"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."...M L King Jr.
What is an advocate?...
An
advocate is someone who speaks for you or on your behalf, or to help
you speak for yourself. An advocate will strive to help you
identify what you want and how best to get it. An advocate will help
you get information you want or need and to use it as you see fit. An
advocate can help you recognize your own strengths and skills while
also providing help in areas where you may need it. Does this sound
familiar to you as a parent? It is very much the same thing and for
this reason YOU are your child's best advocate...
As an Parent Partner, a very important piece for me is to help 'empower' you as a parent, to do what you feel is important and have needs met. This is done by laying out the ground work of what you want, laying out the needs, finding resources and making a plan of action.
An advocate should know something about your child's disability and be familiar with local and state special education law.
If you are going to advocate for your child, you must arm yourself with information about the disability.
Ask the district for all records on your child, including parent notes, etc. You want all papers. Another thing is to get a notebook and keep track of all conversations, visits, etc. with the school regarding your child. DOCUMENT everything with dates, times, names and reason.
Don't go to IEP meetings alone, take someone with you. An IEP should always start out with your child's strengths. Ask for a draft copy of the IEP before the meeting. If the IEP is drafted before hand and you have not had any input, then you were not given a chance to be part of the team. If you are unsure of your child's educational needs and feel they are not being provided, ask for an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) at public expense.
As an Parent Partner, a very important piece for me is to help 'empower' you as a parent, to do what you feel is important and have needs met. This is done by laying out the ground work of what you want, laying out the needs, finding resources and making a plan of action.
An advocate should know something about your child's disability and be familiar with local and state special education law.
If you are going to advocate for your child, you must arm yourself with information about the disability.
Ask the district for all records on your child, including parent notes, etc. You want all papers. Another thing is to get a notebook and keep track of all conversations, visits, etc. with the school regarding your child. DOCUMENT everything with dates, times, names and reason.
Don't go to IEP meetings alone, take someone with you. An IEP should always start out with your child's strengths. Ask for a draft copy of the IEP before the meeting. If the IEP is drafted before hand and you have not had any input, then you were not given a chance to be part of the team. If you are unsure of your child's educational needs and feel they are not being provided, ask for an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) at public expense.
Advocating
for your child can be a very emotional roller coaster ride.
When I first started advocating for my son, I lost all diplomacy as
there were situations going on and by then I was plain mad. I
was like a mad pit bull with lipstick. Nothing was getting
accomplished and all it did was cause a contention between the
district and I. My son was not in a winning situation. I would
suggest purchasing the following book :
Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy by Pam Wright and Pete Wright provides a clear roadmap to effective advocacy for a children with disabilities.
This book was so helpful to me in those days. It gives you sample letters to the school and step by step in knowing what documents are in your child's file.
I asked for other advocates to help me and learned so much. Over time, I changed my approach until I found my niche. I have learned to be direct when needed. Know about services being asked for. When you are wrong about something, don't be hard headed about it..admit it! Our school district was appreciative about it. I knew there were times I was so hard headed about something I thought I was absolutely right on, to discover I may have misread or misunderstood. As I learned, I did not let down my gaurd and allow the district to soft soap me either. I learned to stand my ground and advocate for what was important and needed for my son to grow. Another thing to know is not to make the statement you want the 'best' education for your child. You state that you want an 'appropriate' education. An appropriate education is what promotes growth. The best is not always understood.
You want to form a working relationship with staff working with your child. Take time to LISTEN to what is being said. Then you can feel free to also make your point. With everyone cooperating and having the child's best interest at heart, the child ends up winning.
Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy by Pam Wright and Pete Wright provides a clear roadmap to effective advocacy for a children with disabilities.
This book was so helpful to me in those days. It gives you sample letters to the school and step by step in knowing what documents are in your child's file.
I asked for other advocates to help me and learned so much. Over time, I changed my approach until I found my niche. I have learned to be direct when needed. Know about services being asked for. When you are wrong about something, don't be hard headed about it..admit it! Our school district was appreciative about it. I knew there were times I was so hard headed about something I thought I was absolutely right on, to discover I may have misread or misunderstood. As I learned, I did not let down my gaurd and allow the district to soft soap me either. I learned to stand my ground and advocate for what was important and needed for my son to grow. Another thing to know is not to make the statement you want the 'best' education for your child. You state that you want an 'appropriate' education. An appropriate education is what promotes growth. The best is not always understood.
You want to form a working relationship with staff working with your child. Take time to LISTEN to what is being said. Then you can feel free to also make your point. With everyone cooperating and having the child's best interest at heart, the child ends up winning.
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