Special Education Advocates and Advocacy

As a parent, you are your child’s most powerful advocate. But sometimes parents want help to get their children the services and supports they need at school.

Children with disabilities and special health care needs have a right to public education. This includes special education services or school accommodations if they qualify. Sometimes, the process of working with schools can be confusing. It can be emotional or scary to walk into a room of school professionals to ask for what your child needs. Or even to speak up with your child’s teacher.

This page has information about how to advocate or speak up for your child to get special education services and support. It also has ideas on who to ask for help in that process, including paying someone to help you. You can decide what help you need and when.

What is Education Advocacy?

Advocacy means being a voice for your child. Advocacy is speaking up for them and asking for the services they need. This is something you can do all the time by talking with your child’s teachers and school administrators, such as the counselor and principal. And it is something important to do during the special education process for your child.

You might have to speak up strongly, more than once, but you can do it. Bring a friend or another parent with you if it will help. Reach out to community organizations to help you understand and plan for the special education process. Or pay a professional special education advocate to work with you.

Before you think about hiring someone, we’ve heard from other parents and special education experts that it’s a good idea to learn about special education yourself first. Try to be a partner with your child’s school. Professional special education advocates and lawyers can fight for your child if there’s a problem. But bringing them can also put the school district on the defense before any problems come up. Think carefully about what help you need.

If need help deciding what kind of help to get, you can call or email Texas Parent to Parent.

Preparing to Advocate

To get ready for special education meetings at your child’s school or to learn about the special education process:

• See our Special Education 101 page.
• Learn about the ARD process (a meeting with teachers and others from the school to make a plan to meet your child’s needs).
• Read about the Individualized Education Program (IEP) (the plan that comes from an ARD meeting).
• Teach yourself about 504 accommodations (changes in how content is taught, supported or tested).
• Take a free course or workshop. Partners Resource Network has these throughout the state and online. There may be other places in your area that also offer courses.
• Get one-on-one help from experts to understand and prepare for special education processes. Partners Resource Network offers this service for free.
• Texas Parent to Parent has a peer mentor program and an advocacy network.

Getting Help to Advocate

Different people can help you advocate. You can:

• Bring a friend or another parent with experience with special education to school meetings. This person can be another pair of ears. They can take notes. They can help slow down the process. This gives you time to absorb what is being said. And they can give you emotional support. See our connect with other parents page and the Texas Parent to Parent links above for more ideas.
• Bring someone who works with your child outside of school, such as a therapist. They can offer helpful insight.
• Hire a professional special education advocate to attend meetings with you. Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) has information on where to find one. It’s a good idea to interview a few to be sure you like the advocate’s approach.
• Hire an attorney if there is a due process hearing. COPAA also has information on attorneys. Disability Rights Texas might also be able to help.

To avoid problems, tell your child’s school you’ll be bringing someone else along to a meeting or recording it. Some parents record meetings to help them remember and keep track of what was said. If you plan to bring a professional special education advocate or attorney, the school might want to invite their attorney too. Tell the school in writing a few days before the meeting. This will save valuable time during the meeting.

To learn more, see:

• “When You’re Having Trouble Getting the Right Services for Your Child” 
• The IDEA Manual
• The Texas Education Agency’s state special education dispute resolution system chart

What Is a Professional Special Education Advocate?

A professional special education advocate is someone who can help get accommodations or special education services for children with disabilities and special health care needs. They can help you:

• Ask for an initial evaluation to see if your child can get special education services.
• Ask for a second opinion, called an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if you don’t agree with the school’s evaluation results.
• During the information-gathering process of the ARD meeting.
• During any part of creating, reviewing and approving an IEP.
• During a due process hearing. If the school district is going to hold a due process hearing and not give a child special education services, an advocate can help parents keep asking for those services.

Advocates can also help you ask for and arrange 504 accommodations, changes in how content is taught, supported or tested. An advocate can help parents ask for a 504 evaluation, understand the school’s decision and with any next steps in creating a 504 plan.

An advocate can also help with creating a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP). They might help a parent ask the school district for a BIP, understand the Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) or help during a BIP review.

Benefits of Hiring an Advocate

An advocate is an expert who can guide you and your child to get the best results possible from the special education process. And an advocate or lawyer can help you when there are problems with the school.

Challenges With Hiring an Advocate

As we mentioned above, bringing in an advocate can make things tense with the school. If you are just starting with the special education process, and there are no problems, it’s better to wait on bringing an advocate. Instead, be a partner with the school.

Also, advocates can be expensive. Some of the other ideas on this page to help you are free, like Texas Parent to Parent. If you have tried other advocacy options and you’re not sure if you should hire an advocate, you can call or email Texas Parent to Parent.

Older Children as Self-Advocates

Depending on their age and abilities, children can advocate for themselves, too. They can learn to speak up for their needs and be a part of the decisions that affect their everyday lives.

See our article on Empowering Your Teen to Self Advocate and our page on Transition Planning.