Effective Special Education Advocate Santa Cruz

Hiring an advocate to help navigate the IEP process is a positive step to further the federally outlined process. There are so many many rules and policies and laws that it be get very overwhelming and emotionally draining.

School districts may act shocked or “upset” when a family hires an advocate, but believe me, they are not. They may say “I thought you trusted us” or “you dont need an advocate, we are all on the same side”. When the district is notified that the next meeting will be recorded, they can often act like no one has ever done that before……these are all ploys to make a parent feel guilty for simply wanting to do as the law allows and which can lead to a much more well developed IEP document.

Some parents acknowledge they need an advocate’s help but then wont allow us to do our job. The parents will want us to attend a meeting, but not talk…..or will only want us to stay for part of the meeting…..or want us to not question certain things at a meeting. All of these examples only make having an advocate highly ineffective and not worth spending money on.

Since the IEP process, from an advocate’s view, requires both knowledge of the law and well designed strategies, being comfortable with the advocate is essential. That is why pre-meeting conferences are important so that a plan can be developed and to make sure everyone is on the same page. Understanding how and why an advocate does things in a particular way will help make the entire process much more effective.

When hiring an advocate, ask a lot of questions about how certain issues and concerns will be addressed during the meeting. Ask about how different scenarios will possibly be handled. While no one ever really knows how a meeting will go, it is good to have a thorough understanding ahead of time of the game plan .

Hire an advocate. Learn your rights.

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As parents, we understand, As advocates, we can help.