Feb. 1, 2022

The Role of the Advocate in Special Education

The Role of the Advocate in Special Education

Episode 2: The role of a child advocate in special education-How a speech and language pathologist became a child advocate and helped hundreds of students, including your host Jeremiah, become confident and successful individuals.  If you have a child who is struggling in school and you aren’t sure how to navigate the complex world of special education then you will want to stick around. This episode of full of tips and resources to help you gain the knowledge and confidence you’ll need to advocate for your child.

In this episode, we will speak with Linda Gottlieb who holds a Master’s Degree and a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) in Speech and Language Pathology, a nationally recognized professional credential that represents a level of excellence. After graduating in 1974 as a SLP, Linda received a fellowship to study at a school in NY where she gained expertise in autism spectrum disorders. Her specialty areas are autism spectrum disorders and language disorders. Prior to her recent retirement, she provided individual therapy and advocacy for families as well as consultation to families and school systems. She and Jeremiah will discuss how they met and their journey together through the world of special education. This episode is full of helpful tips and resources for families who are baffled by the jargon and procedures inherent in the special education system.

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Timestamps:

0:49 When Linda and Jeremiah met, he had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that contained an incorrect educational diagnosis of autism.

2:58 The Child Advocacy Process. The change in Jeremiah’s placement process began with Linda administering tests to determine what disability, if any, he had. Based on the results of the evaluation, Jeremiah’s mom and Linda made a plan to meet with the members of Jeremiah’s instructional team to discuss his learning needs and whether or not his current school setting was an appropriate place for him to receive instruction. 

3:18 Sometimes inappropriate behaviors are simply a result of a person’s needs not being met. Jeremiah was simply acting out his frustrations in preschool. Linda’s daughter used to crawl under the desks in kindergarten prior to her diagnosis of dyslexia. 8:00 Linda recalled feeling mortified during a visit to her daughter’s second grade classroom. She witnessed her daughter barking at all of her classmates in an effort to make them laugh.

6:52 The Outplacement Process. The process of being outplaced takes time. The director of special education and Linda visited several schools in search of an appropriate learning environment for Jeremiah. They were in search of a program that could help Jeremiah gain confidence as well as academic skills.

7:18 Living with a learning disability can leave a person feeling downtrodden throughout their formative years and can have a lifelong impact on self-esteem. 8:24 Linda shares that not all individuals with dyslexia develop low self-esteem. Her husband who never knew he had dyslexia became an orthodontist. Everyone with dyslexia is different and individuals experience different levels of severity.

9:40 Connecticut has a website with a list of special education schools. Families can scroll through the list and narrow down schools that might be a good fit for their child.  Some schools are not certified so this must be factored into the decision-making process.

10:18 Linda discusses the role of attorneys in the decision-making process. 44:33 Parents can end the Planning and Placement Team (PPT) meeting at any time. They can consult with an attorney. If they reconvene and bring an attorney to the meeting then the school district must pay to have their own attorney present.

11:37 “Oh, here’s the advocate.” Linda discusses how difficult it is to walk into a room knowing you are the least favorite person. She often has to state facts that are perceived as personal attacks on a teacher’s skill level. It isn’t personal. Sometimes teachers don’t have the training or the tools necessary to meet the needs of the student.

13:14 “It often comes down to dollars and cents.” 37:09 “It all comes down to dollars and cents” because districts are only going to hire a certain number of teachers.”

14:11 How Linda went from a SLP in a public school to a SLP in private practice and Child Advocate 

19:00 Jeremiah’s perseverance and hard work are the reason why he is where he is today. During private speech lessons with Linda, he practiced phonemic awareness and sound blending exercises to aid in speaking and reading.

 “Parents, be careful.” There are associations with names of potential child advocates. However, they may not have the right training or knowledge. 

21:25 Parents have a lot of legal rights and districts often don’t share this fact with families. Linda is shocked that many people are unaware of the free Birth to Three and Pre-Kindergarten services. 41:37 Birth to age three services can be accessed by contacting the State Department of Health. Once a child turns three, a parent can call the school system and ask them to conduct an evaluation and provide services at no expense if a disability is confirmed. If the parent is told that the child doesn’t qualify for services then the parents can ask for a second opinion. Wright’s Law offers paid courses about special education laws and how to go about getting services.

27:27 “It’s a battle and parents don’t always understand what is happening in the background.” Parents should be given a pamphlet of their legal rights at a Planning and Placement Team (PPT) meeting.  They should not trust that the district will always do the right thing for the student. They should read their rights and make sure they understand them. 46:28 Parents may tape record the meeting.

31:00 Money and Quotas. Sometimes districts try to convince parents that students no longer qualify for special education services to maintain quotas. Sometimes districts will try to bring students back to their original schools and take them away from their special school before they are ready. Developing a good relationship with the special education director can be helpful.

36:06 Children’s Dyslexia Centers offer free Orton-Gillingham tutoring for three years.

37:20 “The squeaky wheel gets what it needs. Don’t be afraid to be squeaky!”

38:47 “Learning to read should be a fundamental right but it is the wealthy who can afford specialized instruction.”

41:22 Autism Spectrum Resource Center in Wallingford offers courses for advocates.

42:37 “You have to have a hard shell to be a child advocate. The people in the room don’t like you because they know you are going to challenge them.” You also need knowledge, confidence and good speaking and listening skills.

49:34 Parents must understand how the Individualized Education Plan (IEP), a legal document, should read. The IEP will outline what the student needs to learn but it won’t ever mention or guarantee the use of a particular instructional program. Parents may wish to hire a professional to help create the rough draft of the IEP.  The best person for this job would be an experienced and well-trained certified special education teacher or child advocate with in-depth knowledge about how the IEP should read as related to decoding, encoding, comprehension, morphology and fluency.

51:48 Parents must stay on top of their child’s progress toward achieving mastery of the goals and objectives outlined in the IEP. Parents should ask for homework exercises so that they can directly observe whether their child is making progress. 52:23 Parents are entitled to ask for regular meetings with members of their child’s instructional team. These meetings can be weekly, biweekly, monthly or whatever is necessary. At these meetings, parents can see work samples and can discuss their child’s progress.

24:58 The role of the pediatrician in helping the family receive an evaluation and support services.   The rule of thumb has always been…..“So if a child has at least 10 words by two, they're doing okay. But realistically, 10 words doesn't give you a lot of communication. So you know, I think it takes a lot of reeducating some of the pediatricians in terms of what the standards should be at this point, and how quickly they should suggest to a parent that they look for an evaluation, and they should have those resources to hand to a parent.”

Resources mentioned in this episode:

    1. The Autism Spectrum Resource Center-offers the largest and most comprehensive professional resource in Connecticut including a directory of child advocates. https://ct-asrc.org/
    2. Wrightslaw-Parents, advocates, educators, and attorneys come to Wrightslaw for accurate, up-to-date information about special education law and advocacy for children with disabilities. https://www.wrightslaw.com/

 

 

 

Episode Transcript: Created by Otter.ai


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