Hope Consulting and Advocacy

03/12/2026

Dear CVUSD SPED Parents,
I’m reaching out to encourage you to attend the upcoming School Board meeting (March 19 at 6:00 pm) and consider speaking in support of Chris Farley, our Program Specialist.
In special education, strong leadership at the team level makes a tremendous difference for students. Mr. Farley consistently works to bring IEP teams together in a way that is collaborative, student-centered, and solution-focused. Rather than allowing meetings to become procedural or passive, he actively helps align staff, service providers, and families to ensure that student needs remain the priority.
Many of us have experienced how impactful it is when a Program Specialist:
1) Encourages open, respectful dialogue
2) Helps bridge differences between team members
3) Focuses on practical solutions
4) Keeps student needs at the center of decision-making
5) Ensures follow-through and accountability
This type of leadership supports not only students, but families and staff as well. When teams function effectively, students benefit.
If you feel Mr. Farley has positively impacted your child or your IEP experience, your voice could be meaningful at the board meeting. Even a brief statement about your experience and the importance of collaborative leadership, mutual respect, and students coming first in special education can make a difference.
Board meetings allow public comment, limited to a few minutes per speaker. Sharing specific examples of how strong team facilitation has supported your child can be especially powerful.
Thank you for considering lending your voice in support of collaborative, student-centered special education leadership.
March 19 at 6:00
13461 Ramona Ave - between Chino Ave and Shaefer Ave

02/28/2026

Dear Parents,
I’m reaching out to encourage you to attend the upcoming School Board meeting (March 19 at 6:00 pm) and consider speaking in support of Chris Farley, our Program Specialist.

In special education, strong leadership at the team level makes a tremendous difference for students. Mr. Farley consistently works to bring IEP teams together in a way that is collaborative, student-centered, and solution-focused. Rather than allowing meetings to become procedural or passive, he actively helps align staff, service providers, and families to ensure that student needs remain the priority.

Many of us have experienced how impactful it is when a Program Specialist:
1) Encourages open, respectful dialogue
2) Helps bridge differences between team members
3) Focuses on practical solutions
4) Keeps student needs at the center of decision-making
5) Ensures follow-through and accountability

This type of leadership supports not only students, but families and staff as well. When teams function effectively, students benefit.

If you feel Mr. Farley has positively impacted your child or your IEP experience, your voice could be meaningful at the board meeting. Even a brief statement about your experience and the importance of collaborative leadership, mutual respect, and students coming first in special education can make a difference.

Board meetings allow public comment, limited to a few minutes per speaker. Sharing specific examples of how strong team facilitation has supported your child can be especially powerful.

Thank you for considering lending your voice in support of collaborative, student-centered special education leadership.
March 19 at 6:00
13461 Ramona Ave - between Chino Ave and Shaefer Ave

11/05/2025

It has become increasingly concerning that some students in special education programs are being pushed to graduate simply because they have completed their required classes — even when their grades do not accurately reflect mastery of grade-level standards. While this issue certainly does not apply to all students with IEPs, it occurs far too often.
Many students in Special Education, particularly those in Mild/Moderate SDC classrooms, receive “A” or “B” grades despite clear evidence that they have not yet developed the skills or understanding needed to perform at grade level. Although well-intentioned, this practice sends a misleading message about a student’s readiness for postsecondary education or employment. It also undermines the purpose of individualized education — to provide genuine access, appropriate supports, and meaningful opportunities for growth.
If we say we have high expectations for students with IEPs, then those expectations must be reflected in the rigor and integrity of their instruction and assessment. Grades should be earned through effort and achievement, not simply awarded for participation or completion. Otherwise, we risk devaluing the hard work of both students and educators and, more importantly, setting students up for frustration or failure after graduation.
One constructive solution is to provide a more flexible high school pathway. Students who are diploma-bound could be given the option to extend their coursework over a longer period of time — up to eight years, as permitted under IDEA — while integrating life skills, vocational training, and community-based instruction. For example, math courses could be divided over two years to allow more time for concept mastery and practice, while students simultaneously learn real-world skills such as budgeting, completing job applications, managing appointments, and maintaining task lists.
This balanced approach would ensure that students graduate not only with a diploma, but with the academic, vocational, and independent living skills needed for true adult success. Rushing students through high school without equipping them for what comes next benefits no one — least of all the students themselves.

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05/30/2023

Inclusion isn’t about getting a student to meet grade level, it is about exposing them and giving them a chance to learn all they can in every area of their education. The team needs to develop appropriate accommodations and modifications so that the student is able to participate to the best of their ability in every class, it’s really important that they provide what the student needs to do their best, but we need to be aware that those accommodations and modifications aren't there to bring the student to grade level necessarily, they are there to help them do their best and be a part of their community. If we do that and their best is grade level, great, if not, that's great too.

05/27/2023

Undivided.io is a group that provides resources for parents of kiddos with Special Needs.

Here on Facebook they are Team Undivided for Parents.

Especially helpful for parents new to our life, they will help you get up to speed quickly.

05/17/2023

https://adscresources.advocatehealth.com/healthy-pace-for-eating-video/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=eating-pace&utm_term=story&utm_content=2023-05-17&fbclid=IwAR00GabxkO0Wc9iGK3X_s0wTwM3iOThaKYsqsh-mAPAQuBwLM0xW2gJvfgk

In this video, a woman with Down syndrome talks about not eating too fast, chewing food completely, and other healthy eating habits.

05/05/2023

Federal Medicaid officials are proposing major changes aimed at improving access to home and community-based services for people with disabilities and bolstering the DSP workforce.

12/12/2022

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I thought this was an eye-opening explanation of why those negatives are hard for someone with a developmental disability to process. I copied and pasted from Aspergerexperts.com and hope if you haven't found them, you will check them out and find them as helpful as I have, and really, not just for kiddos with Aspergers or HFA, whatever you think of it as these days.

The brain has trouble processing negatives

"Believe it or not, the brain has great difficulty processing negative information. When I say negative I’m not talking about it in the pessimistic sense, but rather in the mathematical one; information that is missing or taken away. For example:
Try to imagine yourself not standing in the forest. You can’t do it. You have to replace that “not” with something else. You can imagine yourself standing in the desert, standing at the mall, standing atop an impeccably groomed llama, or even standing in a blank white room, but you can’t picture yourself not standing in a forest.
Similarly, your brain has a hard time with words like “don’t” and “stop.”
“Don’t talk to me like that!”
“Stop playing with your food!”
“Don’t be so annoying.”
As a parent, when you make negative statements like these, your child’s brain has to make that additional mental leap towards deciding what to do instead.

Not to say that you shouldn’t educate your child about common mistakes and the pitfalls to avoid. The “dont's” are still needed, but by themselves they are insufficient. Your child also needs to hear the positive information, the “do’s.” They need to understand which paths might be worth trying out. When the “do’s” and “don’ts” are given together they balance and complement each other beautifully.

How exactly do you provide the positive information? Give your child less criticism about what they’re doing wrong, and include more praise about what they’re doing right. Offer clear guidance. Educate them and give them the tools and knowledge they need to make educated choices and move forward in a good direction. Have brainstorming discussions where you discover together how the task at hand might be completed or how the problem might be solved.

For example, if you say to your child “Please don’t leave stuff all over your bedroom floor,” also make a point of sitting down and having a conversation where you talk about and decide, in detail, what a clean room looks like. (I say “in detail” because people with Asperger’s need hyper-specificity.) Explore why a clean room is important, both generally and to your child specifically. Share the lessons you’ve learned through the years about how to best achieve and maintain a clean room. Ask open-ended questions and invite your child to come up with their own ideas for how they would like to keep their room clean."

This was an excerpt from our book "7 Easy Ways To Motivate Someone With Asperger's".

11/29/2022

https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/articulation-speech-therapy/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=💙+Best+gifts+for+kids+with+ASD%2C+Top+Toys+for+Autism%2C+Cycles+Approach+Speech+Therapy+and+More%21&utm_campaign=November+29%2C+2022+3rd+Newsletter+w%2FChristmas+Guides%2C+SEO+and+Autism+Cares+ad&vgo_ee=SHNF8XIjnPke9xBM8fp6FYvy7T5YEJ8ohjC9vauJg30%3D

This article is going to discuss the Cycles Approach speech therapy for autism in early childhood and elementary aged children, what it is, who it may work for, what sessions look like and more.