Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunningham

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
→ Compensatory services explained — who owes the time, who serves the time, and how to structure it
→ Relocating self-contained students on state testing days is illegal — that is an out-of-placement violation
→ Educational need vs. academic need — why a disability does not have to affect academics to qualify for services
→ Dysgraphia vs. written expression — why the eligibility matters more than the label
→ The Epic IEP Educator Academy launches June 1st — $27 per month, Monday nights at 7 PM Central, solely for school district employees
→ Can IEP students receive failing grades? Can kindergartners be placed in self-contained for behaviors? What is the difference between logs and data?

You don't know what you don't know — but you need to.
This is why we sit at the table prepared.

GET THE EPIC IEP BOOK BUNDLE — including the Epic IEP, the Federal and State Laws Guide, and the Epic IEP Para.

JOIN SPECIAL EDUCATION ACADEMY — first month free, 400+ hours of training, live every Monday at 8 PM Central.

2-DAY LIVE SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVOCACY INTENSIVE — May 23 and 24

Support the show
✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨
👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss®
Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence.
👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week!
🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources
🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy  First month free, after that, cancel anytime. 
📱 Follow Karen on:
TikTok & Instagram: @specialeducationboss
YouTube: Special Education Academy
🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game?
Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence.
📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl
(As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.)
Because when...

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 eligibility
✨ What paraprofessionals can and cannot do in special education settings
✨ What “raw data” means and why families ask for it
✨ How to think about reading levels, progress monitoring, and instructional need
✨ What ESY means and the two-part question teams should be asking
✨ Questions around transition services, 18–21 programming, and community readiness
✨ How educators can document concerns when students need more support than general education can provide
Karen also shares updates on new resources, including The Epic IEP™ Para, The Epic IEP™ Guide to Federal and State Laws, and what’s coming next for educators inside the Special Education Academy community.
Resources + Next Steps
Join The Epic IEP™ Academy here.
Explore Karen’s trainings, books, and resources, here. 
Be sure to follow, like, share, and subscribe so you never miss an episode of Special Education Boss®.
Important Reminder
We’re not giving legal advice. We’re educating you.
Support the show
✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨
👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss®
Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence.
👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week!
🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources
🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy  First month free, after that, cancel anytime. 
📱 Follow Karen on:
TikTok & Instagram: @specialeducationboss
YouTube: Special Education Academy
🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game?
Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence.
📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl
(As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.)
Because when...

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 with dyslexia: Learning Ally and Kurzweil
→ How to handle homework battles when your ADHD student is failing — and what data to bring to the IEP meeting
→ What "raw data" actually means and how to ask for it
→ How to do a 3-minute cold read and a 3-minute cold write to find your child's real reading level
→ The two-prong ESY question most schools only half-answer
→ Why consult minutes are not the same as direct services
→ What to know before you file due process
→ LRE is not a location — it's a consideration
→ The 18-to-21 transition program and vocational readiness
→ NEW: The Epic IEP Educator Academy launches June 1st — weekly training built specifically for school district employees
You don't know what you don't know — but you need to.
This is why we sit at the table prepared.
📚 Get the Epic IEP book bundle, including the brand-new Epic IEP Para guide
🎓 Join Special Education Academy, first month free, 400+ hours of training, live every Monday at 8 PM Central. 
📅 2-Day Live Virtual Special Education Advocacy Intensive: May 23–24
Support the show
✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨
👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss®
Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence.
👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week!
🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources
🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy  First month free, after that, cancel anytime. 
📱 Follow Karen on:
TikTok & Instagram: @specialeducationboss
YouTube: Special Education Academy
🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game?
Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence.
📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl
(As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.)
Because when...

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 federal law actually requires, what your state statute says, and why "district guidance" that contradicts IDEA is not guidance — it's a violation.
What you'll learn in this episode:
— Can a paraprofessional implement IEP goals? Only under three conditions: direct supervision, close proximity, and frequent contact from a certified special educator.
— What is the continuum of alternative placements? It's federal law under IDEA — not a suggestion your district gets to edit. Resource rooms, special classes, home instruction, and hospital settings are all required options.
— What is Andrew F. v. Douglas County School District? The 2017 Supreme Court decision that unanimously ruled schools must write IEPs that enable students to make progress appropriate in light of their circumstances. Ask your principal when the district-wide training on this case is scheduled.
— What are the seven components of Prior Written Notice? All seven are legally required. N/A is not an option.
— Who can modify assignments in special education? Not a paraprofessional. Not a general education teacher. Only a certified special educator.
— What are paraprofessional requirements under ESSA and No Child Left Behind? The Epic IEP Para book covers every state's statute, federal requirements, and what paraprofessionals legally cannot do.
This episode references special education law and practice in Texas, California, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York.
Karen also announces the brand-new Epic IEP Para book, now available on Amazon, covering federal law, No Child Left Behind, ESSA, and every state's statute on paraprofessional requi
Support the show
✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨
👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss®
Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence.
👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week!
🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources
🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy  First month free, after that, cancel anytime. 
📱 Follow Karen on:
TikTok & Instagram: @specialeducationboss
YouTube: Special Education Academy
🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game?
Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence.
📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl
(As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.)
Because when...

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 removed without your knowledge.
- Autism eligibility: no, a child does not need to flap their hands to qualify. Karen walks through the actual DSM-5 criteria.
- 504 vs. IEP: why accommodations alone may not be enough, and how a 504 can be amended without ever notifying the parent.
- Self-contained classrooms: why Karen believes cameras should be required in every single one.
- Plus: paras left alone with students, one-to-one support, eloping, chronic pain, ADHD and IEP eligibility, modified testing, and more.

Resources:
theepiciep.com/para (NEW Epic IEP Para book)
theepiciep.com (book bundle)
specialeducationacademy.com
[email protected]

Karen Mayor Cunningham is the Special Education Boss - advocate, trainer, and bestselling author of the Epic IEP book series. Her mission: get it right for the child, get it right for everybody.

Subscribe for live Ask the Advocate sessions every Monday at 8 PM inside the Special Education Academy™.
Support the show
✨ When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody. ✨
👩‍⚖️ Hosted by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Advocate & Special Education Boss®
Each week, Karen shares real stories, legal insights, and no-nonsense strategies to help you navigate special education with clarity and confidence.
👉 Subscribe & never miss an episode — new episodes drop every week!
🎓 Join The Academy: Weekly live trainings + 250+ hours of advocacy tools & expert resources
🔗 Learn more at The Epic IEP™ Academy  First month free, after that, cancel anytime. 
📱 Follow Karen on:
TikTok & Instagram: @specialeducationboss
YouTube: Special Education Academy
🧠 Want to level up your advocacy game?
Check out the Advocate's Bookshelf — a curated collection of must-have tools, guides, and legal references every special education advocate should own. From federal code to diagnostic manuals, these are the essentials that help you advocate with clarity and confidence.
📚 Browse now: https://amzn.to/3RiQPLl
(As an Amazon Associate, Karen may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.)
Because when...