BSEA Decisions from Summer 2026.

How parents can use it to determine how hearing officers make decisions.

This post follows a family whose son, bright but struggling with autism spectrum disorder and emotional regulation, spent a year stuck after a generalist consultant handed them a school list with no guidance on towns, districts, or how special education law actually works. It walks through how Maureen stepped in to identify the right town, the right specialized programs, and the exact testing needed to build a strong placement case. The family took a full year to decide on the move itself, keeping their son in an out-of-district placement in the meantime while they weighed the decision. Once they finally relocated last week, one meeting with the new district was enough to send referrals out to every program identified a year earlier. The piece uses this story to explain what a new district legally owes a student with an existing IEP, and why solid groundwork holds its value even when a family needs time before acting on it.

This month I toured four programs that support young people at different stages of their path toward independence, from residential treatment to a neurodivergent-affirming transitional living program to a therapeutic boarding school. Reading a website only tells you so much. Walking the halls, meeting the staff, and seeing the daily schedule in action is what lets me tell a family whether a program will actually work for their child. Check out the full breakdown of what I saw, plus why working with a therapeutic consultant can make this search so much easier for families.

Governor Healey just signed legislation removing outdated, offensive language from Massachusetts state law and replacing it with person-first language that reflects how we should see and speak about people with disabilities. Nothing about services or eligibility changes. This is about dignity, and in my work with families, I know firsthand how much the words used to describe children shape the way they're treated. Massachusetts got this one right, and it's worth paying attention to.

When you and your school district disagree about your child's special education services or placement, one of the most powerful protections you have is something called stay-put. A recent Massachusetts ruling, In re: Jack and Winchester Public Schools, shows exactly how it works and why it matters.