"We just got the diagnosis."
Three months in, six months in, last week. We talk through what comes next, what to ask for, what to pursue first, and which battles to skip while you catch your breath.
One hour with Merrie. Ask anything.
Not a sales call. Not an intake. A real conversation with a special-ed teacher and autism mom about whatever is on your mind. Newly diagnosed, daily life, school stuff, therapy decisions, or just figuring out what is next.
Who books a Coaching Session.
Most of the families who book this are not in an IEP fight. They're somewhere else, and they just need to talk it through with someone who has been there.
"We don't need an advocate. We have questions."
Maybe school is fine for now. Maybe the IEP is decent and you just want a second opinion. Bring the questions. Merrie has heard most of them and can tell you which ones need an advocate and which ones don't.
"Tutoring isn't the issue. Daily life is."
Feeding. Sleep. Toilet training. Sensory meltdowns. The stuff no IEP fixes and Google makes worse. We talk about what is actually working for spectrum families and what is wasting your time.
"We don't know where to even start."
Therapies, scholarships, evaluations, schools, services you've never heard of. We map out your next 90 days in concrete steps so you walk away with a list, not a feeling.
Topics families actually bring.
A non-exhaustive list of what gets talked about on these calls. Bring one topic, bring six. There is no agenda but yours.
Daily life
- Feeding & food refusal
- Sleep
- Toilet training
- Sensory shutdowns
- Emotional regulation
School & IEP
- IEPs and 504s
- Evaluations and eligibility
- Public vs private vs homeschool
- When to push back
- When to bring in an advocate
Therapy decisions
- ABA: start, pause, or switch
- Speech, OT, PT
- Floortime, RDI, alternatives
- How to vet a provider
- Coordinating across teams
Newly diagnosed
- What comes next
- How to tell family
- First services to pursue
- Florida-specific resources
- Your first 90 days
Florida resources
- Gardiner Scholarship
- FES-UA
- Step Up For Students
- Local providers
- School district navigation
Family
- Sibling impact
- Marriage strain
- Parent burnout
- When you need help
- Asking for it
A 60-minute call. Then a written recap.
- First five minutes: we get oriented on your situation.
- Next fifty: we work through whatever you brought. Real answers, real options, including the option to do nothing.
- Last five: we name your concrete next step. Not "in general." This week.
- Within 24 hours: a short written recap in your inbox so you don't lose the clarity in the chaos of next week.
Pick a time that works.
Sessions run Mon–Fri until 8 PM Central. $99, 60 minutes, virtual. Calendar invite and prep instructions arrive immediately after booking.
60-minute video call, $99. Calendar invite arrives instantly.
Coaching Session questions, answered.
Do I have to have an IEP problem to book this?
No. Plenty of families book a Coaching Session and never mention school. The most common reasons have nothing to do with IEPs: families newly diagnosed and overwhelmed, families drowning in daily-life questions, families trying to decide if a therapy is worth it or how to navigate Florida scholarships, families who just need someone to think it through with. School is one topic. It is not the topic.
What if I don't know what I want to ask?
Most parents who book this don't. Show up with the chaos that is in your head. Within five minutes Merrie will help you name what is actually weighing on you, and the next fifty minutes are spent on that. You don't prep. That is what the call is for.
Will Merrie tell me to buy more services from her?
If they fit your situation, yes. If they don't, no. Plenty of Coaching Sessions are the entire relationship: the family gets the clarity they need and goes off to handle things themselves. Merrie's incentive is to give you accurate guidance, not to upsell you into a service you don't need.
What's the difference between a Coaching Session and a Red Flag Audit?
A Coaching Session is a conversation about your child, your family, your situation, whatever you bring. A Red Flag Audit is a written line-by-line review of a specific document, almost always an IEP. If you have school-document questions, the audit is the right service. For everything else, this is.
Can I do this if I live outside Florida?
Yes. The Coaching Session is virtual, and most topics (daily life, neurodivergent parenting, therapy decisions, newly-diagnosed guidance) are not state-specific. Florida-specific things like scholarships and district navigation only matter if you're in Florida.
How do I prepare?
You don't have to. If you have specific documents you want Merrie to glance at during the call (an IEP, an evaluation, a denial letter), email them ahead so she's seen them. Otherwise show up with whatever is on your mind.
What happens after the call?
You get a short written recap within 24 hours: three to five bullets summarizing what you decided. If next steps involve other services (audit, advocacy, tutoring), the booking links are included. If you don't need anything else from Merrie, she'll say so and wish you luck.