7 Ways an IEP Advocate Can Help You
What does an IEP advocate do?
You are sitting in an IEP meeting with your eyes glazing over as you try to understand what the school staff is talking about and if it will help your child? They speak a foreign language with all the acronyms and jargon. You want what’s best for your child, but you’re not sure if you’re getting it. Sound familiar?
The good news is that you don’t have to go through this process alone. IEP or special education advocates are there to help you. You might be wondering, though, what does an IEP advocate do?
An IEP advocate can help you in several ways, including providing you with information, helping you to communicate effectively, and helping you to understand the full range of options available to you. This article shares 7 ways an IEP advocate can help you.
1. Inform you about rules and procedures
You probably learned from day one that special education is all about rules and procedures. While the school must provide you with a copy of your parental rights, they don’t always do a stellar job explaining them to you. I have seen parental rights laughed off as a joke in many meetings! Your rights are NOT a joke. They are there to protect you and your child. Therefore, you should understand them thoroughly.
2. Understand jargon and acronyms
So you got an IEP… but now, is your child receiving FAPE in the LRE? Do they need an FBA or BIP after their MDR? Are they even speaking English? Becoming the parent of a child with an IEP is like being served a huge helping of alphabet soup. Your IEP advocate can help you to understand the jargon and technical terms. Before the meeting, your IEP advocate can explain what to expect in the meeting and educate you about all the terminology you may encounter. They can slow things down during the meeting or have the school staff explain things.
3. Dot your I’s and cross your T’s
So you’ve participated in your IEP meeting, and the team has developed a plan of action. You’re not finished just yet. If it isn’t documented, it didn’t happen.
Special education documentation is key. You should think of your IEP as a contract between you and the school. This contract details what the school will do to help your child progress. You want to make sure that the terms of this contract are recorded correctly. If you ever need to move toward more formal dispute resolutions procedures such as state complaints or due process, these records will be vital in making your case.
Sometimes, the things discussed in an IEP meeting verbally don’t make it into the written paperwork. Your special education advocate can help you fine-tooth comb the IEP to ensure that the things you discussed in your meeting make it into the meeting document.
4. Help you interpret evaluation and other sources of data
Data should drive all IEP decisions. If you can understand and interpret that data, you can use it in your favor. If your child is in the process of getting their first IEP, a formal evaluation will be a large part of the process. After your child is found eligible to receive services, the team will use the information from the evaluation to develop goals and objectives to be targeted in your child’s needs. Your advocate can help you to understand these evaluation results.
While your child is receiving services, the IEP team should be monitoring your child’s progress to ensure they are progressing towards these goals and objectives. You should receive IEP progress reports at the same frequency as regular report cards to update you on your child's progress towards IEP goals and objectives. Your advocate can assist you in interpreting this data to ensure your child is progressing as expected.
The IEP Strategy Roadmap package is our entry-level service for new clients. When you go to a medical doctor, they review your medical history before making your treatment plan or prescribing you medication. Here, we begin with a thorough review of your records and documents to diagnose what types of IEP problems you are facing. Once we have identified the
issues, we will get you a targeted plan of action to quickly solve your IEP problems. This service package includes the professional record review, analysis of your IEP or 504 issues, one-hour consultation, and written summary.
5. Keep your emotions in check.
So far, we have talked mostly about how a special education advocate can help you understand technical things like acronyms, rules, procedures, and test scores. Even if you are familiar with the technical information, a special education advocate can still help you. Lengthy discussions of your child’s weaknesses can be gut-wrenching. As a parent, you may experience grief or sadness about your child can’t do things. If you have been in dispute with your child’s school for a long time, it has probably led to anger or frustration because you feel the school isn’t doing enough. This might bring out the mama or papa bear in you. You are no doubt passionate about your child. However, it is essential not to let your passion cloud your judgment or allow you to make bad decisions. Your IEP advocate can help you to keep your emotions in check.
6. Communicate effectively with your IEP team
Your special education advocate can help you communicate effectively with your child’s school team. These can include both written and verbal communication. Your IEP advocate may help you draft letters to make requests of your child’s school or draft your parental input before IEP meetings. If your IEP advocate attends meetings with you, they can help you effectively communicate with your child’s school team. They can also help you negotiate for services to meet your child’s needs.
7. Know and understand the full range of available options
Many parents feel that their child’s current IEP isn’t meeting their needs. However, they don’t know all the available options to remedy the situation. In preparing to negotiate with your child’s IEP team, your special education advocate can help you to understand the full range of options available to you. Different curriculums, strategies, or interventions may be available to your child. There may be other classroom programs where your child may make more progress. You may also need to consider your options for actions such as continuing to negotiate with the school or moving forward with formal dispute procedures such as state complaints or due process.
What does an IEP advocate do?
An IEP advocate can provide you with information to fully understand the IEP process. The information an advocate gives you allows you to participate in making educational decisions for your child as a fully contributing member of the team. Your special education advocate can help you understand the full range of options available to you and communicate with your child’s IEP team effectively. These services can have several beneficial outcomes for you and your family. Getting help from an advocate can assist you in reducing stress and overwhelm. It can also help your child make more progress, improve their skills, and feel happier!
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Dr. Brandi Tanner is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and former special educator with over 15 years of experience in her fields. She founded Your IEP Source to guide parents through the IEP journey and to empower them to become better advocates for their children.
