Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunningham
by Karen Mayer Cunningham, Special Education Boss®
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Estimated from 1 chart position in 1 market.
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- 🇺🇸US · How To#1265K to 30K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
2.5K to 15K🎙 ~2x weekly·137 episodes·Last published 6d ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
5K to 30K🇺🇸100% - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
2K to 12K
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On the show
From 10 epsHost
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Recent episodes
Beyond Behavior Management: What the Science Actually Says
Jun 18, 2026
1h 31m 00s
Early Pickups, ESY Denials, and the Truth About IEEs - Summer IEP Questions Answered
Jun 11, 2026
54m 59s
EP Minutes, Comp Services, ESY & Retention — Ask the Advocate LIVE
Jun 3, 2026
1h 01m 09s
She Knew Something Was Wrong. She Was Right. | Mia's Story | Special Education Boss®
May 28, 2026
47m 43s
IEP Questions Parents Are Asking Right Now: Paras, Placement, Progress & Support
May 21, 2026
59m 54s
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/18/26 | Beyond Behavior Management: What the Science Actually Says | You cannot punish a child into having a skill they do not have. In this episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Doris and Rick Bowman to unpack one of the most misunderstood parts of special education: behavior. Most school plans are built to get compliance in the moment. They manage the behavior and miss what is actually driving it. And when the same kind of plan fails for the fifth or sixth time, the child is the one who walks away believing they are the problem. This conversation fl... | 1h 31m 00s | ||||||
| 6/11/26 | Early Pickups, ESY Denials, and the Truth About IEEs - Summer IEP Questions Answered | Karen answers summer IEP questions live - ESY eligibility and transportation, early pickups as removals, IEE limits, and how to get your child's data. Full Description (plain text, copy-paste ready) Summer is when the numbers go down and the access goes up. In this live Q&A, Karen Mayer Cunningham takes questions from parents, advocates, paras, and educators - and does not hold back. If your school called you to pick up your child early, that was a day out of placement. If they told you ... | 54m 59s | ||||||
| 6/3/26 | EP Minutes, Comp Services, ESY & Retention — Ask the Advocate LIVE | Were you ever actually trained on what you are expected to do at the IEP table? Most parents, advocates, and educators were not — and that is exactly why we sit at the table prepared. In this live Ask the Advocate session, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers more than 50 real questions straight from the audience. No scripts, no fluff — just clear, practical answers on the things you are responsible for but were never taught. WHAT WE COVER → How to set up next school year before summer ends — in... | 1h 01m 09s | ||||||
| 5/28/26 | She Knew Something Was Wrong. She Was Right. | Mia's Story | Special Education Boss® | Sarah Harter trusted her gut for two years before anyone believed her. Her daughter Mia survived brain surgery at age two and has been defying expectations ever since. This is their story — and the resources that helped them get here. Some episodes stay with you. This is one of them. Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Sarah Harter - mom, anesthetist, and one of the most determined advocates her daughter Mia has ever had - to share a story that is honest, hard, and ultimately full of hope... | 47m 43s | ||||||
| 5/21/26 | IEP Questions Parents Are Asking Right Now: Paras, Placement, Progress & Support | What happens when your child has an IEP but still isn’t getting the support they need? In this episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real-time questions from parents, educators, and advocates about the everyday issues showing up at IEP and 504 tables right now. This rapid-fire Q&A covers some of the most common — and most frustrating — special education concerns families are facing, including transportation, one-on-one paraprofessionals, behavior support, prog... | 59m 54s | ||||||
| 5/14/26 | Prior Written Notice, ESY, Dyslexia Evaluations & What to Do When Districts Break the Law | Ask the Advocate | Special Education Boss | It is the last full week of IEP meetings and Karen Mayer Cunningham is answering your live questions - and none of the answers are soft. This is a fast-moving Ask the Advocate session covering some of the most important questions in special education right now. Plus - big announcements. The Epic Educator Academy launches June 1st at 7PM Central. The Two-Day Advocacy Intensive is live in Lexington, Kentucky on May 30th and 31st. And the Epic IEP workbook is almost done. Questions answered in... | 1h 06m 39s | ||||||
| 5/7/26 | Behavior Is Communication: Trauma-Informed Strategies for Special Education Teams | 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 behavio... | 52m 25s | ||||||
| 4/30/26 | What Special Ed Teachers Need You to Know | Chana Dixon & Karen Mayer Cunningham | Special Education Boss | 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 scho... | 1h 09m 00s | ||||||
| 4/23/26 | Can They Drop the IEP by Phone? Remove Kids on Test Day? Skip Resource? No, No, and No.✨ | IEP504+3 | — | — | — | educationspecial education+1 | — | 1h 12m 56s | |
| 4/16/26 | Procedural Safeguards, Child Find, Prior Written Notice, and Parent Rights in Special Education✨ | Procedural SafeguardsChild Find+10 | — | dyslexia toolsADHD support tools | — | — | — | 1h 22m 05s | |
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| 4/9/26 | Can a Paraprofessional replace a special educatin teacher?✨ | paraprofessionalsspecial education+4 | — | Epic IEP Para bookNCLB | — | special education teacherEpic IEP Para book+1 | — | 1h 20m 25s | |
| 4/2/26 | The Para Problem: What Every Parent and Advocate Needs to Know Right Now✨ | paraprofessionalsspecial education+2 | — | — | Texas | paraprofessional lawsspecial education instruction+1 | — | 1h 01m 34s | |
| 3/26/26 | Paras, Pain Plans & the Truth Nobody Told You | Ask the Advocate✨ | special educationadvocacy+3 | — | Epic IEP Para bookAsk the Advocate | — | Epic IEP Para bookAAC rights+2 | — | 54m 49s | |
| 3/19/26 | From Struggle to Strength: ADHD, Dyslexia & Real-World Success✨ | ADHDdyslexia+4 | Sean Foley | This Episode | — | successlearning strategies+1 | — | 27m 58s | |
| 3/12/26 | Vision Impairment in Special Education, What Parents and IEP Teams Must Know✨ | vision impairmentspecial education+2 | Abel Perez | Ready Sight GoSpecial Education Boss®+1 | — | visual impairmentorientation and mobility+1 | — | 1h 04m 15s | |
| 3/5/26 | Ask the Advocate: IEP Questions Parents Are Asking Right Now✨ | IEP meetingsservices+4 | — | TikTokAsk the Advocate | — | special educationadvocacy+2 | — | 1h 00m 25s | |
| 3/3/26 | From Classroom to Advocate: What Schools Do When You Bring an Advocate to the IEP Table✨ | IEP meetingsadvocacy+2 | Paige FitzgeraldKate Magaldi | Inclusive Educational Practices | — | advocateIEP table+2 | — | 54m 10s | |
| 2/26/26 | IEP Implementation, ESY & Compensatory Services | Ask the Advocate LIVE✨ | IEP implementationExtended School Year (ESY)+6 | — | — | — | advocacyspecial education+2 | — | 48m 41s | |
| 2/19/26 | RTI Is NOT a Gatekeeper + Why Schools Can’t Delay Evaluations (Live Q&A Fire) | Guess who’s back? Fresh off the inaugural Epic IEP™ World Book Tour — eight stops in five days, professional developments, book signings, and hundreds of powerful conversations — Karen is back answering your biggest special education questions in real time. And this one is packed. From RTI misuse and delayed evaluations… To schools sending kids home for behavior… To missing related service minutes… To paraprofessionals not being allowed to see the IEP (yes, that happened)… We are breaking it ... | 1h 06m 20s | ||||||
| 2/12/26 | From 504s to One-on-Ones: Real Talk from the IEP Table | Special Education Boss® | “Data doesn’t have feelings. It has evidence.” In this high-energy TikTok Live replay, Karen Mayer Cunningham dives headfirst into real-time questions from parents, teachers, and advocates navigating the special education process. Karen brings clarity, humor, and decades of experience to the conversation — reminding us that preparation beats panic every time. ✨ In This Episode, We Cover: The difference between a 504 Plan and an IEP (and why it matters)When a one-on-one paraprofessional is app... | 1h 20m 45s | ||||||
| 2/5/26 | IEP Meetings, Procedural Safeguards & What Schools Don’t Want to Put in Writing | Ask the Advocate | In this Ask the Advocate episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real questions from parents, educators, and advocates navigating complex IEP issues — from unfinished Monday meetings to missing data, procedural safeguards, graduation pathways, and transition services. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why IEP meetings so often stall — and what must happen before they continueThe difference between a diploma vs. certificate of attendanceHow procedural safeguards actuall... | 41m 06s | ||||||
| 1/29/26 | Ask the Advocate: Compensatory Services, Eligibility Traps, IEP Teams & School Pushback | In this Ask the Advocate episode of Special Education Boss®, Karen Mayer Cunningham answers real-time questions from parents, educators, and advocates navigating complex IEP situations — from compensatory services and eligibility decisions to attendance struggles, team makeup, and school-based pushback. This episode is a powerful reminder that IEPs are legal documents, teams are equal stakeholders, and schools do not get to reduce or redefine federal rights. In this episode, Karen covers: Whe... | 25m 15s | ||||||
| 1/22/26 | “Paras Can’t Take Data”? Let’s Finish the Sentence. | Ask the Advocate | Today’s Ask the Advocate starts with a celebration—The Epic IEP is officially hitting hands soon—and then we go straight into a question that’s blowing up in schools everywhere: Can paraprofessionals take data and deliver instruction when the teacher isn’t in the room? Let’s finish the clip, finish the sentence, and finish the confusion. Karen breaks down what “direct supervision” is actually tied to, why so many teams are unintentionally setting paras (and kids) up for failure, and what to d... | 1h 06m 11s | ||||||
| 1/15/26 | When Schools Say “No”: AAC Updates, Triennials, Toileting Support, and Your IEP Rights (Q&A) | Did your IEP team say “we don’t have staff,” “we’ll just do a records review,” or “they don’t qualify because grades are fine”? In this rapid-fire Q&A episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham (THE SPECIAL EDUCATION BOSS®) goes rogue and answers real questions from parents, educators, and advocates about what’s happening in schools right now—from missing AAC subscriptions to paras being left to “teach” SPED classes. In this episode, we cover: AAC devices + access: what to do when the school won’t u... | 56m 39s | ||||||
| 1/8/26 | Stop Playing the “Draft IEP” Game + Why Paras Can’t Replace Certified SPED Minutes | We’re back to school, and I’m not easing into anything. If your district is only giving parents “part of the draft,” if services are being missed because of staffing, or if someone is trying to use paraprofessionals to “cover” certified special education minutes—this episode is for you. Tonight we cover what teams are required to do, what’s simply “district preference,” and the fastest way to bring meetings back to what they’re supposed to be: an efficient business meeting that protects stude... | 58m 49s | ||||||
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Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.
Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.