Why the IEP Is the Heart of Special Education

Behind every child with unique learning needs is a team of dedicated educators and caregivers, working together to build not just an academic path but a life of dignity, purpose, and possibility. At the center of that journey stands a tool that transforms potential into progress: the Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

The IEP is more than a document. It is a personalized roadmap—designed to celebrate a child’s strengths, support their challenges, and ensure that education is not just equal, but equitable. For children with disabilities, the IEP is a legal promise that their learning needs will not be overlooked, rushed, or underestimated.

In this article, we will explore the importance, core elements, and procedures involved in crafting an effective IEP—and why, when done right, it becomes one of the most powerful advocacy tools in a child’s educational journey.

Did you know that research shows...

Bilinguals identify cognates with higher accuracy and faster speed than noncognate words(Squires et al, 2020)

Bilingual students show cross-linguistic transfer and feasibility. (Kambanaros et al 2017)

Using cognates leads to greater gains in vocabulary naming (Dam et al 2020)

This is why I created a Spanish-English articulations screener using Cognates. Same list of words gets you all the sounds you need in most word positions.

You can find this resource in the Digital Market

As CTO at Liricare, I'm excited to announce something big for our amazing SLP community! We’ve launched the Liricare Digital Market—an innovative, commission-free marketplace designed exclusively for you to sell your original therapy materials. No hidden fees, no cuts—just your expertise directly rewarded.

Ready to amplify your impact and keep 100% of your earnings? Head over to the Digital Market tab and join the future of selling therapy resources. Your knowledge deserves full value—let’s make it happen!
#LiricareDigitalMarket #SLP #SpeechTherapy #Innovation

From the Desk of The Data King:
Here are ten highly regarded master's programs in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) in the USA:

1. University of Iowa
2. Vanderbilt University
3. University of Arizona
4. Northwestern University
5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
6. Boston University
7. University of Washington
8. Emory University
9. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
10. New York University (NYU)

These programs are known for their strong faculty, research opportunities, and clinical training.

Curious about Lighthouse Therapy?

Click the link below to hear from our CEO, Janet Courtney, as she shares what makes us unique!

https://youtu.be/EY84654gyeo

At Lighthouse Therapy, we’re a company run by therapists, for therapists—all with one mission: empowering students to succeed.

Visit our website at https://lighthouse-therapy.com/ to learn more!

How can we use AI, as speech-language pathologists? Interestingly, musicians might give us a framework for the ways in which we can integrate AI into our practices.

https://youtube.com/shorts/UE7Rq4tHPd8?si=tl5F6ppblEZV8g1N

I had the honor of being featured on Venita Litvack's Speechie Side Up Podcast.

We talk about disability, accessibility, and diversity in the CSD field.

Please take a listen and feel free to share!

https://anchor.fm/speechiesideup

Differences and Similarities in
OT, PT and SLP Coursework

Do you know about the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact (ASLP-IC)? Find out if the state you are licensed in will be participating and what that might means to you:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KVt-E71uAs_kYlY7j-hBFeqnY6fQ0nmEcO4Fplri2U0/edit?usp=sharing

For those preparing for the SLP Praxis® Exam, here's a Statistics Refresher from ASHA that can help you study Research: https://www.asha.org/research/ebp/statistics-refresher/