TPP 360: Dr. Jade Rivera on Designing Strengths-Based IEPs

If you are parenting a neurodivergent kid, you probably have a lot of experience getting feedback about your child — in IEP meetings, parent teacher conferences, therapists, neuropsychs, school counselors. And, so often this feedback is highlighting what’s hard or challenging and what needs to be improved, which, honestly, takes its toll on us and our kids. It can leave us feeling drained, discouraged, and overwhelmed.

If you relate to this experience in any way, you’re going to appreciate today’s conversation with Dr. Jade Rivera, as she is going to talk with us about a new way she and her team are providing feedback with a completely different, and much more positive and optimistic, focus.

Jade is the Lab Director for the new Strength-Based Assessment Lab at Bridges Graduate School, which uses the Suite of Tools, developed by twice-exceptional thought leaders Dr. Susan Baum and Dr. Robin Shader, to identify what a child likes, loves, and excels at. The goal of the Lab is to empower students, families, educators, and professionals in creating positive and collaborative learning experiences for children facing challenges in their educational environments.

So today, Jade talks with us about her work and the Strength-Based Assessment Lab — what a strengths-based assessment is and how it’s conducted, what differentiates a strength and a talent, how to encourage our kids to pursue their interests without putting pressure on them to live up to our idea of potential. We also talked about how to get strength-based goals incorporated in IEPs and how to approach meetings when we are trying to shift the focus to our child’s strengths.

About Dr. Jade Rivera

As the Lab Director for the Strength-Based Assessment Lab at Bridges Graduate School, Dr. Jade Rivera leads the Lab to empower students, families, educators, and professionals in creating positive and collaborative learning experiences for children facing challenges in their educational environments.

With over fifteen years of experience, she has designed and led micro-schools beloved by quirky and sensitive children, uniquely positioning her to provide insights into positive niche construction, strength-based pedagogy, and talent development for neurodivergent children. Her training in Nonviolent Communication and Montessori credential inspire her educational philosophies and practices, including project-based learning, dual-differentiation strategies, and gradeless classrooms.

In 2016, the California Association for the Gifted honored Jade for distinguished service on behalf of gifted and twice-exceptional children. More recently, she was recognized as a “person to watch in the 2e movement” by 2e News. She earned her Ed.D. at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in 2022. She is honored to continue as a professor at the same school, supporting others as they envision a strength-based world for neurodivergent humans.

Things you'll learn:

• How the Strength-Based Assessment Lab at Bridges Graduate School gathers information from the child, caregivers, and professionals in the child's life to identify strengths, environmental obstacles, and dreams for the child's potential
• The difference between recognizing and supporting a gifted or twice-exceptional child's strengths and talents and placing pressure on them to reach a certain potential
• How parents and educators can incorporate a strengths-based approach in traditional school settings
• Ideas for including strength-based goals in IEPs
• Why it’s important to foster opportunities for a child to demonstrate what they love and what they're good at, even in small ways

Resources mentioned:

• The Strength-Based Assessment Lab at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Development
• Jade Rivera on Substack
• Susan Baum
• Robin Schader
• Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education
• Dr. Joseph Renzulli
• Sunnyside Micro-School
• Sandra Kay / Talent Development

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