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How Do I Get An Advocate? Do I Have Rights As To Which Class My Son Is Placed In?
A MyAutismTeam Member asked a question 💭

Where do you get an advocate? I'm having trouble with my sons preschool. They want him in the special education classroom. But he Imatates other children, his therapest told me he needs typical roll models, but in the class he's in now he is the only verbal one, and he's only one of four students. I told them that his therapest and I believe he'd benefit from staying in the special ed room for the 45 minutes of ABA therapy they offer, then have him with an aide in the integrated classroom. But… read more

posted May 14, 2017 (edited)
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A MyAutismTeam Member

you don't have to sign the placement. look up FAPE and LRE. lots of the right terminology will help. an advocate could help, but once you sign to get him into the special ed classroom, you will not be able to get him out unless the whole IEP team agrees. get a letter from the therapist. do class observations and have the therapist and ABA rep do observations too. you will win with data that supports you. they don't want to put him in the main room with an aide, because 1:1 aide is more expensive for them. get an outside speech evaluation. get letters from after care programs about his social skills with role models. have ABA supervisor attend the meeting too. remember, if he is still in a regular classroom setting, they can't force you to move him to a more restrictive environment without suspending him for several days first - in California after 11 suspension days, they have to have a meeting (manifestation determination) to deterrmine if the reasons for the suspension were his special needs and if they were, then they have to do a functional behavior assessment and change the behavior plan. if their resulting assessment and plan and recommendations are not something you agreement you can request an independent assessment from an outside party. They can file due process to have the state rule on whether your son moves to a more restrictive environment, but until then you have lots of steps. just don't sign the IEP or that portion of the IEP. lastly, advocates are good for IEP meetings, attorneys are good for legal battles. but advocates really can't take you all the way across the line. lawyers scare school districts a lot more than advocates do, but its a more threatening approach and if you are going to be in this district for many years, it serves you well to do your best to keep as positive a relationship with them as possible. put every request in writing. make sure that your comments are going into the IEP notes, not just theirs. tape record your IEP meetings. ask to receive all evaluations/reports/assessments/logs a few days prior to the meeting because you will not be able to participate in a meaningful way if you have to read documents in the meeting. its all about the data - whoever has the data that best supports wins. hope this helps!

posted May 26, 2017
A MyAutismTeam Member

Hey love google LRE (least restrictive environment)! This will help you make your case. When you start throwing the correct terminology at them they listen! Do you think your therapist would mind attending the meeting? I've had my advocate actually be someone from the organization my child received services from...it was my daughter's intake counselor. She was happy to attend and she didn't charge.

posted May 15, 2017
A MyAutismTeam Member

Yes, you have rights as far as your son and school goes.There are many laws for children with disabilities and sometimes the school do not want to comply. It makes sense that you would want your child to be in a mainstream classroom esp. if he is verbal and tends to mimic other children. You know what is best for your child and you need to advocate that, esp. right now while he is young. The more you can get in place for him now will help you in the future with him as his goes up in grades. I know when my son was first officially diagnosed I took every class available on IEP, advocating etc. to make sure I knew the laws. I spent a lot of time doing research so if I did have a situation come up, I would present my argument. I would even bring in printed copies to hand at. Whatever it took. I was forceful, but polite and never got upset, but I stood my ground. I know it can be a full time job, but it really did pay off.

You have The Autism Society of Vermont (Phone number can only be seen by the question and answer creators) I would contact them and ask them about advocates etc. in your area.

Also here's someone else you can contact

http://www.vermontfamilynetwork.org/services/di...

I would contact them and see what they can tell you. They may even offer classes to help you advocate what you feel is best for your son.

posted May 15, 2017
A MyAutismTeam Member

Yes, TiaPerrault true, the more you know, the more the school tends to listen. Since I belong to CARD here and another advocate group, they were able to attend my first meetings also which is a big help since that is a good portion of what they do. They don't charge either, it was all through state funding, so hopefully MeissaB can find this type of assistance in her area. I have never had a therapist attend a meeting, which is great, but I have had them write letters as to the "why" of something when we were having an issue. If she can't have a therapist attend, maybe the therapist can do the same.

I know how hard it can be at the beginning to navigate the waters, but keep at it and you will do fine. :)

posted May 15, 2017
A MyAutismTeam Member

Thank you 😊 I'll definelty ask his therapists first, that's a really good idea.

posted May 15, 2017

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