Are you the parent of a child with autism or other disability that is considering finding an advocate to help you with your child’s education? Would you like a short list of qualities to avoid when choosing a special education advocate?
This article will help you avoid certain negative qualities in a prospective advocate, so that you can help your child receive a free appropriate public education.
Quality 1: Stay away from an advocate who has not received formal training in federal and state laws, and case law. Good advocates will have a working knowledge of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (federal law), and your state laws governing special education. Effective advocates do not have to memorize the law, but should know where to find any information that they need. Advocates must also know what due process hearings and court cases have already occurred, so that they can use the information to benefit your child.
Quality 2: Stay away from an advocate, who has little to no experience helping parents navigate the special education system. Unfortunately there are people who call themselves advocates, who do not have the experience that they need, to be effective. You do not want the advocate learning at the expense of your child’s education. Try finding an advocate at a disability organization like a Parent Information and Training Center (PTIC).
Quality 3: Stay away from an advocate, who guarantees you a certain outcome. While most advocates work hard and do their best, there are no guarantees in special education. You would rather work with an advocate, that has a realistic view of what can be accomplished for your child.
Quality 4: Stay away from an angry advocate, who seems to have there own agenda. I have heard of advocates that target certain school districts, due to their own anger. Every person including parents in special education, become angry at some point. But the important thing is that the advocate can continue to be professional, even if the school personnel are not.
Quality 5: Stay away from an advocate, that is not willing to challenge special education personnel, when the need arrives. Advocates must be willing to stand up to school personnel, for the good of the child, in an assertively persistent manner. This is the reason why it is so important to understand Federal and State special education law; you have the information you need to effectively stand up for the child.
Quality 6: Stay away from an advocate that does not promise you complete confidentiality! Advocates must not share any information that they learn about parents and their children; and unfortunately this does happen on occasion. You want your advocate to keep things you tell them confidential, as well as any strategies that they will be using.
Quality 7: Stay away from an advocate, that appears to be a know it all! No advocate including myself knows everything. You need an advocate, who is willing to find out the information that will help your child, if they do not know.
Advocacy is an art and involves trying different strategies to help the child receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). By knowing what characteristics to avoid in an advocate, will help you make an informed decision about any advocate that works with you to help your child. Good luck!
By: JoAnn Collins
Posts Tagged ‘Due Process’
Qualities to Avoid in Choosing a Special Education Advocate
November 30th, 20099 Tips That Will Increase Your Chance Of Winning A Special Education Due Process Hearing
November 27th, 2009
Would you like to learn some due process tips? Would you like to increase your chances of winning, to benefit your child with autism? This article will give you 8 tips that will help increase your chance of prevailing at a due process hearing, for your child.
1. Use a form to make it easier to file for a due process hearing. Every state board of education is required to have a due process form available for parents to use. The form is not mandatory, but can make filing easier.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 added a section where due process filings must be sufficient. What this means is that the due process request, must contain certain information. If the due process request does not contain this information, then the request can be denied by the hearing officer. To prevent this, you may want to use a form. Make the issues simple, and don’t forget to add specific resolutions (what you are asking the hearing officer to give your child).
2. If you have not filed for due process before, have another parent, advocate, or special education attorney, look at your due process request. Issues cannot be changed once the request is filed, unless special education personnel agree, or the hearing officer allows it.
3. Once you file for a due process hearing ask for a complete copy of your child’s school record. Most states have regulations that allow this. Ask for temporary, permanent, E mails, internal memos, audio and video recordings.
4. Due process hearings can be opened to the public or closed to the public.Some hearing officers will not allow sequestration of witnesses at an open hearing.
5. Insist on sequestration of witnesses for the due process hearing. This way special education witnesses cannot hear each other testify. It makes it easier to catch the lies and deceptions, during a due process hearing.
6. Ask the hearing officer to allow you to present your case first. This prevents special education personnel from bringing up irrelevant issues to muddy the waters. Some hearing officers will not allow a parent to go first, if the school district has the burden of proof; but try anyway.
7. Write your opening and closing, on the computer during your preparation time. This will allow you to change it as you see fit. Don’t forget to make references to IDEA and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) when appropriate. If the hearing goes over two days, do not print out your closing until the end of the first day. That way you can change the closing on the computer.
8. If you are conducting your child’s due process yourself, ask a friend or another parent to attend the hearing and take copious notes. The other person can watch body language, and can give you tips on things that you miss.
9. During the schools testimony you can make objections, to throw the school personnel off of track. The objections that I have heard are : irrelevancy, question already asked, objections to witnesses and documentation that hurts your case.
By using these 9 easy tips, you will well be on your way to prevailing at a due process hearing.
By: JoAnn Collins
Burden Of Proof In Special Education Due Process
November 21st, 2009
Are you the parent of a child with autism that has struggled to get them an appropriate education? Have you considered filing for due process for your child with a learning disability? Have you wondered who has the burden of proof, in a due process hearing? In 2005 The US Supreme Court heard a case on burden of proof in due process; the case was 546 US Schaffer v. Weast. This article will discuss burden of proof after the Supreme Court case Schaffer vs. Weast.
The question before the court on this case was At an administrative hearing (due process) assessing the appropriateness of a IEP, which party bears the burden of persuasion? The justices ruled that the burden of proof in a due process hearing challenging an IEP, is placed upon the party seeking relief, in other words the party that filed.
The reason this case made it all the way to the Supreme Court is because Maryland, where this case originated, did not have a regulation stating who had the burden of proof. 10 States place the burden of proof at a due process hearing on the school district. These states are: Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Washington DC, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, and West Virginia. These states are not affected by this ruling
17 States place the burden of proof on the party that files for a due process hearings. These states are: Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. These states are not affected by this ruling
The states that are affected by Schaffer vs. Weast are: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. Some states on this list may have passed laws, since this ruling that put the burden of proof back on the school district. Check with your state board of education to see if a law was passed in your state. If it was not, the burden of proof is on the party that filed.
Schaffer vs. Weast did have one positive section of the ruling. Justice Sandra Day Oconnor wrote: School districts may also seek such hearings, as Congress clarified in the 2004 amendments. They may do so for example, if they wish to change an existing IEP because the parents do not consent, or if parents refuse to allow their child to be evaluated.
What this means, is that school districts are required to file for a due process hearing, if they wish to change a child’s IEP. Before this, school districts were able to implement an IEP without a parents permission. The only way they could not, is if a parent filed for a due process hearing. Since the burden of proof has switched to the party that files in some states, this section is important.
For example: If you live in Idaho, a state that requires burden of proof on the party that files, and your school district wants to change your child’s IEP, without your consent; they are required by Schaffer vs. Weast to file for a due process hearing; and thus bear the burden of proof.
If the school district did not file for a due process hearing and the parent was forced to, they could ask a hearing officer to shift the burden of proof to the school district. This means that the school district, would have to prove that the changes that they want to make to your child’s IEP, are appropriate.
By understanding the burden of proof in a due process hearing, you will be able to make an informed decision about whether to file for a due process.
By: JoAnn Collins
