Antoinette Banks, a cognitive scientist, is spearheading a revolution in special education with her AI-powered app, Expert IEP. Born from a deeply personal challenge, the platform is designed to empower families navigating the often-complex world of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and ensure students with disabilities receive the support they deserve. Banks’ journey began with a diagnosis for her daughter and a frustrating encounter with the medical and legal systems.
Banks’ daughter was diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder at age five, later identified as autism and ADHD. According to reporting by Afrotech, Banks was told by medical professionals that her daughter had “zero chance” of achieving adult autonomy. A special education attorney even suggested, Banks recounted to the outlet, that “Black families don’t care enough about things like being autistic, so you might want to put her in a facility to give her the best shot.” This experience ignited Banks’ determination to understand the intricacies of the brain and advocate for her daughter’s potential.
Driven by a desire to understand how the brain functions, Banks pursued education, starting with night classes at a community college before earning a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science from UC Davis. During her undergraduate studies, she began researching the state of IEPs, building a database of families’ experiences – primarily Black and brown families – and comparing those findings to data from the Department of Education. This research revealed patterns about what truly works for families, with a particular focus on the unique challenges faced by families of color.
“Those are the main families who are not getting access to college or gainful employment or even more therapeutic care,” Banks explained to Afrotech. Recognizing the foundational role IEPs play in the educational journey of K-12 students with learning differences, Banks focused her work on making these crucial documents more accessible and effective.
“[IEPs are] a federally mandated, legally defensible document for your child that might have a disability or learning difference. This is really key to understand, as more children are being diagnosed,” she shared in a recent Instagram video aimed at educating families. “IEPs can be extraordinarily overwhelming for everybody involved… it’s a contract that you as a family are creating with school leaders to get the appropriate support.”
This understanding led to the launch of Expert IEP in 2021, just before Banks completed her Bachelor of Science degree at UC Davis. Since graduating in 2022, she has continued to develop the tool as a PhD student at the same university, addressing issues like racial bias within the IEP process. Her research has revealed that IEPs for Black students often employ more penal language compared to those for white students, where the language tends to be more collaborative. Expert IEP is designed to eliminate this disparity.
Banks’ forthcoming research, slated for publication in the American Educational Research Association Journal, indicates that nearly 80% of all IEP documents are written in a format that is not easily accessible to families. Expert IEP aims to mitigate this issue and also offers a cost-effective alternative to hiring a private IEP advocate, which can cost up to $14,000 annually and demonstrably improve outcomes.
The app provides limited free options and subscription-based access, making support more attainable for families who cannot afford expensive advocacy services. Expert IEP is already demonstrating positive results, with thousands of families reporting increased motivation and confidence, improved grades, and faster IEP implementation in schools. This success has contributed to Banks raising nearly $2 million in funding, including a $1 million investment from Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition Prize in 2023, alongside support from Camelback Ventures and NewSchools Venture Fund.
Looking ahead, Banks plans to expand Expert IEP’s reach by launching a version of the platform specifically for school districts, enabling them to implement the AI-powered tool for all students in need of IEP support.
What comes next for Expert IEP will be crucial as Banks aims to scale her solution and impact more students and families. The platform’s potential to address systemic inequities in special education and empower families to advocate for their children’s needs is significant.
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