Becoming a Special Needs Advocate: March 2013

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Is Your Attorney Really an Attorney?

Recently a friend of mine found herself in a difficult situation. It seemed that her "attorney" was doing everything wrong. She shared that he was overbilling her for IEP meeting atendance, he was asking the district for things for her son that were not justified. He requested a Non-public school when that is not what the parents wanted and not what was recommended in the IEEs that the district had paid for. We began to ask a question, was this guy truly an attorney? A question that should have been asked at the beginning of the search for an attorney. But he had led us to believe he was an attorney, when the word attorney was mentioned, he did not deny that he was an attorney, he spoke at training meetings and it was at the very least inferred that he is an attorney. Well, it turns out he isn't an attorney. How did we find out? We went online to the state bar associateion website, put his name in, and you guessed it, he is not listed as an attorney with the California Bar Association.

In the future, if I have any dealings with any attorney on any issue, I will go to the website and find out if they are indeed listed as an attorney in my state. For California that site is Calbar.org. Every state will have their own website, but if you are paying for an attorney I would want to be sure that the person is indeed an attorney.

PWN - What, Why, and How it Can Benefit You

PWN tells you a lot. If the district has real reasons for their denial of a service it wil be included. If they don't have any good reasons to deny your child a service, such as budget constraints or just because they can (in their opinion), then it is your green light to go the next step - either a compliance complaint or an Alternate dispute resolution, Mediation only, or Due process request.

http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/using-prior-written-notice-as-a-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-105321

ADVOCATE ad·vo·cate

–verb (used with object)

to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly: He advocated higher salaries for teachers.

–noun

a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc. (usually fol. by of ): an advocate of peace.

a person who pleads for or in behalf of another; intercessor.

a person who pleads the cause of another in a court of law.

MISSION STATEMENT

It is my hope that this blog will serve as a help to other parents along side me in this world of "SPED" (Special Eduction). I hope that the stories I share about the insight I have gained and the pitfalls I have encountered will help others on this journey. I don't know it all, hardly, I'm still learning the ropes, but every time I go to another meeting or finish another phone call I hope to have gleaned something that will help me or others in the next step.

There are so many little secrets that if we share them, will no longer be secrets, and will enable us to advocate for our children more effectively. Every child deserves to be educated and this can only happen if we are diligent and do what we can to make that happen. There are some really good districts that do the best they can for the kids, but there are far too many districts out here that believe it is their job to save money --- at the expense of teaching young people what they can and need to learn to lead productive, and meaningful lives.