On the road to meeting a student’s special needs, families must go through an exhaustive process involving complicated policies, convoluted lingo, and numerous documents. Parents trying to navigate this process may benefit from the help of a special education advocate—an expert who can help educate and advise parents seeking support for their children. Special education advocates play a vital role in helping families know their rights and get the services that will allow their children to succeed.

As special education experts, advocates also help parents gauge their children’s progress. In situations when parents believe their children may be stalling or even regressing, special education advocates guide parents through the steps to address the situation.

Empowering Families and Giving A Voice To Students

Special Education advocates serve families through the following duties and specialized guidance:

• Advising parents about services, programs, and accommodations that meet their children’s individual needs.
• Helping parents interpret reports and evaluations, as well as explaining their implications.
• Drafting requests, responses, and complaints to schools.
• Assisting parents with submitting written requests.
• Preparing parents for IEP and 504 meetings (meetings that outline the services and accommodations students will receive and how schools will remove barriers to learning, such as providing a talking calculator to students with dyscalculia), which may include suggesting support materials or prioritizing goals and objectives.
• Checking special education documents for accuracy and completion both before and after IEP and 504 meetings.
• Accompanying parents to IEP and 504 meetings to offer advice and assistance.
• Advising parents about the strength of their cases before review and offering referrals to special education attorneys when appropriate.