It’s Spooky Season! And trick or Treating is right around the corner. For many parents and kids this is a fun pastime filled with excitement about costumes, candy, and neighborhood fun. For neurodiverse children and their parents, Trick or Treating can be incredibly challenging and stressful. We have put together some tips and strategies that we think might help as you prepare to trick or treat with your child or children this year!

Over my two decades as a special educator, I have had many parents and caregivers ask “how do I get my child one of those plans for extra help?” What they are actually referring to is an Individualized Education Plan or IEP.

For simplicity's sake, it may appear that these are simply documents that provide “extra help” for a student, but they are actually an invaluable tool (and legally binding document!) for providing equity and accessibility to education for students with disabilities.