Speaker · Special Education Advocate · Licensed SLPA · Parent

Bring Courtney Burnett to Your Stage

Special education is complicated. Courtney makes it clear and sends people home feeling capable.

Courtney Burnett brings a view of special education from nearly every side of the table. She's worked inside the schools as a licensed SLPA. She's sat in hundreds of IEP meetings advocating beside families. She works with a special education law firm. And she's lived the whole thing as the mom of a medically complex, non-speaking daughter.

So she doesn't just know what the policies say, she knows what happens when people actually have to work through them.

She's warm, she's honest, and she makes complicated things easy to understand. Audiences leave with the words, the tools, and the confidence to advocate for real change.

Available for keynotes, conferences, trainings, workshops, panels, and virtual events nationwide.

Nearly two decades in special education

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Licensed SLPA & Board Certified Advocate

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Vice President, Raising Voices Coalition

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Featured on CBS 5 and KJZZ

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Contributed to state legislation

She has a perspective from every side

The professional inside the school, the advocate beside the family, and the parent across the table. Courtney has been all three.

She knows the moment a parent realizes they don't understand what they just agreed to. She knows what it's like for a teacher trying to serve a child inside a system that isn't built for it. And she knows the frustration behind “we don't do that here.”

On stage, she makes the tangled parts clear, she gets people laughing in rooms where the subject usually feels heavy, and she gives them something to actually do with what they learned.

Your audience won't leave with another notebook they'll never open, they'll leave ready to act.

When you bring Courtney to your stage, you get the experience behind the message

Board Certified Advocate in Special Education

Courtney works directly with families on IEPs, services, communication access, and educational rights, and she's been doing it for nearly two decades across more than 30 states.

Legal Advocacy Consultant

IEP Defenders brings Courtney in and refers families to her when a situation needs experienced, knowledgeable advocacy.

Vice President, Raising Voices Coalition

Her work reaches past individual meetings and into systems change through this Arizona disability advocacy nonprofit.

Featured on CBS 5 and KJZZ

Her advocacy has reached the press and she's contributed to efforts that resulted in state legislation being passed.

But her most important education didn't happen in a school, a law office, or a conference room. It happened raising her daughter. That's what changed how Courtney sees advocacy and how she teaches it. Behind every policy is a person, behind every meeting is a family, and behind every real change is someone who decided to speak up.

Courtney Burnett's Speaking Topics

Give Courtney your audience and the outcome you want and she'll build the talk around both.

These are the sessions organizers ask for most.

01 / ADVOCACY

IEP Advocacy That Actually Works

Moving from overwhelmed and intimidated to prepared and effective at the IEP table.

IEP meetings can make even confident people second-guess themselves. Courtney shows families and professionals what effective advocacy actually looks like, how to spot what matters, ask sharper questions, and move a conversation toward an actual outcome.

Audiences leave with:

A clearer sense of what to watch for in an IEP

Practical language for the hard conversations

Stronger questions to ask when something feels off

More confidence taking part in the process

02 / COMMUNICATION

Communication Is a Right

AAC, access, and what non-speaking kids need the adults in the room to understand.

Courtney teaches this one as both a clinician and the mom of a non-speaking daughter. She pushes a room to rethink what communication looks like and what opens up when we stop treating speech as the same thing as intelligence or ability. Especially powerful for educators, SLPs, SLPAs, clinicians, families, and disability organizations.

03 / PARTNERSHIP

From “We Don't Do That Here” to “What Does This Child Need?”

Building partnerships between families and schools when the stakes are high.

Parents and professionals often walk into the same room wanting to help the same child but still end up on opposite sides. Courtney gets into the communication gaps, the assumptions, and the system pressure that turn teamwork into conflict and then she shows the room another way through.

Want something built specially for your audience?

Good. Tell Courtney who's coming, what they're up against, and what you want them thinking or doing differently when they leave. She'll shape the session around that.

Who Courtney speaks for

Find your room in the conversation.

Conferences and associations

Keynotes and breakouts that mix lived experience, expertise, and practical takeaways.

School districts and education teams

Professional development that helps educators understand advocacy, family partnership, communication access, and the parent's experience.

Parent and family organizations

Practical sessions that turn confusion into confidence.

SLP, SLPA, and AAC communities

Grounded in Courtney's clinical background and her life raising a non-speaking child.

Disability and advocacy organizations

Programming that connects individual advocacy to bigger systems change.

Leadership and women's events

Talks about finding your voice, turning lived experience into leadership, and making change when the system won't.

Formats and availability

Courtney speaks across the United States and virtually.

She shapes each session around your format and audience.

Keynotes, half-day and full-day workshops, breakout sessions, professional trainings, panels, webinars, and virtual events. If you need something different, ask.

Organizations Courtney has spoken at

What families say about Courtney

Words from the people she's helped.

“I found Courtney when I felt lost and overwhelmed. During our meeting she was calm, supportive, and confident, and she helped translate my nervous, scattered thoughts into clear points. We had an amazing outcome, and I credit that success to her.”

Jasmine, parent

“Her knowledge of advocacy law, parental rights, and advocacy responsibilities is astounding. Working with Courtney has been a breath of fresh air for our family.”

Neke, parent

Invite Courtney

Give your audience more than information. Give them a way to take action.

Courtney takes a limited number of speaking engagements, trainings, workshops, panels, and virtual events across the country.

Tell Courtney about your event and she'll help you land on the topic and format that will do the most in the room.

When you reach out, include:

◆ Event name, date, and location

◆ Who's attending and roughly how many

◆ The format you're considering

◆ The challenge or topic you most want her to take on

Prefer email? Reach Courtney at [email protected]

Check Courtney's Availability

Frequently asked questions

Before you reach out

Does Courtney customize her presentations?

Always. She won't hand every room the same talk. Tell her who's attending and what you want them to leave understanding, feeling, or doing differently, and she builds it from there.