This is a list of the workshops that Idaho Parents Unlimited gives on a regular basis.

For special requests, most of these workshops can easily be tailored to specific audiences.

We are happy to come to your organization and provide a presentation or workshop for you – you can request on a form at the bottom of the page.

What is Idaho Parents Unlimited ?
This presentation gives a brief history of IPUL, our program areas, and our current scope of work.  Parents and / or professionals will be given an overview of how IPUL provides assistance.  This presentation also breaks down myths and mysteries of Parent Training and Information Centers.  (Things we don’t do.)

Early Childhood: Moving on from early intervention services. IFSP to IEP
Parents will learn how to prepare for the transition from an Individualized Family Service Plan (Infant and Toddler Program services)  to an Individualized Education Plan (if eligible) at age three and/or other community-based services.

Special Education: 10 tips for back to school success
This workshop includes a discussion to help parents prepare their children for a positive start to the new school year.  Tips include: Creating a snapshot of your child, working with new IEP team members, and developing any necessary plans for safety, behavior, emergencies and more.

Special Education 101 – IDEA  
Participants will learn the Special Education process as defined under (IDEA) Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.   This training includes a brief discussion about the beginning steps of the special education evaluation process, followed by an in-depth discussion on how to write goals for students that focus on their strengths to help them make progress and be successful.

Success With the IEP 
This workshop walks parents through the process of IEP eligibility, development, and implementation beginning with a primer on the ADA, The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and IDEA. It provides information about early learning options, school-aged options including a comparison of 504 plans to IEPs. Information about accommodations and modifications are included as is in-depth information about the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), inclusive environments, the age of majority and the transfer of rights, Extended School Year (ESY), and transition to adulthood and the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act.

IDEA: Rights and Responsibilities and Resolving Disagreements
Parents receive an in-depth review of the Procedural Safeguards as defined in IDEA to ensure their student’s individualized education program is appropriate for  their specific needs.  They are also provided with information about Idaho’s formal and informal processes for resolving disputes and how to access the Office of Dispute Resolution at the SDE.

Successful Strength-Based IEPs Leading to Improved Student Self-Advocacy and Inclusive Environments
Parents and youth learn how to work with their IEP teams to ensure Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance statements are strength-based to promote high expectations in each student. Additional information on accessing Idaho’s Content Standards and ensuring the IEP is aligned with those standards is included. Participants are given examples of self-determination goals and goals that promote inclusion in the general education curriculum as well as in extracurricular opportunities. The training provides further information about student participation in their IEP process and how to access inclusive community environments.

Fostering Parent and Professional Collaboration
Because of the different strengths parents and professionals bring to collaboration, there are different actions each can take to make the relationship more productive. This training discusses what both parents and professionals can do to strengthen these relationships. The training helps parents and professionals learn about various opportunities they may have to work together outside of their individual situations such as creating or serving on parent advisory committees that assist in school reform activities. (This workshop has several adapted versions for Transition to Adulthood and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support including Response to Intervention and Family Engagement).

Cybersafety and Bullying Prevention – Intervention Strategies for Parents of Children with Disabilities  
This workshop is designed to introduce parents and professionals to a range of intervention strategies for the child who is the target of bullying and approaches that can be used by the parent, child, family, and school.  It also helps parents and youth understand the importance of staying safe in the digital world. Children and youth with disabilities are most vulnerable to online predators who have easy access to them. Parents and youth learn about dangerous apps and privacy settings.

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports
This training will provide parents resources for addressing behavior. Additional information about functional behavior assessments and behavior interventions that can be used in home, school, and community settings will be provided.  Information is also provided to help parents understand discipline for students with disabilities in schools and related placement decisions.

Transition to Adulthood: Getting and Keeping the First Job
Participants will learn about the importance of employment for all and its particular impact on people with disabilities. The critical role of families and engaging youth in career planning as well as maintaining high expectations of youth are included. This training includes basic job search activities as well as skills that help youth with disabilities keep the jobs they get. – This training is for both Youth and Parents.

Planning for a Healthy Transition
This training prepares youth for transitioning to adulthood with a goal of independent living including managing their personal health needs. Topics include managing appointments, medications, oral health, hearing and vision, durable medical equipment, assistive technology, and mental health and wellness.

Get Organized and Stop Spinning Your Wheels – Advocacy and Coordination Strategies for Your Child’s Special Health Care Needs
Participants will be given tools to identify their particular needs and how to talk with their child’s educational and health care providers to ensure a system of coordinated care in childhood and in transition to adulthood. Parents learn strategies to be an effective advocate and to identify additional resources they may need. They also learn how to setup and maintain a filing system and develop care notebooks for their children with disabilities including emergency preparedness.

Skills for Effective Advocacy
Parents and youth will understand what advocacy means, learn the skills necessary to be an effective advocate, and what additional resources they may need and where to go for more information. This training is customized for youth to provide interactive opportunities to practice ways they can advocate for themselves in school and in transition to adulthood activities.

Working for Change- Using the Power of a Personal Story
Parents and Youth learn the importance of advocacy when working within multiple systems that impact their children or themselves. Participants will craft an effective personal story related to an issue that can be used to influence changes to systems, policies, or rules. This training may be customized for audiences who are advocating on a shared issue.

Having High Expectations When You Don’t Know What to Expect
This interactive training is designed to help parents, educators, and related service providers understand the importance of having high expectations in children with disabilities, but to also have high expectations of parents, educators, and the community as a whole in supporting students with disabilities to be successful in school and to achieve their goals for postsecondary education, employment, and independent living. This is also adapted for youth audiences to help them explore the possibilities for their future. This training has also been adapted as a panel format to include personal stories of success by both parents and youth.

Life Planning After 18
Parents and youth learn about guardianship and the alternatives to guardianship including conservatorship, power of attorney, and supported decision-making. Parents and youth are also provided information about special needs trusts and ABLE accounts. Parents and youth are also provided resources to access more information including referrals to Disability Rights Idaho.

Understanding Idaho Medicaid and Navigating Systems
This in-depth training covers the complexities of Idaho’s Medicaid services and programs.  Topics include SSI and Medicaid eligibility, developmental disabilities, behavioral health, CHIP, and more.