Special Educational Advocacy Tips for Parents

Most parents who have a child with special needs want to home school their child. They choose to do so in order to keep their child safe from peer pressure and close to themselves, for their child's safety. This can be a daunting process, if you choose to educate your child yourself. However, it is not insurmountable. Check out the following steps that can make the process easier:

1. Know what suits your child best
You as a parent know the best for your child. If you feel that your child has a certain disability, you can help them cope with it. You understand your child best so you decide better what can help them learn. You can use different visuals, cues and other fun learning ways to educate your child.

2. Use letters to communicate important matters
Communication through email or telephone doesn't work really well. Letters help you keep track of the entire history of communication. You may need to look back at your child's documents later in case you fall into a disagreement with the educational advocate. You may create "minutes of the meeting" and send a copy to the personnel later, in case you have a face-to-face conversation.

3. Ask the educational advocate if you feel something is wrong
Your child's advocate may suggest something that you may disagree with. You have all the right to ask for the details about the policy regarding that matter. It is important that all parents know about the policies for children with special needs. If need be, you can also ask for proof of the policy that your child's advocate may suggest, for the benefit of your child.

4. Know the special education and disability laws in your state
It is important that you know all the laws related to special education and disabilities. This is important for your child's education and future. You can avoid going misinformed by the special education personnel. The personnel may not communicate important matters that can affect your child's education process.

5. Know the rights that your child has under special educational services
It is essential to know what sort of special care and service your child is entitled to. You can talk to your child's advocate; do some self-research too, in order to provide the best education for your child. Educational advocacy services are of great help, as they make sure your child's needs are fulfilled and your child receives proper education.

Some Tips For Parents of Specials Needs Children

You can get a very good, quality education for your special needs child within the school system. You do need to take heed of some important aspects when dealing with disabilities and the school district.

Educate yourself before you go into a meeting with the professionals in the school district:

* Learn all you can about your child's specific disability (classification)
* Learn your rights & responsibilities (for you & your child)
* Learn the rights & responsibilities of the school district
* Find an advocate through the state dept. of education
* Find a support group or start one of your own
* Find online support groups- they have a wealth of information that you may need.

You will never learn all the laws of special education as there are several notebooks (about 4 inches thick) filled with these laws. You can, however, learn the laws that pertain to your child and their specific needs.

Your child is entitled to a FREE & Appropriate Public Education!!!

Always keep a record of any and all meetings (IEP or private) dealing with your child. Document every call you have with the school, teacher or district official, with the date, time, name(s) of those involved & the specifics of the conversation. Do this with all meetings as well (general or IEP specific). Any notes sent home should also be kept in this file for reference at a later date, if necessary.

The school &/or district does not usually freely offer the information to all that you feel your child needs. Before attending any meetings with the school personnel, write a list of questions to ask about the things you feel your child needs to achieve his/her maximum potential in his/her school career.

When attending an IEP meeting, make sure the goals & objectives to reach those goals, are realistic & achievable within the year they will be worked on & monitored. If you feel there are other needs your child has, bring them up at this meeting so they may be added to the IEP & another meeting won't have to be convened to change the IEP. If it's not on the IEP, chances are, it won't be worked on in the classroom. Be sure you stay on top of what your child & their teacher are doing at least weekly. If you wait until marking periods end, you've lost valuable time that could have been spent working on viable goals for your child's success. Become involved in your child's education by volunteering in the classroom.