

Deep Dives in Special Education Topics

03

Professional Advocacy

One Low Price

^ For what you'd pay to hire an advocate for a few hours you're going to have this lifetime of knowledge & access

Hello, I'm Lisa!

I want to help you be a Better IEP Advocate.

Master the IEP process AND get a path to "YES!" faster using my simple 4 Step Process.

01

Organize

02

Define

03

Communicate

04

Action

Honest, straightforward, and (the best part) easy-to-understand IEP information you can implement right away.

What Makes My Academy Different?

Simply put, there's no other program like it on the market.

This signature resource helps shortcut the typically long, painful and drawn out IEP process while simultaneously equipping you with a lifetime of precious advocacy skills you can use for your own child -- or to advocate for others.

- Complete -

Complete Library of Resources

- New this year! -

Easy

IEP Data Collection

- Be Ready -

Prepare for Your IEP Meeting

HERE'S WHAT'S INCLUDED...

Get all the tools you need to master the IEP process.

Consider What's Possible

In just a few days, you can completely change the IEP dynamics for your child AND team.

Here's what that would look like....

Is This an E-Book, Lisa?

"But I am advocating and speaking up in meetings, Lisa" you may be thinking.

Do I still need to enroll in the Academy? Yes, if...

Speaking up in meeting but lacking any real progress

Reading data but feeling confused and overwhelmed by it all

You know your child is struggling but still unsure of exactly what to do

"It is definitely my go-to for guidance and tools, both as a parent of a daughter with a developmental disability and as an advocate in the community" ~Christina R, Professional Advocate

Organize. Define. Communicate. Action.

–Kim B, Mother of one with Learning Disability

Gain a Confident Ally in the IEP Process

"It felt so empowering to walk into my son's annual IEP with everything laid out and organized so well, as well as having notes written up and pertinent information at my fingertips. Our team was pleased too!"

–Patty H., Mom of 2, one with disabilities transitioning to Middle School

–Erma P.

Find Your "YES!", Faster.

–Lauren R.

REAL RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

Listen to what other parents say...

Jamie A

Berlyn M

"I am Mom to one son with ADHD and Mild Intellectual Disability. This helped me to learn how to keep track of my son's changing needs and changing IEP plans. It is an awesome tool for staying organized for follow up questions I may need to pose to the IEP team."

–Cindi M.

What is mastering the IEP Worth to you?

May I ask one question before we depart and go our separate ways?