Attorney/Educational Advocate for IEP?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2006
Attorney/Educational Advocate for IEP?
2
Sat, 12-16-2006 - 9:09pm
Has anyone ever hired either a professional educational advocate or attorney to their IEP meeting? The director of my son's special education pre-school is also his teacher, and she's a nightmare. She's been stalling on my request just to schedule the meeting, stalled on requests for more information regarding my son's test scores (I need help interpreting them, and requested that they either be presented using a different method, or be provided with a chart that has ranges indicating what the scores mean). My goal is to get him more services, and to have his IEP goals updated to better reflect his needs.Our nuerologist tells me that this women is known for denying your child services with a smile on her face. I'm not clear on my rights regarding what my son is entitled to. He's a high-functioning Autistic with speech, OT, and sensory integration challenges. His social skills need lots of work (he loves interacting with other children, but usually ends up irritating them, so they reject him) He only receives 7.5 hrs/wk (I posted about this earlier) Should I bring in a professional to assist me? I believe he should receive at least 15-20 hrs per week. Should I insist he be placed in private program at the school's expense? Help!
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-13-2006
Sat, 12-16-2006 - 9:46pm

You might consider cutting and pasting this post onto the Special Education Plans board.


http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=iv-ppiep&nav=start


There are a lot of people over there who have experience and knowledge about these things.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 12-16-2006 - 11:59pm

I have a professional ed consultant through the regional center. I actually act as advocate for a few friends and attend with them. What really helps the most is having an objective person on your side ot be there with you. Objective as in not emotionally attached parent.

As far as what to request, that is really driven by your sons needs. The school must provide an appropriate education so the child can access curriculum that would be typical for a child of thier age. If they have a program in the district which complies with this it will be very hard to get them to fund a private program unless you can prove what they have is not appropriate for your son.

I find what helps me is to go through their reports, do some reflection myself and come up with a graph of what my concerns are (thier needs) and what I feel is needed or appropriate to meet those needs.

HTH

Renee

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