needs recommendations for Educational advocates in Maryland

[Anonymous]

I am reaching out for guidance in hiring an experienced educational advocate for private placement cases in Montgomery County, Maryland.

My 9-year-old daughter, who has ASD and ADHD, has struggled to make progress at a learning center within an MCPS school over the past year. While she excels in math, she has shown no growth in this area and received Ds in both reading and writing last semester. She faces significant challenges focusing and benefiting from instruction in group settings.

I’ve already requested an IEP meeting to discuss her need for a psychoeducational assessment and to revise her IEP goals. My goal is to advocate for a private placement to better address her unique learning needs.

I would appreciate any recommendations for educational advocates who specialize in private school placement cases.

Additionally, I contacted the Weinfeld Education Group, but their hourly rates ($300 or $275) seem higher than some education attorneys in Montgomery County. Would you consider their services worth the investment, or might there be other options more reasonably priced but equally effective? I also called parent's place of maryland and they only offer comments on IEPs and I need more services than that.

Thank you in advance for your advice and recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Lawyers and advocates have different skill sets but there is a lot of crossover. Brian Gruber is a good place to start. Brian knows everybody and how the game is played in Moco and IME/IMO that matters so much. Having the support of your school also matters a lot. I've never used WEG but I wouldn't use a firm without knowing the individual you are getting. It's important to know the landscape when you walk into the meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and advocates have different skill sets but there is a lot of crossover. Brian Gruber is a good place to start. Brian knows everybody and how the game is played in Moco and IME/IMO that matters so much. Having the support of your school also matters a lot. I've never used WEG but I wouldn't use a firm without knowing the individual you are getting. It's important to know the landscape when you walk into the meeting.

Thank you for your input. Do I also need to hire an advocate in addition to a lawyer?Thanks

[Anonymous]

The Weinfeld group is really good.

Also look at Frances Shefter.

[Anonymous]

Honestly OP...this route is going to cost you a lot of money and time...and you may not get a placement at all......they arr very hard to secure. I would take the money and use it instead to hire an OG tutor to meet with tour daughter daily. MCPS Special Education is in shambles right now but they have heavily invested in litigation to fight parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly OP...this route is going to cost you a lot of money and time...and you may not get a placement at all......they arr very hard to secure. I would take the money and use it instead to hire an OG tutor to meet with tour daughter daily. MCPS Special Education is in shambles right now but they have heavily invested in litigation to fight parents

what a shame!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and advocates have different skill sets but there is a lot of crossover. Brian Gruber is a good place to start. Brian knows everybody and how the game is played in Moco and IME/IMO that matters so much. Having the support of your school also matters a lot. I've never used WEG but I wouldn't use a firm without knowing the individual you are getting. It's important to know the landscape when you walk into the meeting.

Thank you for your input. Do I also need to hire an advocate in addition to a lawyer?Thanks

pp here. Brian can tell you who he currently recommends/likes working with. The advocate I used (now retired) brought me to him. I got an NPP early on and with no fight because the school agreed they did not have the ability to support my kid and because my team knew all the people. My advocate could tell me in advance what people were going to say in the meeting because she was in meetings with these people all the time. That's what you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and advocates have different skill sets but there is a lot of crossover. Brian Gruber is a good place to start. Brian knows everybody and how the game is played in Moco and IME/IMO that matters so much. Having the support of your school also matters a lot. I've never used WEG but I wouldn't use a firm without knowing the individual you are getting. It's important to know the landscape when you walk into the meeting.

Thank you for your input. Do I also need to hire an advocate in addition to a lawyer?Thanks

If you'll need to go to due process, you'll need a lawyer and an advocate to testify as an expert witness. But the lawyer can tell you if that's necessary and which advocates they recommend as being good witnesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Weinfeld group is really good.

Our experience with Weinfeld was mixed. We've worked with two of their advocates. They were both conservative. They suggested small IEP tweaks. The IEP team was amenable. Later on, we left MCPS for private because the IEP tweaks weren't enough and our child was failing. In retrospect, I wondered if "thinking small" was a WEG strategy? Set the bar low, in order to guarantee success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and advocates have different skill sets but there is a lot of crossover. Brian Gruber is a good place to start. Brian knows everybody and how the game is played in Moco and IME/IMO that matters so much. Having the support of your school also matters a lot. I've never used WEG but I wouldn't use a firm without knowing the individual you are getting. It's important to know the landscape when you walk into the meeting.

Thank you for your input. Do I also need to hire an advocate in addition to a lawyer?Thanks

If you'll need to go to due process, you'll need a lawyer and an advocate to testify as an expert witness. But the lawyer can tell you if that's necessary and which advocates they recommend as being good witnesses.

Parents almost always lose in due proces....look up thr stats...about 90 percent of the time. Mcps will drag out a due process case also in order to bleed parents dry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers and advocates have different skill sets but there is a lot of crossover. Brian Gruber is a good place to start. Brian knows everybody and how the game is played in Moco and IME/IMO that matters so much. Having the support of your school also matters a lot. I've never used WEG but I wouldn't use a firm without knowing the individual you are getting. It's important to know the landscape when you walk into the meeting.

Thank you for your input. Do I also need to hire an advocate in addition to a lawyer?Thanks

If you'll need to go to due process, you'll need a lawyer and an advocate to testify as an expert witness. But the lawyer can tell you if that's necessary and which advocates they recommend as being good witnesses.

Parents almost always lose in due proces....look up thr stats...about 90 percent of the time. Mcps will drag out a due process case also in order to bleed parents dry.

I have heard the loss rate is 85%. Fighting MCPS uses money that could be put towards tuition.

[Anonymous]

We had a poor experience with Weinfeld with two different consultants. Waste of money. They took our money and could barely remember my child's name. The only value they provided was being at the meeting and not saying a word which did put the school on notice anyhow. Do not waste your money unless you're just absolutely ignorant and starting out.

Suzie Blattner is the gold standard but she'll tell you that she'll make recommendations based on her own observations and data and not what parents necessarily want. That is a deal breaker for some families though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly OP...this route is going to cost you a lot of money and time...and you may not get a placement at all......they arr very hard to secure. I would take the money and use it instead to hire an OG tutor to meet with tour daughter daily. MCPS Special Education is in shambles right now but they have heavily invested in litigation to fight parents

+1 I've only seen kdis get private placement for behaviors. I'd save my money and send my child to private school with my own money or hire tutors like PP advised. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly OP...this route is going to cost you a lot of money and time...and you may not get a placement at all......they arr very hard to secure. I would take the money and use it instead to hire an OG tutor to meet with tour daughter daily. MCPS Special Education is in shambles right now but they have heavily invested in litigation to fight parents

+1 I've only seen kdis get private placement for behaviors. I'd save my money and send my child to private school with my own money or hire tutors like PP advised. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I agree. It's very hard to get a private placement and it will take a long time. MCPS will have had to try your child in other placements and then say that no program can meet her needs. I would spend the money that you would on an advocate for private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly OP...this route is going to cost you a lot of money and time...and you may not get a placement at all......they arr very hard to secure. I would take the money and use it instead to hire an OG tutor to meet with tour daughter daily. MCPS Special Education is in shambles right now but they have heavily invested in litigation to fight parents

not a bad observation but if OP has a placement in mind she thinks could be good then I think it’s not crazy to try.