Dr. Derek Ihori provides professional development presentations for FAPE Consulting.  He is a national speaker and author who provides dynamic trainings for special education conferences, SELPAs, school districts, charter schools, private schools, and parent groups.  Professional development can be provided nationwide and tailored to the client's needs.  

Common topics for educators include:

• • • Pre-referral Intervention Process (Student Success Teams, Intervention Teams, etc.).

    • Assessments and Report Writing

    • IEP Development and Decision-Making

    • Conflict Resolution During IEP Meetings

    • School Refusal Assessment and Intervention

    • Special Education Case Law

    • Behavior Intervention

    • Executive Functioning

    • Section 504 Requirements, Eligibility Determinations, and Plan Development

    • Suicide Assessments

    • Threat Assessments

    • Bullying Investigations

    • Problem-Solving in Special Education

    • Special Education Bootcamp for Principals/Site Administrators

    • Special Education Bootcamp for Board Members

    • Leadership in Special Education

Common topics for parents include:

• Behavior Intervention

• Assisting Children With Anxiety

• Executive Functioning

• School Refusal Interventions

Prior Presentations

1. Ihori, D. (2025). From start to finish: Developing IEPs for online schools [Webinar]. Epic California Academy, Anaheim, CA.

2. Ihori, D. (2024). From avoidance to engagement: Strategies for managing school refusal behaviors [Workshop]. Redondo Beach Unified School District, Redondo Beach, CA.

3. Ihori, D. (2024). From avoidance to engagement: Strategies for managing school refusal behaviors [Workshop]. Ventura County SELPA, Camarillo, CA.

4. Ihori, D. (2024). Process makes perfect: The development of an IEP. [Workshop]. Foothill SELPA, Glendale, CA

5. Ihori, D. (2024). "I just can't..." Addressing the growing prevalence of school avoidance and refusal. [Conference session]. LRP's National Institute on Legal Issues of Educating Individuals With Disabilities, Savannah, GA,

6. Ihori, D. (2024). Building better behavior intervention plans. [Workshop]. Foothill SELPA, La Cañada, CA.

7. Ihori, D. (2023). Special considerations in assessment and IEP development. [Workshop]. Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, Norwalk, CA.

8. Ihori, D. (2023). Analyze this! Conducting thorough assessments, writing reports, and developing IEPs. [Workshop]. Foothill SELPA, La Cañada, CA.

9. Ihori, D. (2023). Leadership essentials: Supporting staff in complex meetings. [Webinar]. North Coastal Consortium for Special Education, San Marcos, CA.

10. Ihori, D. (2023). From the assessment report to the offer of FAPE: Data, decisions, and documentation. [Webinar]. Texas Region 4 Education Service Center, Houston, TX.

11. Ihori, D. (2023). When mindfulness didn't work: Evaluating your options and documenting responses to intense disagreements [Conference session]. LRP's National Institute on Legal Issues of Educating Individuals With Disabilities, New Orleans, LA.

12. Ihori, D., Coates, V., Murphy, J., Padilla, L., & Soltau, A. (2023). Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) through the lens of universal design for learning (UDL) [Panel presentation]. Webinar hosted by the California Coalition for Inclusive Literacy (CCIL).

13. Ihori, D. (2023). From suspected disabilities to placement/services: It all starts with the assessment report. [Workshop]. Southern California Special Education Administrators (SoCalSEA), El Monte, CA.

14. Ihori, D. (2023). Multitasking under pressure: Resolving conflicts while taking meeting notes. [Webinar]. Los Angeles Unified School District Charter Operated Programs, Los Angeles, CA.

15. Ihori, D. (2023). Put it in Writing: Best practices for compliant IEPs supported by detailed meeting notes. [Webinar]. LRP Publications' Educational Webinars.  

16. Ihori, D. & Warsofsky, A. (2023). Helping your children manage feelings of anxiety. [Webinar]. Foothill SELPA Community Advisory Committee, Glendale, CA.

17. Ihori, D. (2022). From suspected disabilities to placement/services: It all starts with the assessment report. [Workshop]. Ventura County SELPA, Camarillo, CA.

18. Ihori, D. (2022). It's more than just eligibility: Using comprehensive assessments to drive the IEP. [Conference session]. LRP’s National Institute on Legal Issues of Educating Individuals With Disabilities, Louisville, KY. 

19. Ihori, D. & Klein, J. (2021). Post-pandemic SpEd tech: Capitalizing on reduced technophobia [Conference session]. Pacific Northwest Institute on Special Education and the Law, Seattle, WA.

20. Ihori, D. (2021). IEP Tricks of the trade: Meeting legal requirements with real-world practices [Conference session]. LRP's National Institute on Legal Issues of Educating Individuals with Disabilities, Phoenix, AZ.

21. Ihori, D. (2021). Best practices in reopening after the COVID-19 school closures [Webinar]. Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE), Los Angeles, CA.

22. Ihori, D. (2020). Leadership in special education: Relationships, problem- solving, and conflict resolution. [Conference session]. LRP's National Institute on Legal Issues of Educating Individuals with Disabilities, New Orleans, LA.

23. Ihori, D. & Falk, A. (2018). Developing defensible speech-language assessments, reports, and IEPs [Workshop]. Ventura County SELPA, Camarillo, CA.

24. Ihori, D. (2018). You be the judge: A review of case law [Workshop]. Ventura County SELPA, Camarillo, CA.

25. Ihori, D. (2013-2018).  Tricks of the trade: Putting legal requirements into practice [Workshop]. Workshop presented annually for the Ventura County SELPA, Camarillo, CA.

26. Ihori, D. & Klein, J. (2017). Special education technology: Using Google Apps to assist students, manage staff and monitor caseloads [Conference session]. Future of Education Technology National Conference, Orlando, FL.

27. Ihori, D. & Klein, J. (2017). How technology and special education departments must collaborate to meet student and staff needs [Conference session]. Future of Education Technology National Conference, Orlando, FL.

28. Ihori, D. (2015-2016).  Introduction to school-based counseling [Workshop presentation]. Ventura County SELPA, Camarillo, CA.