Free Checklist to Start Fortifying Your Confidence at Your Child’s ARD or IEP Meetings
Unlock the Value of Your Authority as The Parent
Follow this proven checklist to start reclaiming your time, purpose as a parent, and legal power, while your child in a special education program makes progress on their IEP and school in general.
Start Discovering How to Direct Your Child’s Educational Future From Your Own Authority as the Parent at the ARD or IEP Table
Walk Into Your Next ARD Meeting Confident, Prepared, and In Control
Download your free mobile- friendly checklist so you know what to look for in your child’s IEP- and the right questions to ask.
Takes less than 10 seconds. Instant download for your phone.
If you’ve ever walked out of an ARD meeting thinking:
• “I think I understand, but I’m not sure”
• “ That went fast! Should I have asked more questions?
… you may want to become the “ARD Table Authority.”
🍂HOW WE HELP🍂
Refine Disabilities offers full service special education advocacy for frustrated, worried, and stressed out parents of children with disabilities in Texas public schools. These services include:
✅ Thorough, human reviews of IEPs and all educational records up to seven years of history
✅ ARD meeting parent preparation, virtual attendance with you at your child’s ARD or Section 504 meeting, and a follow up with you after the meeting for feedback and next steps
✅ State mediation or ARD facilitation preparation if needed (I am not a licensed mediator)
✅ State or federal complaint filing if the school district will not negotiate in the best educational interest for your child
✅ Referrals to the best special education attorneys in Texas should your case go to due process (“law suit”)
✅ Parent confidence- building through training so you can become your child’s best advocate yourselfBook a free 20 minute Zoom call with us today so we can start getting your child what they really need to succeed in school!
Donna R. Earnest, M.Ed
🍂MEET DONNA🍂
• Special education advocate
• Texas parent ally
• Founder of Refine DisabilitiesI’m Donna Earnest, a non- attorney special education advocate. I know what goes on in schools. I was a special education teacher for 10 years. I know what it feels like to have to fight the school for what my child needed, even as a special education teacher! I would love to fight for yours and teach you what I know.
🍂READY to TAKE the NEXT STEP?🍂
🍂CHOOSE YOUR ADVOCACY TERM:
ONE SEMESTER OR ONE FULL CALENDAR YEAR🍂
🟩 ADVOCACY ESSENTIALS
Best for:
• First-time IEP concerns (ALL new families start here)
• Families wanting expert guidance before making larger investments
• Includes one meticulous IEP Records Review going back up to SEVEN years and up to TWO ARD meetings per semester, with full prep, virtual meetings on Zoom, and follow ups
🟨 ANNUAL ADVOCACY
Best for:
• Returning clients
• Ongoing support throughout a full calendar year
• Complex student needs
• Multiple ARDs expected
• Parents wanting a long-term partnership with a trusted advocate
🍂TESTIMONIALS🍂
“I’m so grateful that I met Donna. She was so helpful when I couldn’t get [my daughter]’s school to listen to me. Donna was able to get things for [my daughter] that I didn’t even know I could ask for! She is doing so much better in school. I wish every family who has a child who is struggling in school could hire Donna as their advocate. We love her!”
-LL, CA
“Donna’s fantastic!”
- AB, TX
“Listen to Donna- she [seriously] knows what she’s talking about!”
-MS, WA
🍂From Special Education Teacher to Advocate: I Fight for Your Child the Way I’d Fight for Mine🍂
Hello! I’m Donna- a non- attorney special education advocate in Houston, Texas. I’m a former special education and dyslexia teacher, a mother of 7 (several have diagnosed ADHD), and grandmother of 5, of whom 3 are “on the spectrum.” I have been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and ADHD myself.I get you.You don’t need more paperwork. You need someone who understands you,how school systems actually work, and how to move through them without getting obliterated.I can help you:•Understand your education rights as a parent, special education processes, and procedural safeguards
•Navigate administrative systems (school districts, agencies, mediations, due process hearings)
•Prepare for meetings and IEP transition, behavior, or autism plans with clarity and strategy
•Translate complex legal and regulatory language into plain English
•Advocate effectively without unnecessary conflictI’ve been on both sides of the ARD/IEP/504 table. I know how school decisions are made and what is expected from school districts and teachers. This often matters more than knowing the law in the abstract.How I’m TrainedMy background combines:
•Graduate-level training in special education, special education law and policy, and legal reasoning
•Deep experience in education and family- centered advocacy
•Specialized focus on special
education, disability and school transition plan issues when a student turns 13
•Ongoing, structured study equivalent to a Master’s-level jurisprudence programI work ethically and within clear boundaries. When circumstances escalate to the point that legal representation is required, I coordinate with, and defer to, licensed attorneys.Why Families Work With MeFamilies work with me because outcomes improve when:
•Meetings are prepared for
•Deadlines aren’t missed
•The right questions are asked
•Power dynamics are understood
•Someone is calmly and competently in you and your child’s cornerIf You’re Wondering Whether This Is for YouIf you’re feeling overwhelmed, confused, or dismissed by a system that’s supposed to help your child… that’s usually the moment having an advocate on your side matters most.With Refine Disabilities, you don’t need to know all the terminology or laws. You just need someone who does — and who knows how to use them responsibly.
🍂MAKE THE A+ LIST!🍂
Interested in what Refine Disabilities has to offer but not quite ready to jump all in? No worries! Add your email address and we’ll send you a copy of our Parent’s Mobile Checklist for IEP/ARD Meetings free! ($8 value)
How many IEP or ARD meetings have you attended where you were more lost at the end of the meeting than you were before it? How many IEP signature pages have you signed having NO IDEA what you were agreeing to?You need our mobile IEP Checklist now.When you submit your email, simply click the link to download the checklist to your phone. Then, follow along during every IEP/ARD meeting going forward. The checklist tells you in a nutshell everything that goes on during the meeting, what to look for, AND some of the right questions to ask.This parent- friendly mobile IEP checklist walks you through the entire IEP (or Texas ARD) process- clearly, confidently, and with your child in the center.You will learn:✅ Equal IEP/ARD Participation as the parent✅ Your Legal Rights✅ How to Prepare for an IEP/ ARD Meeting✅ Priority access to new resources✅ Behind the scenes real life at Refine Disabilities✅ Answers to YOUR questions, not just general onesAnd so much more inside the A+ List! Getting on the A+ List is your first step to giving your child what he or she needs to be successful in school.
The Refine Disabilities A+ List Parent’s Mobile Checklist for IEP/ARD Meetings
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CONTACT REFINE DISABILITIES
Email: [email protected] Proudly serving Texas families since 2023