Carla Binswanger (left) is a professional organizer, a former writer and editor for Newsweek and Exceptional Parent magazines, and mother of a child with special needs. When she met Rose McDermott (right), who was then a staff member in the Natick Public School system, and a parent herself, they immediately clicked—and knew they wanted to join forces to solve a challenge faced by millions of parents across the country: How to tame the huge piles of paperwork that surround a child’s IEP. Within a year, they had created
“My IEP ToolKit™: The Complete Organizer for Your Child’s Individualized Education Plan” and Organized4Kids.

The combination of Rose’s daily exposure to the IEP process from an educator’s perspective, and Carla’s daily contact with fellow parents and clinicians, along with months of research and development, resulted in a tool that parents, advocates and educators agree is a long-awaited solution to a very common problem. My IEP ToolKit™ is now prominently featured bythe Federation for Children with Special Needs and OrPTI, and was named a 2009 Outstanding Product by Disney’s iParenting Media Awards.