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About Merry
Hello! My name is Merry Juerling (pronounced 'your-ling') and am a Student & Parent IEP Advocate and live in Indianapolis, IN.
I have been an advocate for my now 20+ year-old adult son with special needs his whole life and have won many Due Process complaints towards his free and appropriate k-12 education which resulted in him obtaining a Core 40 Indiana High School diploma without having to take high stakes state assessments since 3rd grade. I have assisted many parents/guardians, students and, yes...teachers, across Indiana and the USA in advocating for free and appropriate placement, education, services and assessments for children with disabilities, and general educated students, too.
Accomplishments & Qualifications
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Won 19 points of "free and appropriate" arguments during one Manifestation Due Process proceeding.
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Won many IEP "free and appropriate" arguments including, but not limited to: sensory needs, Extended Year Services (EYS - aka summer school, tutoring and educational related service!), appropriate services, appropriate accommodations, appropriate assessments, factual data collection and analysis, Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA), Behavior Improvement Plan (BIP), appropriate placement...and more!
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Strength in getting a child's whole village on the same page.
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I wrote the national guide on how to opt out/refuse the unethical state standardized assessments for students with special needs through the IEP process and ensured high school diplomas were not ransomed for those tests.
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A focus on the student's and family's 'good life' as a Charting the Life Course™ Ambassador and Presenter.
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20+ years of Human Resource Management work experience including 8+ years in education.
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Bring a focus on the natural learning & strengths of a student and leadership in addressing educational standardization negative effects & accountability as co-author of the Strength-Based Learning Plan©.
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