I Didn’t Become a Special Education Expert—I Created One

A parent’s journey of turning overwhelming assessment documents into practical, joyful home learning experiences

The Breaking Point: Drowning in Educational Jargon

Picture this: You’re sitting at your kitchen table with a stack of educational reports thicker than a phonebook. Speech assessments, progress reports, IEP documents—all filled with phrases like “demonstrates emerging competency in phonological awareness” and “requires structured language activities to support functional/hypothetical scenarios.”

Sound familiar?

That was me three months ago, staring at my 6-year-old’s comprehensive assessment reports. Despite having incredibly dedicated teachers and specialists, I felt completely lost about how to support his learning at home. The documents were thorough, professional, and… utterly impossible to translate into something I could actually do with my son.

Nathan is energetic, curious, loves dinos, and happens to be neurodivergent. His reports showed he was making progress in his kindergarten special education classroom, but I knew he needed consistent support at home too. The problem? I’m a parent, not an educational specialist, and these reports felt like they were written in a foreign language.

The Lightbulb Moment: What If AI Could Be My Translator?

One evening, feeling particularly overwhelmed, I had an idea. What if I could use AI not just to help me understand these reports, but to actually transform them into practical, engaging activities Nathan and I could do together?

I started experimenting with Claude, feeding it Nathan’s assessment information and asking it to help me create real learning plans. What happened next completely changed our home learning experience.

The Transformation: From Confusion to Clarity

Here’s what I discovered: AI can be an incredible bridge between educational assessments and practical family life. Instead of drowning in jargon, I could get:

• Clear explanations of what Nathan’s goals actually meant in real-world terms
• Specific activities designed around his interests (hello, Spiderman-themed phonics!)
• Progress tracking systems that made sense to me as a parent
• Adaptive strategies that worked with Nathan’s unique learning style

But more importantly, AI helped me see Nathan’s “challenges” as differences to celebrate and work with, not deficits to fix.

Real Examples: Turning Assessments Into Adventures

Let me share some concrete examples of how this transformation worked:

From “Phonological Awareness Deficit” to Sound Games During Daily Routines

The Report Said: “Nathan demonstrates emerging skills in phonological awareness, specifically in rhyming and beginning sound identification.”

AI Helped Me Create:

Getting Dressed Sound Game:

• While Nathan puts on clothes: “Shirt starts with /sh/. Can you find something else in your room that starts with /sh/?” (shoes, shorts)
• Socks become “sound socks” – we think of words that start with /s/ while putting them on
• No extra setup, no special materials – just using what we’re already doing

Car Ride to School Rhyming:

• “I spy something that rhymes with ‘car’…” (pointing to things we pass)
• Nathan picks a word from what he sees, we both try to rhyme it
• If we’re stuck in traffic: “Let’s see how many words rhyme with ‘red’ before the light changes”
• Sometimes we just make up silly rhymes about where we’re going: “Going to school, going to school, Nathan is so very cool!”

Breakfast Sound Sorting:

• “Your cereal starts with /c/. What else on the table starts with /c/?” (cup, cookie if we’re lucky)
• Count cheerios by saying their beginning sound each time
• “Milk starts with /m/. Can you think of other /m/ words while you drink?”

From “Needs Support with Social Pragmatics” to Practicing Social Skills During Real Life

The Report Said: “Requires structured opportunities to practice social interaction and turn-taking.”

AI Helped Me Create:

Grocery Store Social Practice:

• Before entering: “Let’s practice saying ‘excuse me’ when we need to get by people”
• At the deli counter: Nathan practices saying “Can I have…” instead of pointing
• Checkout line: We practice waiting patiently and saying “thank you” to the cashier

Bedtime Routine Turn-Taking:

• Reading books: “Your turn to turn the page, my turn to read this page”
• Brushing teeth: “You brush the top, I’ll brush the bottom”
• Choosing tomorrow’s clothes: “You pick the shirt, I’ll pick the pants”
• Simple, built into what we already do every night

Dinner Table Conversation Practice:

Some nights this works great, other nights we just eat and that’s fine too

The Bottom Line

Transforming Nathan’s IEP into practical learning experiences didn’t create overnight miracles—it gave us a path forward when I felt lost. We went from me feeling confused and overwhelmed to feeling like I had tools that actually worked for our family.

Your child’s educational documents aren’t just paperwork to file away. They’re roadmaps to understanding your child’s unique learning profile. With a little creativity, some AI assistance, and realistic expectations, you can turn those overwhelming reports into small, manageable ways to support your child’s growth.

Ready to create your first AI expert? I’ll walk you through the exact steps that transformed how I understand and support my son.

Immediate Actions:

1. Gather all your documents in one place
2. Choose one specific goal to focus on first
3. Block out 30 minutes to experiment with AI assistance
4. Pick one activity to try this week

Week One Goals:

• Understand one IEP goal in practical terms
• Try one new learning activity
• Document what works and what doesn’t
• Celebrate any positive moments

Building Momentum:

• Add one new activity every few days
• Involve your child in choosing activities
• Share successes with your child’s educational team
• Connect with other parents trying similar approaches

Have you tried using AI to support your child’s learning? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. Together, we can build a community of empowered parents supporting our incredible neurodivergent learners.