Becoming a Special Needs Advocate: January 2013

Friday, January 25, 2013

Attorney Advice

http://westfield.patch.com/articles/special-education-attorney-offers

The above link is to a review of what a Special Ed attorney shared with parents of students in Special Education. There are some excellent tips about goals and red flags in the IEP meeting. Good reading!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

The Power of "No"

"No" is an incredible word, when used judiciously. We have had occasion to say "no" to changes in our children's IEPs. When we say "no" to changes we say "yes" to stay put. Many district will not however, enact stay put unless the parents specifically request stay put. I always make it a point to tell all at the IEP meeting that I am requesting that they initiate stay put until such time that we come to an agreement, sometimes this may be until we get an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) that confirms the districts belief that my child is no longer in need of or ready for a reduction in services. I then follow this up with a letter just to be sure that they got my message. If I wait, thinking they are giving a service as prescribed by law, I may find out months later that they did not do as requested, so I do everything in my power to be sure that services are being provided as they must by law be given.

Following the Money

From Special Needs Advisor:

This is a well thought out view, though sadly, I have to admit, I believe there are some evil people in the world who seem to enjoy doing any trick they can think of to avoid getting services to our kids with special needs.

http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/the-trickle-down-economics-of-never-fully-funding-special-education/

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.