Behavior is not just a choice. It is communication, capacity, nervous system response, and often a reflection of the support a child has — or has not — received.

In this powerful episode of Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunningham, Karen sits down with Rick and Doris Bowman of Bowman Consulting Group for a deeply important conversation about behavior, trauma-informed support, nervous system regulation, and what schools must understand when working with students who have big behavioral needs.

Rick and Doris bring decades of experience in education, mental health, behavior support, collaborative problem solving, trauma-informed practices, and neuroscience-aligned interventions. Together, they unpack why traditional behavior systems often fail, why consequences alone do not create durable change, and why adults must understand what is happening beneath the behavior.

This conversation challenges the idea that children are simply “choosing” to misbehave. Instead, Karen, Rick, and Doris talk about regulation, skill-building, identity, shame, failure, teacher fear, and the critical role adults play in helping students access their thinking brain and build new pathways for success.

Learn more about Rick and Doris Bowman: Bowman Consulting Group

Want more training on IEPs, 504s, FBAs, behavior support, procedural safeguards, evaluations, eligibility, prior written notice, and special education advocacy?

Join The Epic IEP™ Academy.

Follow, like, share, and subscribe so more parents, educators, and advocates can learn how to sit at the table prepared.

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...

Nobody prepared you for what it actually feels like to sit across from a teacher in an IEP meeting. And nobody prepared that teacher for what it feels like when you walk in.

Karen Mayer Cunningham, Special Education Boss, sits down with Chana Dixon - special education supervisor with 23 years in the field - for one of the most honest conversations in special education. This is not about paperwork. This is about people.

In this episode:

- Why special educators are on an island. In most schools, special ed teachers are the minority. They have no peers to collaborate with, no one to bounce ideas off, and the only time they interact with the broader team is at IEP meetings - which are already stressful for everyone.

- The IEP meeting is also an evaluation of the teacher. When you are reviewing a document of deficits, you are also evaluating the person who wrote it. Chana breaks down why teachers feel attacked even when no attack is intended.

- How to communicate in an IEP meeting without making teachers feel blamed. Chana's reframe: instead of asking why a student is not learning a skill, ask the teacher to show you how that student needs to learn it. That one shift changes everything.

- Why professional development for special educators is almost entirely compliance-based. It is not about filling teachers up. It is about making sure they did not miss a checkbox.

- Why teachers stay. It is not the money. It is the kids. Period.

- The Epic IEP Academy for Educators is coming in June. Karen and Chana are co-leading a space built specifically for special educators - a community, a training ground, and a place where educators are finally seen.

Resources:
Special Education Academy: specialeducationacademy.com
Epic IEP Book Bundle: theepiciep.com
Email: advocate@specialeducationacademy.com

Karen Mayer 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 8PM 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...

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...