Each time I go through the process of working with Michael’s team to write an Individualized Education Program (IEP), I get a little bit better at it. Maybe by the time he graduates from high school, I’ll have it down!
Thankfully, there are a lot of great resources out there to help parents learn how to successfully navigate the special education process. One of my favorites is Wrightslaw, an organization devoted to making it easier to understand the law and to be a good advocate for your child. In addition to books and training seminars, they have an extensive website, an email newsletter, and more recently a blog, The Wrightslaw Way.
Another place to look for information and support is parent centers. If you are in the US, there is at least one in every state; you can find yours by checking the Parent Center Directory at the Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers. These centers work in a variety of ways to help parents effectively participate with educational professionals.
It is vitally important that we, as parents, participate in the process and learn to advocate for our children.
Parents have a unique insight about their child that no one else can have, as pointed out in one of the publications from Parent Education Network, the parent center in my area. Some qualifications they list which we have as parents are:
- We know our child better than anyone else.
- We have the most invested in his/her future.
- We are the one constant in our child’s life.
I’m curious, what resources have you found to be the most help to you in learning to be an effective advocate for your child? Let’s see if we can come up with some good books and websites on the topic of special education advocacy and IEPs, and I will publish a follow-up post listing them in a few days.
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