SNET Internet : Features : Education Q&A : How do parents find an advocate for their child?




	03/13/98

How do parents find an advocate for their child?

Q: How do parents find an advocate for their child? I have heard that there are special children's advocates available who work with parents and their children as they deal with school systems. My kindergartener has learning problems already, and after two PPTs, the only recommendation is, "Let's wait and see." That's not acceptable to me. I want the school district to evaluate her. Could a child advocate help?

A: There are several steps you can take before hiring an attorney or other advocate to represent you or your child.

Write a letter to the Director of Special Education in your school district officially requesting a comprehensive evaluation of your child. Explain your reasons for the request and the steps you took at the school level to obtain such an evaluation. Send a copy of this letter to the principal.
Discuss your concerns with your pediatrician or family physician. If he or she agrees that an evaluation should be done, ask him or her to write a letter on your child's behalf to the same people named above.
Most school districts will honor a parent's written request for an evaluation. You can also pursue an independent evaluation from a private practitioner. Upon your request, the school must convene a PPT to consider the findings of the independent evaluation.

You mentioned that the district has already held two PPTs about your daughter's educational program. At each of those meetings you received information about your legal right to question the findings of the PPT. Hopefully you won't need to initiate legal action over your request for an evaluation. But if you do, here are some resources to consult:

Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center, email: CPACinc@aol.com, Telephone: (860) 739-3089 0r (800) 445-2722 (in CT)
Links to other disability sites, both state and national, on topics such as sibling support, advocacy resources, general special education resources, and the National Parent Information Network:
- Call the Regional Education Service Center (RESC) in your area of Connecticut. RESCs provide services for special needs children throughout your region of the state. For example, the RESC in the Hartford region is called the Capital Region Education Council (CREC).
  If you don't know the name of the RESC which serves your town's schools, ask the principal of your child's school for that information.
- Children's Defense Fund: Provides advocacy information to parents. This is a national organization supported by private funds (not by the government).
- Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF). Information about legal aid.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Hotline: 1-800-466-4232
- Connecticut chapters of national organizations, such as the Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) or CHADD (for parents of children with ADD-ADHD).
Author's Note: Try to work with the school district, rather than against it. You don't want to get in an adversarial relationship with the people who are educating your children, if you can avoid it. On the other hand, you need to be willing to exercise your child's right to a free appropriate public education until graduation from high school or age twenty-one, whichever occurs first.
Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.
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