The special education process can be stressful and confusing. If your child is struggling in school, whether it’s academically, behaviorally, socially or something else, the process of getting help can be long and filled with lots of meetings and language and acronyms that are new to you. .  You may hear terms like SST, progress monitoring, interventions, evaluations, screenings, tier 2, tier 3, RTI,eligibily, 504 or IEP, LRE, and the list goes on.   Meanwhile, your child may be failing or falling behind.  Maybe you are getting phone calls to come pick up your child due to behavior at school.  Many parents will turn to a special needs advocate to advise and guide them as they seek services for their child.  But how can you find the right advocate?  


Unlike attorneys, anyone can call themselves an advocate.   There is no formal training, certification, or licensing requirements  to be an advocate.  There are some programs and agencies that offer training for parents and advocates alike, but they are not required.  That is why it is extremely important to do your research before you hire an advocate.  

Here are some things to think about when choosing an advocate:

  1.  What are your specific concerns regarding your child?  Is your child having academic issues, behavior issues or both?  Does your child have medical needs?  Do you already have an IEP or 504 plan and it isn’t working?  Are you looking to get an evaluation for an IEP or 504? Has the school said that your child isn’t eligible for services and you disagree?  

  2. An advocate should be familiar with local policies on special education.  They should also have a good understanding on how the local district functions within special education.  For example, almost all districts will have a director of special education.  Some charter schools may just have a special education coordinator.  Some districts may also have coordinators for specific areas (eg autism, low incidence, behavior support, etc).  You may see districts with Lead teachers for special education that work from the central office but support specific schools.  You may see consultants, etc.  A good  advocate should be familiar with these roles and have a good working relationship with the district.  

    1. A word of caution:  Any advocate who has an adversarial approach and immediately wants to “fight” or “demand” things from the school district, may do more harm than good.  A good advocate will always try to work with the district,, while holding them accountable.  You want a good relationship with the school.  Remember, even if you “win” a fight, your child still has to attend that school every day.  Not to mention that the school is more likely to follow a plan with fidelity if they are in agreement and not “forced to”.

You want an advocate that can help get your child what they need to be successful all the while maintaining a good relationship with the school.  It’s not always possible, but that should be the goal and tried first before going into “fight mode”

  1. An advocate should have some experience in the area that you need help.  Some of the best advocates are former special education teachers or leaders, or former school psychologists.  These people have a knowledge base and experience that is typically broader than say a parent of a special needs child that has successfully advocated for their own child.  That isn’t to say that parent advocates are not good, not at all. You just want to do your research and make sure that the advocate is experienced in the areas of concern that you have.  

  2. You want an advocate that can help you understand your child’s evaluation and any other reports, including an IEP or 504 plan.  Again, a former school psychologist or special educator would be ideal in this situation.  

    1. A school psychologist is going to have the education and certification.  However, a special education teacher may NOT.  Some special education teachers are only provisionally certified and not all special education teachers would have experience in understanding evaluations or even IEPs.  That’s why it’s important to ask how long they taught, what their experience is.  If they held a job such as a coordinator, specialist or director, they would be more likely to have the knowledge necessary.  

  3. Interview potential advocates.

    1. Here are some potential questions you should ask:

      1. What is your advocacy experience?

      2. Have you worked with the school district before?  What were your results? What is your impression of the special education (SST, RTI, 504, etc) program at that school

      3. What is your experience working with students like mine (struggling to read,, behavior issues, age, medical issues, etc)

      4. Have you ever gone to an eligibility meeting where the team had previously said the student didn’t qualify and you were able to argue that the student did qualify and get agreement from the team?

      5. Can you give me a proposed plan of what we should do or ask from the school?  What are the next steps if we can’t come to an agreement with the school?

        1. I think it’s important to note that a good advocate should always be transparent with a parent in terms of what is reasonable and what is likely not reasonable.  In other words, an advocate shouldn’t promise you something that isn’t likely to happen.  You should go into a meeting knowing what to expect. 

      6. What are your fees?

      7. What services are covered in that fee?

      8. What do you estimate the fees will be for the entire process?

      9. What is my role as parent?

      10. How will you keep me informed about progress?

      11. What is the plan for holding the school accountable for any agreements?

      12. Is there an attorney you have a working relationship with, if necessary?

Hiring an advocate can be expensive, so it’s important to choose wisely, not only because of the money involved. But you want to make sure that in the end you have a plan that is in place to help your child be successful.

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