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This complete guide and goal bank provides information on creating IEP goals for students with dyslexia. Learn about dyslexia and get examples of goals to use in your student's individualized education plan.

Dyslexia IEP Goals: A Complete Guide and Goal Bank

Learn how special education directors can build the best teams for student success. Discover effective strategies and practical tips for recruiting, training, and supporting special education staff to make a positive impact in your school or district. Read more on Parallel Learning.

Making an Impact: How Special Education Directors Can Build the Best Teams for Student Success

Preparing for a special education director interview? Discover the top 7 things you need to know to excel in your interview and increase your chances of landing the role. From understanding the unique responsibilities to showcasing your expertise, this comprehensive guide provides valuable insights for aspiring special education directors.

Top 7 Things To Know For A Special Education Director Interview

Unlock the secrets to successful team building and interviewing as a Special Education Director with Parallel Learning's comprehensive handbook. Gain valuable tips and expert advice to create a thriving team and excel in your role. Empower your career in special education by accessing this invaluable resource.

Finding Your Perfect Team: The Special Education Director's Interview Handbook

Discover valuable insights and practical guidance on navigating your first 90 days as a Special Education Director. Learn what to expect, overcome challenges, and set a successful foundation in this comprehensive guide from Parallel Learning.

Navigating the First 90 Days: What to Expect as a Special Education Director

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Essential Requirements and Skills for a Special Education Director: A Deep Dive

How Special Education Teams Can Use Instructional Strategies to Improve Student Outcomes

“You should have your child evaluated.” No parent wants to hear their child may have a learning difference or a disability, but every parent wants the best for their child. When a recommendation for a learning evaluation is made, it’s important to take that recommendation seriously and seek out professional help to ensure that your child is receiving the support they need to succeed in and out of school.

Evaluating Your Evaluation Options: Comparing Private Clinic and Public School Testing for Learning Differences

Learning about the different types of learning assessments and evaluations can give you clues as to what type of testing may benefit your child and help get to the root of their challenges or learning differences.

What are the 6 Different Types of Learning Evaluations?

When your child struggles to keep up with their peers academically or behaviorally, a teacher may recommend that you have them evaluated for learning differences and/or learning disabilities. This evaluation, depending on their strengths and weaknesses, may be a comprehensive learning evaluation. Before investing time, energy, and money into an evaluation for your child, it’s essential to understand what a comprehensive learning evaluation is and its purpose.

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The Purpose of Comprehensive Learning Evaluations: 4 Reasons to Have Your Child Tested

School is a challenge. Your student will have ups and downs throughout the school year, but consistent learning challenges and difficulties may be caused by an unidentified learning difference or learning disability.

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How Do I Know If My Child Needs a Learning Evaluation?

Unlock the power of collaboration and communication as a Special Education Director with our insightful blog. Discover strategies and best practices to enhance your role in fostering a supportive environment for special education. Gain valuable insights to strengthen partnerships, improve student outcomes, and lead with confidence in this essential educational leadership position.

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Special Education Director Role: Enhancing Collaboration and Communication

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Parallel Learning is here to share resources, information, and support for those struggling with mental health. Learn more about the importance of mental health awareness, how to recognize the signs of someone struggling, and ways to show your support. Join our team of school psychologists and social workers in making a difference for mental health. Check out our blog today.

Empowering Mental Health: Tips and Resources for Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health

Discover the essential roles and responsibilities of school psychologists in this comprehensive guide. Learn about their vital contributions to student well-being, academic success, and supporting inclusive learning environments. Gain insights into the diverse range of services provided by school psychologists and their impact on educational settings.

School Psychologists: Roles and Responsibilities

School Psychology

December 3rd marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This day gives us pause to consider how each of us can make an impact on those in our personal lives and greater circles with actions both big and small. Below are some ways we can all give back, self-reflect, and make changes to be better advocates and allies to those with disabilities.

International Day for Persons with Disabilities

Every holiday season we are given the opportunity to embrace more quality time at home. Some parents worry that time away from school might derail their child's learning progress. While you might be tempted to bring out the workbooks and learning apps, most teachers feel strongly about students resting and not doing work that mirrors that of a classroom during breaks. Children need to recharge and reset. However, that does not mean you can't offer plenty of engaging, off-screen, and academically stimulating activities at home. Here are 10 ways you can keep your child learning during the holidays!

10 Ways to Keep Your Child Learning During Holiday Breaks

We all know that capturing who your child is as a learner on one document can be challenging. However, report cards are a necessary means to communicate a child's academic and social progress throughout the school year. So what do you do with this document exactly? You have the report card...now what?

How Should I Interpret My Child's Report Card?

As we enter the winter break, you may be thinking about how best to thank your child's teachers and school staff. First, please know that gifts, while appreciated, are not mandatory for your child's teacher. You might also need to check with your child's school and see if they have a gift policy. However, if you are wondering how to show gratitude during the holidays, we polled teachers across the nation to see what gifts they truly prefer during the holiday season and put together this gift guide!

Holiday Gift Guide for Our Beloved Teachers

For many of us, the start of the second half of the school year signals a fresh beginning and an opportunity for growth and change. In addition to setting goals and resolutions, January also offers a great time to clear out and organize spaces. For families with children who have unique needs and/or learning disabilities, organization and structure can be especially helpful in creating a more successful home and school experience.

Organizing for Success: Places and Spaces

On the heels of our recent blog post on the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, we wanted to put together a list of books that focus on, or include characters with diverse learning styles or disabilities. Whether it's your own child who would benefit from relatable characters and content, or you simply want to enrich your home library, these books offer increased representation and will make a wonderful addition to your collection.

Parallel's Inclusive Book Guide for Children

The college admissions process, while exciting, can be extremely stressful and laborious for any high school student. We spoke with Dr. Megan Hallam, a school psychologist and Director of Student Support Services with a doctorate in Educational Leadership, to learn more about how this process uniquely affects students with disabilities. We put together six important steps in the college admission process for high schoolers with disabilities.

College Admissions Process

For many schools, standardized test season is on the horizon. Now is the perfect time to make sure everything is in order and your child has an opportunity to practice testing skills, if necessary. It is important to understand that standardized tests are only one measure of your child's academic achievement. While you don't want your child to feel unnecessary pressure and stress surrounding these tests, there are things you can do to prepare and make your child feel more comfortable.

Preparing for Standardized Tests

Oftentimes, we look back at certain times in our lives and think, "If I only knew then what I know now." We wish we could sit our past selves down and share the knowledge we have accrued in hopes of easing worries and providing invaluable information. As you start down the path with a child who might need an evaluation for dyslexia or has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia, you may face a mix of emotions: confirmation, fear, anxiety, confusion, anger, relief at a diagnosis, etc. We asked parents, teachers, and adults with dyslexia to share with us the advice they would give to others. We asked, "What are the things you wish you would have known?" Below are their words.

Things I Wish I'd Known: Dyslexia

We all hope for our children to have a passion for books and a love for reading. In a world full of video games and flashy devices, we take great joy in seeing our child tucked away in a corner, nose in a book. Building lifelong readers starts at home. While literacy instruction is happening in schools, it is also important to create an environment at home which supports younger children who are learning to read. Below are some ways you can reinforce those budding literacy skills.

Literacy at Home: Learning to Read

ADD/ADHD is one of the most misunderstood neurodivergencies. Many people casually assign the label to anyone who demonstrates any of the wide range of indicators. Some people don't even believe it to be a real diagnosis, but rather a ploy by the pharmaceutical companies to tame energetic kids. In truth, it is very real and can greatly impact the daily lives of children and adults. As with our recent article focusing on dyslexia, we took to social media and asked parents, caregivers and teachers what they wish they had known early on in the process of seeking a diagnosis or receiving one.

Things I Wish I'd Known: ADHD

Believe it or not, summer is just around the corner. With so much to think about and plan for the summer months, you may be wondering how to make the most of your child's summer break. One of the most beneficial things for your child or teen can be involvement in a specialized summer program which provides a jumpstart and proactive approach to preparing for the next school year. We've put together four reasons why summer programs can be a highly advantageous opportunity.

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Top Benefits of Summer Programs

Juneteenth is a federal holiday celebrated in the United States which commemorates the end of slavery and celebrates African-American culture. In this blog we will give you a brief history of this important holiday as well as resources and ways to celebrate and honor this significant day with your family.

Juneteenth: A Family Guide

As we close out the month of June, we wanted to give pause to celebrate Pride month and its history and think about ways to continue the celebration and support of our LGBTQIA+ community year round. Pride month is celebrated every June across our country with parades, festivals, concerts, and other events and celebrations.

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Pride and Beyond: Supporting the LGBTQIA+ Community

This blog post is about the importance of tracking and monitoring Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals for students with disabilities and learning differences. It discusses the significance of proper IEP management, including compliance, accountability, and student success.

How to Track and Monitor IEP goals: A Resource for IEP and Special Education Teams

To help get your Special Education/IEP team get started, we’ve put together a SMART goal bank with executive functioning IEP goals for each age group. As always, you will need to modify these goals based on the student’s individual needs and your school’s resources.

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Executive Functioning IEP Goals: A Complete Guide and Goal Bank

Check out these 10 fun and engaging ways to get your child learning this summer with friends and family!

10 Ways To Keep Your Child Learning This Summer

As children grow older and spend less and less time developing the skills necessary to learn to read, they make a switch to being able to read to learn. Once your child is past the emergent literacy stage, they will really start to engage in deep levels of reading for meaning. There are many ways you can help facilitate this learning at home. Here are 5 ways to help boost your older child and teen's literacy skills!

Literacy At Home: Reading to Learn

Literacy

It's back to school time and we know that teachers have a lot on their plates. One of the trickiest parts of getting started each year is setting up a space for a classroom full of unique and diverse learners. With the help of special education teachers, we've put together 6 tips to setting up your classroom for all learners.

For Educators: Preparing Your Classroom For All Learners

The school doors are opening soon and those back to school butterflies are starting to flutter for both parents and children. We know just how hectic the days leading up to the return to classrooms can be, so we've put together 10 tips on how to help your child (and you) have an easy transition back to school!

Back to School Guide for Parents

There is no shortage of things to buy, do, and prepare for your child's return to school this fall. If you have a child who has learning differences, receives services, struggles with behavior or mental health, etc., you have even more to think about this school year. We've put together some important reminders to start this next school year off right!

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Your Back-To-School Checklist

In our last "Organizing for Success" blog, we tackled ways to set up your spaces to help ease your child's anxieties and conquer their day. Another way to organize for success in your home is by creating a predictable and positive homework experience. If your child has ever had homework anxiety or even a meltdown, you know how frustrating it can be for everyone. Below are 6 ways to design a homework routine and system that can help with this daily task.

Organizing for Success: Homework

Curious about Parallel? Want to learn more about what we do and, most importantly, how we can help you and your child? At Parallel, we offer a free consultation as a first step in building a wonderful partnership with you and your family. This 15 minute consultation allows us to get to know you and your child and help us find the right match of providers and care plan for you. Below are 7 reasons to book this free consultation with us today!

7 Reasons to Book a Parallel Consultation Today

Remote services and tele-assessment have been increasing over the last several years, even more so post-pandemic. Parallel has built a tele-assessment platform to conduct virtual psychological assessments to diagnose Dyslexia, ADHD, and other learning and thinking differences. As clinicians, you may have curiosities around the process and validity of tele-assessment. We spoke with our Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Jordan Wright, to answer your frequently asked questions.

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For Clinicians: Tele-assessment Q&A

When you start to research famous individuals with dyslexia, it is easy to see why there may be a correlation with success and creativity. Below are 10 famous people with dyslexia.

10 Famous Individuals with Dyslexia

Halloween is one of the most celebrated holidays in America. Over 70% of the country celebrates this spooky holiday in one way or another. While it can be a wonderful time for dressing up, playing games, and indulging in sweets, it can also be a time that is stressful, overwhelming, and potentially offensive to others. Taking a little time to get more knowledgeable about having a more inclusive Halloween will benefit your family and others! We’ve put together 7 ways you can be more aware and inclusive this October.

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How to Be Inclusive This Halloween

As many teachers know, the need for evaluations and support services continues to increase over the years. With rising costs, limited resources, and long waiting times, for many families more options are a necessity. Parallel has built a tele-assessment platform to conduct virtual psychological assessments to diagnose Dyslexia, ADHD, and other learning and thinking differences. As educators, you may have curiosities around the process and validity of tele-assessment and online services. We spoke with our Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Jordan Wright, to answer your frequently asked questions.

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Tele-Assessment FAQ for Teachers

In our last Literacy at Home series blog we discussed how older students read to learn. Very similarly, once a child has mastered writing mechanics and the act of learning to write, they are able to begin the process of writing to learn. No longer are their brains solely focused on letter formation, handwriting, and other mechanics. They now can use writing as a tool to communicate and comprehend across genres.

Literacy at Home: Writing to Learn

Literacy

In our first Inclusive Book Guide, we put together a list of books that focus on, or include characters with diverse learning styles or disabilities. We've created a part 2 of our Inclusive Book Guide with even more book titles.

Inclusive Book Guide: Part 2

Literacy

Writing effective SMART IEP goals takes practice and time. To help get you and your IEP/Special Education team started, we've put together an IEP bank, featuring 100 SMART IEP goals for each content area. Feel free to bookmark this tab for future use. As always, make sure to modify the IEP SMART goals to fit the student's and schools specific needs and timelines.

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IEP Goal Bank: 100 SMART IEP Goals for Content Areas for Special Education Teams

ADHD can impact a child's daily life, especially in school. Oftentimes, children will begin to show signs and symptoms of ADHD before an official diagnosis. Therefore, we've put together common ways ADHD presents in the classroom.

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ADHD in the Classroom

In our last blog in the Literacy at Home series, we discussed ways you can help your younger child learn to read at home. Just like you can support your child's growth in learning to read, you can also help to facilitate the early writing process. Here are 6 ways to help your child develop those early writing skills at home.

Literacy at Home: Learning to Write

If you have a child who is demonstrating difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling, you are most likely curious about what resources and programs are best to help your child learn literacy skills. In talking with teachers, parents, and other professionals, you have probably heard of or will hear about Orton-Gillingham or "OG". So what is this program and why is it beneficial for your child to have a tutor who uses this instructional method? In this post, we break down the basics for you, discussing exactly what it is and why it is so helpful.

Your Guide to Orton Gillingham

Millions of adults and children across the country have challenges with speech and language. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 7.5 million people in the United States have difficulties using their voices. While some children might outgrow mild speech disorders, for many it may be necessary to seek the expertise of a speech therapist.

Your Guide to Speech and Language Disorders

Speech and Language

The Power of a Diagnosis for a Learning or Thinking Difference

You make decisions based on the information you have. The more information you have before making a decision, the more likely you are to make the right decision. When it comes to caring for your child, you have endless streams of information that you use to make decisions for them. But, while endless, this information comes in pieces, and it doesn’t always lead to understanding. A diagnosis brings understanding to you, your child, and educators, and this understanding can become a powerful tool that helps your child grow in and out of the classroom.

Does your child have a hard time staying organized? Are they falling behind on schoolwork and struggling to catch up? These issues are often not due to a lack of motivation or intelligence, but related to delays in executive functions.

What Is Executive Function Coaching?

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A Guide to ADHD

According to the CDC, ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. Although often first diagnosed in childhood, it often lasts into adulthood. There are many characteristics which are often commonly associated with ADHD, such as attention difficulties, impulsivity, hyper-activity, etc. However, there are many times these behaviors could be attributed to something else and there are often other signs of ADHD which can be easily missed. We've put together a quick guide on what to look out for and what ADHD is, and isn't.

We know teachers are always on the hunt for fantastic books to add to their classroom libraries. We wanted to put together a list of books that focus on, or include characters with diverse learning styles or disabilities. Whether you have a student who would benefit from relatable characters and content, or you simply want to enrich your classroom library, these books offer increased representation and will make a wonderful addition to your collection.

Teachers' Inclusive Book Guide

The holidays bring so many things into our lives which we hold special. They also bring extra time to spend with our families. Whether you are looking for things to fill the time, new traditions to start, or activities to enrich learning while your children are on break from school, we've put together 6 ways to learn at home during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving Learning at Home

If your child already has an evaluation, receives special education services, or is undergoing the process to determine eligibility for services, you may have noticed there are many people involved in the journey. In this blog, we're breaking down the roles and responsibilities of all of the school-based professionals who are involved in a school's special education program.

Roles & Responsibilities of Special Education Professionals

Each December, schools across the country abound with holiday programs, musicals, concerts, art shows, presentations, etc. It is a wonderful time for children and teens to show off all their amazing talents and skills across various subject areas. Extracurricular activities, such as music, art, athletics, etc. have many benefits. These special areas and after school activities can be especially important for those students with learning or behavioral differences. We have put together 8 reasons why we love extracurricular activities and the benefits they bring!

Benefits of Extracurricular Activities

In this blog, we look at how psychologists, teachers, and parents work together during the evaluation process to utilize an evaluation and its recommendations to best help a child within the school context.

How do Psychologists, Teachers, and Parents Work Together?

December is a time for many that is synonymous with festivities and the holiday season. While many families celebrate the holidays which are aligned with their family culture, it is always a wonderful idea to learn more about other celebrations from cultures around the world. We have put together a list of 8 December holidays with resources for your family to learn more about these special celebrations.

December Holidays: A Family Guide

Throughout the school year there might be times when your students are asked to complete a written exam task. Many schools administer written exams as part of standardized testing. Additionally, your students might also need to submit their writing as part of an evaluation such as the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam). ‍There are many things you can do with your students to help develop the necessary skill sets for written assessments. We've put together a list of 4 things to be mindful of while helping your students prepare for these written assignments.

Preparing Students for Written Tests

In our last blog we discussed what executive functioning skills are and how struggles with these skills might manifest in the classroom and at home. In addition to specialized tutoring with an executive functioning expert, there are things classroom teachers can do within their spaces to help students who might be struggling in these areas. In this blog, we've put together 6 ways educators can help students with executive functioning issues.

For Educators: Helping Students with Executive Functioning Issues

Executive Functioning

We love January! The new year brings with it the opportunity to reflect, reinvent, and set new intentions. Although in the education space, August and September are the beginning of the (academic) year, January and the new calendar year provide a wonderful mid-way stopping point to assess and make changes in the classroom. We've put together 5 ways educators can get organized for success in the new calendar year.

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Organizing for Success in the New Year: Teacher Guide

About this time every year, students (and teachers) across the country hit what educators call the “mid-year slump”. This is the point in the academic year when the newness and fun of the school year has worn off. Students are no longer well-rested from the summer, excited for the new year, and eager to please and impress their new teachers and classmates.

Overcoming the Mid-Year Slump

February is nationally recognized as Black History month, a time dedicated to focusing attention on the accomplishments, stories, contributions, and history of African Americans throughout United States history. We've put together ideas and resources to help your family learn and celebrate in February and beyond.

Black History Month: A Family Guide

In today's busy world, parents and educators are stretched to the max, making the face to face time provided by parent-teacher conferences precious. Despite parents having more access to teachers than ever before via email (remember when our parents had to hand-write notes to send in our backpack?), there is no replacement for in person conversation. Making the most of the conference is crucial and there are things parents can do to make the experience positive and productive!

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7 Tips For a Great Parent Teacher Conference

One of the best ways for special education teams to develop strong and effective IEP goals is to use the SMART goals method. In this article, we will discuss why SMART IEP goals are important for well-executed IEPs and how and why special education teams should write effective SMART IEP Goals for successful IEP implementation.

How to Create SMART Goals for Effective IEPs

Learning differences come in many iterations, looking different from one person to the next. You might have heard the expression "The 3 D's" in the learning and medical communities. But what does that mean? The 3 D's represent dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. While many children and adults might be diagnosed with just one of these learning disabilities, there are also times when someone is diagnosed with all three. In this blog we break down each of these LD's and what to look for.

Defining the 3 D's: Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Dyscalculia

Students with dyslexia are some of the most brilliant, creative, and exceptional minds you will ever teach. That being said, dyslexia is a learning disability which can greatly impact a student’s ability to process and produce in the areas of reading, writing, and spelling. The good news is there are many proven strategies that educators can use inside the classroom to help support these learners in achieving success in their day to day academics. We’ve put together 8 ways to help students with dyslexia in the classroom.

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8 Ways To Help Students With Dyslexia

Every student deserves the opportunity to succeed in the classroom, but some students require instruction and support that is catered to their learning profile. However, most lesson plans, teaching styles, and even the classroom structure are all designed to be effective for the average student. This leaves students with learning differences and disabilities behind. IEPs play an essential role in ensuring that every student has the opportunity to learn in a way that works for them.

What Is An Individualized Education Program (IEP)?

Oftentimes, parents, caregivers, and educators come to realize that a student with learning differences or needs might not be as successful in a general education classroom as they could be. Fortunately, your child may be able to qualify for and receive assistance from an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) or a 504 plan which can help provide individualized support, instruction, and accommodations. Navigating which plan might be best for your child and how to go about obtaining one can be both time consuming and confusing. To help make the process easier, we've mapped out the plans' similarities and differences below.

Learning Plans Explained: IEP's & 504s

As Speech-Language providers, you may be wondering how virtual SLP services and therapy work, how valid the services are, and what virtual speech-language therapy looks like in terms of relationships with schools and parents. We spoke to Shauna Beyer, the lead SLP for Parallel Learning, to answer your frequently asked questions.

Virtual Speech-Language Therapy Q&A

Speech and Language

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common disorders affecting children. ADHD is considered a chronic disorder which impacts an individual in many aspects of their life. Common ways ADHD might be affecting your child are: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. While ADHD can impact everyone differently, there are several resources available for families and students which can help with day to day tasks and productivity for work and school.

ADHD ToolKit For Families

Dyslexia is a language processing disorder which can impact reading, writing, spelling, and potentially speaking. While dyslexia can impact everyone differently, there are several resources available for families and students which can help with day to day tasks and productivity for work and school.

Dyslexia Toolkit For Families

Dyscalculia refers to a range of struggles with mathematics that include difficulties understanding the meaning of numbers and challenges using mathematical principles to solve math problems. This might cause some children to have trouble recognizing numbers, delays in counting, challenges with patterns and numbering, etc. We’ve put together several resources available for families and students which can help with day to day tasks and productivity for work and school.

Dyscalculia ToolKit For Families

Dyscalculia