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Published by Laurie McDevitt, Special Education Advocate & Consultant
Has your child been diagnosed with a disability? Or do you suspect they are having a learning, speech, sensory, motor or some other challenge? In this podcast, Laurie answers common questions parents have as they navigate learning issues with their child and their child’s school. You’ll also hear REAL stories from REAL parents who are in the midst of the IEP process and their experiences hiring a consultant to help advocate for their children in the education system. We’re here to share hope and help!
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ABA? Applied Behavior Analysis What is it and who needs it?. We talk today with experts at a Key Autism location who explain the therapy and dispel myths associated with it. Join us as we have a conversation around the hot topic. Resources: Key Autism : https://www.keyautismservices.com/ Advocacy: advocacyforthespecialones.com
Why does music therapy work? Music is a whole-brain brain activity that generates physiologic responses. Its predictable and structured nature can improve attention, enhance learning, and expand communication. Music listening and creation are motivating social experiences that can access memories and express or alter emotions. Prospect Music Therapy https://prospectmusictherapy.net/ Loren Goodman 401 E Prospect Ave Suite 109 Mount Prospect, IL 60056 847-580-3443 info@prospectmusictherapy.net Laurie McDevitt Founder, Special Education Advocate & Consultant Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com (630) 639-0343 www.advocacyforthespecialones.com
What is Conductive Education and who benefits from its practice? Center for Independence, Chicagoland, offers super affordable access for your child with motor needs. Jim Zwiefelhofer, PTA Center for Independence Through Conductive Education-NW 23153 W. Miller Rd Lake Zurich, IL 60047 P-847-722-0386 F-708-588-0406 CFImove.org Laurie McDevitt Founder, Special Education Advocate & Consultant Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com (630) 639-0343 www.advocacyforthespecialones.com
Laura Hernandez, mom of 10, talks about her life, her business and her family. Managing therapies and the needs of her family require systems....instead of just holding on and surviving until bedtime. How could they manage all of their logistics and have-tos and make time to intentionally instill the ideals that their family values? It took her years to develop systems and life hacks to keep her family running and organized. But after creating systems that helped her family run smoothly, it reduced her daily workload and her house became a place of peace... yes, even with 10 kids! https://www.mamasystems.net Laura Hernandez https://www.advocacyforthespecialones.com/special-education-advocacy Laurie McDevitt Founder, Special Education Advocate & Consultant Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com
How the brain processes what our ears hear! Is your child struggling with w oral direction, spelling difficulty, strain and stress to follow along, to understand what they are hearing, tired, tune out? Auditory processing interacts with all areas of learning, sensory, phonics, social emotional, functional, reading. spelling, math and attention! Dr. Donna Turetgen, Au.D and Dr. Christy Washkowiak, Au.D. educate us about Auditory processing, also known as Central Auditory Processing (CAP). Dr. Dr. Christy Washkowiak, Au.D. Dr. Donna Turetgen, Au.D. The Auditory Connection-Illinois 1 East Northwest Hwy. Suite #212 Palatine, IL 60067 (800) 959-1791 (voice/text) info@auditoryconnection.com Dr. Dr. Donna Turetgen, Au.D. The Auditory Connection-Texas 725 FM 1103 Unit #786 Cibolo, TX 78108 (800) 959-1791 (voice/text) info@auditoryconnection.com Serving the San Antonio area and more! Laurie McDevitt Founder, Special Education Advocate & Consultant Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com (630) 639-0343 www.advocacyforthespecialones.com
John Felageller is the Ministry Relations Manager at Joni and Friends Chicago. Previous to that, he spent almost 20 years in education, working with children from Infants to Middle School, serving in a variety of roles including Teacher, Mentor Teacher and School Director. John lives in Highwood, IL and is a single father to his son Christopher (ASD). He is a public speaker, multiple podcast guest, and regular contributor to Key Ministry’s Special Needs Family blog, as well as other special needs blogs including Hope Anew and The Mighty. Connect with John on his website: www.johnfelageller.com Facebook: John's Special Needs Blog Instagram: jfelageller Twitter: jfelageller74 Laurie McDevitt Founder, Special Education Advocate & Consultant Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com www.advocacyforthespecialones.com
Let's talk about trusts, guardianship and POA! Sara Riechert from the Chamberlin Riechert Law Group P.C. breaks down what parents need to know about future planning and protections. She carefully and clearly breaks down the often confusing and often intimidating conversation about planning for the financial and medical needs of a child with a disability, and any child who turns 18. Sara Riechert https://crattorneys.net/ 1200 Harger Road Suite 209 Oak Brook IL 60523 sara@clgattorney.com Laurie McDevitt Founder, Special Education Advocate & Consultant Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com www.advocacyforthespecialones.com
Jenn Haston is a dynamic professional presenter with 10 years of speaking experience who provides inclusive and growth-based presentations virtually or in person! A cultural leader who motivates and inspires teams with a collaborative spirit and focuses on meeting personal and professional goals and accomplishing great things with folks around the globe. She is no parenting expert- and some of the items she would share with parents looking for resources and tools are as follows: If you want to connect with Jenn Haston for more parenting and life journey lessons, you can do so on Instagram @HastonHelpingHands or her website www.HastonHelpingHands.com - and if you want a little more information on the folks she utilizes for her parenting experiments see below: **Disclaimer: All their tips may not align with your family, as it does for u. She tends to take a little from each and experiment, experiment-experiment and hope things don't blow up, and if/when they do, these people have shown us tools to help clean things up! Resources - Books and Websites- Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff https://michaeleendoucleff.com The Connected Child https://empoweredtoconnect.org/book/ Big Little Feelings- Big Little Feelings – Big Little Feelings – Happy Parents, Happy Toddlers Destini Ann- Home | DestiniAnn.com Jai Institute- The Jai Institute for Parenting: Become a Certified Parenting Coach Momma Cusses- Home | Momma Cusses Mr. Chazz- Mr Chazz Mr Chazz (@mrchazz) • Instagram photos and videos Laurie McDevitt Founder, Special Education Advocate & Consultant Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com www.advocacyforthespecialones.com
Lenora Edwards, Chief Knowledge Officer, from betterspeech.com talks about the benefits of virtual speech and language services. She explains that SLP service providers deal with "the neck up" when it comes to services. She also answers questions parents ask about speech and language, that includes pragmatic language and sequencing of stories. Lenora also covers the question parents often ask regarding when to ask for a screening, if you are really not sure about the developmental progress of your child and whether they are meeting developmental milestones. Lenora Edwards. M.S. CCC-SLP Chief Knowledge Officer, BetterSpeech Board Certified and Licensed in 5 states. Betterspeech.com Laurie McDevitt Founder, Special Education Advocate & Consultant Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com www.advocacyforthespecialones.com
Dr. Shlok Kharod joins me in a conversation about mental health, and encourages families to have conversations with their kids about their mental health. Open up the avenues of communication and help kids feel less alone. His company, Charlie Health, offers virtual outpatient services to children and adolescents needing more than once a week connection. #metoo #mentalhealth #IOP Name: Dr. Shlok Kharod Title: Clinical Outreach Manager, Illinois Company: Charlie Health Email: shlok.kharod@charliehealth.com Phone: (312) 351-0667 Website: www.charliehealth.com Name: Laurie McDevitt Title: Advocate Company: Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life Email: laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com Phone: 630-639-0343 Website: www.advocacyforthespecialones.com
Dr. Shlok Kharod joins me in a conversation about mental health. This is a snippet of a longer eposide still to come! So Stay Tuned!!! Name: Dr. Shlok Kharod Title: Clinical Outreach Manager, Illinois Company: Charlie Health Email: shlok.kharod@charliehealth.com Phone: (312) 351-0667 Website: www.charliehealth.com Interviewed by: Laurie McDevitt Founder of Advocacy for the Special Ones in Your Life laurie@advocacyforthespecialones.com advocacyforthespecialones.com
The Ah-Ha moment came during COVID when her son was online with his para and Lela heard the paraprofessional tell her son the answers. She sat in disbelief as the paraprofessional was repeatedly telling her son, "Say this. Write this". Prior to this she knew there was a struggle, from a 504 Plan to an evaluation for an IEP, she knew her son struggled to tie his shoes, ride a bike, do math. He had sleep issues and was regressing in other ways, not wanting to attend school. Teachers were telling her he was struggling, but she would attend IEP meetings and hear how great he was going. "Great" was relative. It was only during COVID at home online teaching, that Lela fully understood his struggle and realized the paraprofessional was telling him the answers, not helping him to arrive at his own answers. Mama Bear jumped into gear and her son was soon placed in a therapeutic day school to better help students with severe learning challenges. He began to love school, become a leader, and grow academically.
Andi and Joe have two children with disabilities. Andi shares her Band-Aid story and how a simple request for a Band-Aid from a child with autism made the parents realize the staff really did not “get” their child. After peers told her child with autism she had no friends and should just die the student with autism went to the lunch mom, teacher, and principal and all 3 dismissed her. This school had a pattern of not understanding autism and parents escalated this to the district office to get autism training for grade level peers and school staff. Andi tells about her relationship with her spouse and shares her story about loving her children and letting them know that even Superman needed help as a child to become a functioning adult! Reference of Superman video clip https://youtu.be/OATPjlMcRKo https://chadd.org https://www.additudemag.com advocacyforthespecialones.com
One daughter was diagnosed with Moyamoya which led to the whole family getting genetically tested. Angelica was having mini strokes. As a mom, it was hard to convince doctors her 5-year-old was having mini strokes. There had to be a series of tests before the one test that confirmed Moyamoya. Mom says to trust your gut feeling don’t stop fighting. Don’t give up. Trust your mother’s instinct. Nothing is wrong but something just isn’t right. Second daughter, Marjorie, has a genetic duplication, 22q11.2 Eye shape and hairline were indicators and additional genetic testing was suggested. Later, there was an ADHD diagnosis along w a report with recommendations. However, getting her evaluated by the school, for services other than her current speech services was harder and longer than expected. Once Marjorie got more services, she became happier, less frustrated and reports from school and home are better. advocacyforthespecialones.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHSOse2hKwk #moyamoya #22q11.2
After 3 denials for an IEP evaluation, failing to get high school credit for a course, 4 F’s, repeated reports about bullying, and ineligibility for sports, family hired an advocate and got an IEP for their son. Family was frustrated that the 504 Plan was not enough and wasn’t being followed. Parents started to feel like maybe they were overreacting, because the district made parents feel like they were at fault, when really the district failed to do their job. District told parents IEP eligibility is based on grades and standardized test scores and their son was in the average range. He had to be failing to get an IEP.
Laurie McDevitt, Founder of Advocacy for the Special ones in Your Life, talks about her work, her clients and the “Why” behind hiring an advocate to partner with you in school meetings. advocacyforthespecialones.com
Laurie McDevitt, founder of Advocacy for the Special ones in Your Life, talks about her work, her clients and the “Why” behind hiring an advocate to partner with you in school meetings. https://www.advocacyforthespecialones.com/
Paula cried at IEP meetings. They made her sad, and reading her son’s IEP was heartbreaking. She trusted the school team and has felt gut punched more than once. She has become stronger and has developed mantras to live by, including: “Comparison is the thief of joy” and “A life lived differently is not a life less lived.” She wants to remind us that kids with special needs are still kids, deserving of being included to play with, to laugh with, and to be known. Find out more about Laurie and her advocacy business here! advocacyforthespecialones.com https://www.mlb.com/yankees
Marie is a mom of an only child and shares her story of betrayal and why she listened to her gut when determining placement for her child. She refers to the story of David and Goliath as stood up for herself to the school which she believed was retaliating by making multiple DCFS calls about the family. She believes some children have different ways of learning….One size doesn’t fit all. She believes schools expect your child to fit in a box, and when they don’t, schools try to steer the direction of IEP meetings to get the outcome they want. Schools have hundreds of meetings a year and she got the feeling it was like a well oiled machine, not an individual plan. If your Mom gut is saying something is not right, it’s probably not. Marie talks about her beautiful child and how she was able to get the help she needed, but decided not to stay with public school education. Advocacyforthespecialones.com neurohealth arlington heights Neuropsychological Testing Montessori Education . The Cove School DCFS
Annie is a mom who insisted on the least restrictive environment (LRE) when the school wanted to put her daughter into a self contained life skills class early in her schooling. The family wanted their daughter to have an LRE school experience with general education peers. The family wanted their daughter to have life skills, and believed they can be learned in the general education settings and within the family community. When the school district wanted to place her daughter in a one size fits all transition program, Annie wanted a more individualized plan, even if it had never been done before! advocacyforthespecialones.com
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Observed September 18, 2026. Cached outside the daily freshness window; the positions keep the date they were taken on.
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