Special Education Advocates Are Highly Valued -

By The U.S. Department Of Education

In a land where coffee flows like rivers and memes reign supreme, there exists a peculiar group known as special education advocates. These valiant warriors of inclusion, armed with stacks of paperwork and hearts full of compassion, have a single mission: to ensure that every child receives the education they deserve. Yet, despite their noble cause, they find themselves trapped in a vortex of...

You know what I mean.  We’ve all seen that poor frazzled mom in the grocery store, right?  Talking through her teeth, trying to reason with a crying child, while both voices escalate and frustration bubbles over.  Then, what follows is the inevitable look of defeat on one of their faces, depending on who won the battle in the checkout line over the candy bar.  You glance her way with a sympathetic nod to show your solidarity, quietly letting out a small sigh of...

Not Just Another Job

Effective Advocacy More Than Theory and Law

We recognize the need to shift the role of education advocates into Servant Leaders. This comes from understanding a bigger mission and the gifts advocates can offer. Education advocates learn to make decisions and discern the important and different roles that they play in each challenging situation. This is a field full of conflict that needs to be diffused and redirected.  As leaders, advocates must honor all...

EFFECTIVE IEP COMMUNICATION REQUIRES ADVOCATES

There Are Too Many Agendas And Biases That Exist

As an education advocate, you have the power to transform IEP meetings from:

 "INCREDIBLY

EXHAUSTING

PARTIES" To

"INTENTIONALLY EMPOWERING PROCESSES"!

Yes, I just made up a new meaning for IEP, but let's roll with it.

There is a Critical Need for Advocates

Who Empower Change and Ensure Success"

During these meetings, you'll encounter a...

EDUCATION ADVOCACY IS FOR EVERYONE

IT IS AN ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY RESOURCE

When I think of education advocacy I see Batman’s utility belt, but instead of gadgets, it endows parents with superpowers to fight for their children’s education rights. You could think of it as a mix of Professor X’s telepathy and Hermione Granger’s knowledge of magic spells- empowering parents to make informed decisions, creating positive change, and the getting of functional outcomes...

Should An Education Advocate Run For The School Board?

There have been several cases where a person with special education advocacy experience has run for the school board. There was, of course, hue and cry on both sides of the issue any time it presented itself.

Some people were afraid that the advocate would favor special education students and bankrupt the district. It is not unusual for people to think that everything related to special education is exceedingly expensive when there are...

PLAYING NICE IN THE SANDBOX

MANAGING DISAGREEMENTS

Managing disagreements and ineffective interactions is a core skill of professional special education advocacy. We must choose whether we want conflict or peace. Learning peace comes from getting out of the inner conflict of attack and grievance maintenance which means getting out of the ego side of the conflict.

Parents come to us with an inner war that is going on already that they are outwardly expressing. We do not...

EDUCATION ADVOCACY

AND CONFLICT

Below you will find a link to the LEWIS IEP COMMUNICATION LIST. This is free. It is part of the Board-Certified Special Education Advocate Program ^TM offered by the National Special Education Advocacy Institute - NSEAI.  It reviews the steps in effective professional IEP communication.

EVERYDAY IEP SCENARIO:

At the IEP Table: IEP Team Members are all convinced that the other side is “out of line”, “just plain...

20 Highly Effective Questions Experts Ask - Make a Difference in Your IEP

Everyone knows that Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings determine the type of support and accommodations required for the student to achieve their educational goals. At these meetings, your child’s team of professionals (educators and clinicians from school), you, and your child, work together to develop an IEP that outlines your child's educational needs, goals, and services.

Parents play a crucial role...

WHAT IEP ISSUES CAN A PARENT LETTER OF ATTACHMENT ADDRESS? 

WHAT IS A PARENT LETTER OF ATTACHMENT?

The Parent Letter of Attachment  (PLA) is a document that most parents are pretty clueless about. They either have no idea what to do with it and so never do anything with it and there are some that just use it as a way of praising the teacher and or support personnel and it is never used as intended. The PLA section of the IEP is known in some states as “Parent...