SUPPORT BEYOND THE IEP TABLE
The IEP Slay Summit
A holistic approach to supporting your child’s learning, emotional well-being, and future.
While IEPs matter, they’re only one piece of a much bigger picture. This 7-day virtual summit brings together leading experts to help parents understand how learning, anxiety, executive functioning, communication, and long-term planning all connect, so you can advocate for your child’s whole life, not just this school year.
KEY DETAILS
March 15-21
Date:​
Speaker Sessions:​
Live Q&A:
Type:
10 pre-recorded expert sessions
Sunday - Thursday
Virtual, watch when you can ​
This Summit Is for You If…
The IEP Slay virtual summit is designed for anyone who supports a child with learning differences, ADHD, autism, anxiety, or executive functioning challenges.
Whether you’re navigating an IEP or 504 Plan, worried about emotional regulation, or thinking ahead to independence and adulthood, this summit will help you connect the dots and move forward with clarity.
THIS INCLUDES:
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Parents and caregivers
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Guardians and grandparents
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Educators and school staff
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Therapists and service providers
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Advocates and consultants
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Professionals supporting neurodivergent children
IEPs Are Important.
But They’re Not the Whole Story
Most families are forced to navigate school services, emotional struggles, and future planning in silos, even though in real life, these areas are deeply connected.
PARENTS OFTEN FIND THEMSELVES:
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Focused on IEP meetings without understanding why progress stalls
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Addressing anxiety or behavior without seeing how learning differences drive it
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Worrying about adulthood and independence but unsure when or how to plan
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Constantly reacting instead of leading with confidence
The IEP Slay™ Summit helps families step back, see the full picture, and start planning proactively.
What You’ll Walk Away With
A clearer understanding of your child’s learning profile and why certain struggles persist.
Practical strategies to support executive functioning and emotional regulation.
Insight into communication and language challenges beyond speech alone.
Tools to recognize anxiety when it shows up as avoidance, shutdown, or behavior.
Most importantly, you’ll learn how school, emotional health, daily functioning, and long-term outcomes all connect, so you can stop reacting and start planning.
This summit gives you integrated insight, not fragmented advice, so you can make informed decisions with confidence.
Guidance on building real-world life skills and independence
A foundational understanding of special needs planning, legally, financially, and practically.
A neurodiversity-affirming perspective on autism across home, school, and life.
Some of the Topics We’ll Cover
Life skills and how to meaningfully include them in an IEP
Executive functioning and independence
Anxiety and emotional regulation
Speech, language, and communication support
Financial and legal planning for children with disabilities
Dyslexia and learning disabilities
Neuropsychological evaluations explained
Parenting support and life coaching
MEET THE SPEAKERS
Learn From Experts Who See the Whole Child
No single professional sees the full picture. That’s why this summit brings multiple expert perspectives together in one place—so parents don’t have to connect the dots alone.
DR. REBECCA FONTANETTA
Neuropsychological Evaluation: What is is?
Dr. Rebecca Fontanetta is a board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist specializing in the evaluation and treatment of children with brain-based behavioral and psychiatric disorders. With advanced training in autism assessment and neuropsychological testing, she helps families better understand their child’s learning profile and serves as a trusted guide for next steps.
LISA CANDERA
Afterschool: Collision to Co-Regulation
Lisa Candera is a practicing attorney, life coach, and single mom to a teen with autism and OCD. She supports autism moms in regulating themselves first so they can parent with more calm, compassion, and confidence. As host of The Autism Mom Podcast and a frequent speaker on self-care and emotional regulation, Lisa helps families navigate the emotional realities of raising neurodivergent children.
COURTNEY SPENCER
Advocate for Your Child Without losing Yourself
Courtney is a special education attorney, transformational coach, and professional speaker with over 25 years of legal experience. After experiencing burnout herself, she redesigned her life and now helps high-performing women create balance, clarity, and sustainable success. Through her combined expertise in law and coaching, she empowers professionals and parents to lead with confidence—without sacrificing their well-being.
CLAUDIA ENGLISBY
Disability Planning
After personal tragedy impacted her own family, Claudia dedicated her legal career to disability and estate planning. With advanced training in Estate Planning and Elder Law, she founded Disability Planning Partners to provide individualized, compassionate planning solutions for families. She helps caregivers protect their loved ones’ futures through thoughtful financial and legal strategies tailored to complex needs.
JADE ATKINS
IEP Binder Webinar Presentation
Jade Adkins is a special educator with over a decade of classroom experience and the founder of a thriving advocacy practice. After seeing how overwhelmed families felt navigating the IEP process, she dedicated her work to empowering parents with the clarity, confidence, and tools they need to secure the services their children deserve.
MARLA DAKIN
From Panic to Poise
Marla Dakin is a licensed therapist and anxiety specialist with over 20 years of experience as a school social worker. As the owner of Farmington Valley Counseling Center, she helps children and parents better understand and manage anxiety so they can thrive at home and in school. Through therapy, workshops, and speaking engagements, Marla equips families with practical tools to build emotional resilience.
SEAN MCCORMICK
How to Advocate for EF Coaching Services
Sean is a former public school special education teacher who now specializes in executive function coaching. As the founder of Executive Function Specialists and The Executive Function Coaching Academy, he helps students, parents, and educators strengthen organization, planning, and follow-through skills that support long-term success.
JULIE SWANSON
Life Skills Matter
Julie Swanson is a special education advocate and parent of a young adult on the autism spectrum. Inspired by her own advocacy journey, she founded LifeSkillsLady.com to highlight the critical connection between life skills and long-term outcomes in autism. She is also the author of Your Special Education Rights, helping parents better understand their rights under IDEA.
ELISSA R. MANDEL
Your Child Can Talk
Elissa Mandel is a keynote speaker, author, and late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD professional with over 30 years of clinical experience. As the founder of Speech Works by Elissa, she helps parents of nonspeaking and speech-delayed children support communication and independence through a motor-based, root-cause approach. Her mission is simple: to equip families with the tools and confidence to help their children thrive.
STEPHANIE TSAPAKIS & CHELSEA DIMARZIO
Understanding Dyslexia
Stephanie Tsapakis, founder of The LD Expert, and Chelsea DiMarzio, speech-language pathologist and co-owner, bring together deep expertise in learning differences and language development. With years of experience supporting students virtually across the country, they specialize in dyslexia, literacy intervention, and language-based challenges. Together, they help families understand how to support struggling learners with targeted, evidence-based strategies that build both skills and confidence.
How the Summit Is Structured
Sunday, March 15 at 8:00AM EST:
7:00 PM EST (Sunday- Thursday):
3/21 - 12:00 PM EST:
10 pre-recorded educational sessions released
Live Q&A sessions with experts
Closing Open House with current IEP Slay members
Gain full access to all expert sessions, live Q&As, and recordings throughout the week.