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...

 ADDRESS PARENT IEP CONCERNS

USE  PARENT LETTERS OF ATTACHMENT

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 it is never used effectively. The PLA section of the IEP is known in some states as “Parent Concerns”,...

WE HAVE 45 MINUTES FOR THE IEP ON THURDAY.

Comment from a BCEA student (JS) : LEA only allows 45” for an IEP.

Why are advocates there?

Why do you say "Its cool with me" sarcastically - when clearly what you're referring to is NOT ok??!!! As an advocate, no, covering a 43 page IEP in less than 45 minutes is not ok, so you should not be saying to an LEA "that's ok." Am I missing something about being an advocate???? That's the entire reason we are there - to say "NO! That's not...

 EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY IS THE MOST PRESSING

SOCIAL PROBLEM FACING OUR COUNTRY AND

THE CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE OF OUR DAY

To solve this problem one must be an expert in IEP development. The goal is to support students learning academically, emotionally, behaviorally, socially, and adaptive skills so that they will be truly prepared for postsecondary success. We must have high expectations with appropriate supports so that they are able to pursue their dreams through self-determination. We...

How to Appreciate the Eye of the Advocate

As this first day of a New Year begins, I would like to focus on what happens when someone finally develops the eye of an advocate.  What does that really mean and does that process of developing the Eye of an advocate have any impact on your life and if it does what does it look like?

We can compare the process of developing an advocate’s eye to developing an understanding and appreciation of music.  Many of us tend to prefer one...

UNPROFESSIONAL CODE WORDS

Professionals, know better than to ever say certain code words:

“TRUST ME”

The need to convince someone you are trustworthy causes others to think otherwise and make them suspicious. Trust is earned and not asked for. This phrase is unprofessional because you have to provide evidence and proof to earn trust. “Trust me” conveys a delay until a solution is developed. Instead, acknowledge that you are still working on finding a solution and why...

EDUCATION ADVOCACY SKILLS

"ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION IS OFTEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN HAVING AN ANSWER. A RIGHT QUESTION CAN LEAD TO THE RIGHT ANSWER."

Marie Lewis PhD, BCEA

The world of Special Education leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to transparency and direction.  Some of that is simply a matter of variation as the manifestation of most diagnoses are on a continuum somewhere between mild to severe. In addition there is frequently at least one or two secondary diagnoses...