When to get an advocate? | Autism PDD
If it were me, even if not expecting any problems, I would bring someone, say a family friend who knows your kid, just to have a friendly face and moral support. Two hours of someone hammering away at you can make you forget how to spell your name, let alone your legal rights.
I'd bring an advocate if I were expecting any sort of legal or placement issues, but not disagreement about the diagnosis. However, we are getting better (and cheaper) results with a lawyer who briefs us before and after the IEP meeting, but maybe our advocate was just ineffective.
If there were questions about diagnosis and treatment, I think I would want to bring an outside evaluator.
I don't think that advocates can make diagnosis or treatment decisions (since they are not suitably trained) and so I would expect my SD to ignore them if they offered diagnosis or treatment opinions in the IEP meeting. And that seems to me to be the question here.
I imagine that what would be suggested in your case is to ask that the placement not be changed w/o an evaluation to show that the new placement is appropriate. If you do not think that the evaluation was appropriate, you can get an independent evaluation at school district expense (under suitable conditions). There is also something called "prior written notice" that requires the SD to explain their reasons for changing services before changing them, or not changing services when you've asked for a change. [But PWN comes after the discussions in the IEP meeting. The services and placement is supposed to be decided in the IEP meeting, not before.] My SD routinely ignores these requirements (both PWN and the no decisions prior to the IEP).
You can ask to see the new placement before deciding (you should be included in the IEP team as a fully informed member of the team after all).
There is a book that is recommended repeatedly "From Emotions to Advocacy" by P. Wright It can be ordered from Amazon.com or Wrightslaw.com. (Also I recommend you visit the Wrightslaw web site to see their info there's a lot). This book goes over your rights and is kind of a special education for parents 101.
One additional thing, if I were being told that the IEP meeting was going to be that long, I would tape it (you probably have to tell them in writing some days in advance. In my SD they tape if the parents do. This varies state to state, and sometimes county to county.) Unless you have the memory of an elephant, you will not be able to remember it all. Since your husband will not be present, you can say that you want to be able to send it to him, maybe by burning it to CDs. He is supposed to be part of the process as well.
To answer your question directly, you probably need to tell the SD that you are bringing someone when you reply to the notice of the IEP meeting.
What is the IEP meeting for? Can they give you an agenda? Give them 24 hours notice that you plan on taping the IEP meeting so that you can send the tape to your husband, who wants to fully participate in his son's education, eventhough he is overseas (because your husband is guaranteed a right to participate, they cannot say "no," tho they have the right to tape if YOU tape).
ASAP, write a letter to the Special Education director and ask for an evaluation for Occupational Therapy. If your son is already getting occupational therapy, ask that the OT give him a sensory integration dysfunction test. If you have insurance that will pay, seek out your own private OT and get a test along with a report of the findings. The IEP Team MUST consider your outside eval. That will put SID on the record -- or not.
In my case, I did not want to waste time going back and forth with them... I also have specific demands that I wanted met and I know before hand that they were not going to hand it to me on a silver platter. Do u have any specific demands or changes that u will be making at the IEP meeting??/
Your BEST plan of action is to get private evaluations in all areas of suspected disability and bring those to the IEP Meeting. You CAN ask the District to pay for Indepedent Educational Evaluations, but that will take longer and they may not be FULLY independent (after all, if the provider KNOWS the District is paying, they may still have a bias toward the District). Definitely get the book FROM EMOTIONS TO ADVOCACY, search topics at the Wrightslaw link I posted (just click on the blue link) and get an advocate. You need to bring yourself up to speed on all the legal rights your son has.Thanks im going to look up your link you posted. My son hasnt qualified for anything although they said he has moderate delays in social and receptive speech which I think is bogus and they are VERY sneaky but I wont attempt to hijack, but maybe its not enough to interfer with ed. Thanks!So your son did not have an IEP prior to now? He needs to have been given a full, multidisciplinary evaluation by a team of evaluators in all areas of suspected disability and those reports will be presented at the meeting. The IEP Team does not DECIDE if a child should be evaluated. EVERY child whose parent WANTS him evaluated gets him evaluated. The meeting is to read and discuss the evaluations and to decide, based on the school's evaluations and any private evaluations the parent presents, whether the child qualifies for special education services and, if so, what. A child with a MEDICAL dx of ANY asd can get a 504 plan if he is rejected for special education. Any advocate you hire ought to be able to explain all of this to you since both IEPs and 504's are covered by FEDERAL law.Whats a 504 plan, tzoya?
P.S. I ordered the book you recommended but havnt gotten it yet
To learn more about IEPs and 504 Plans, go to www.wrightslaw.com and search both there.
I also think they want to discuss him going into kindergarten, so I need to be prepared for that.Oh, I forgot to answer the question. If you can, get an advocate.
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