Educational advocate recommendations (middle/high school — not for placement)

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I’m looking for recommendations for an educational advocate familiar with MCPS, but not for school placement.

My son is in 8th grade and was diagnosed with ADHD (combined type) and an anxiety disorder about five years ago. He’s had a 504 plan since then with the typical ADHD/anxiety accommodations, but as the academic and executive functioning demands have increased, he’s been struggling more—especially anything involving writing. He’s starting to get overwhelmed at school, even in his stronger subjects, which sometimes leads to emotional meltdowns.

We just completed a full neuropsych and educational evaluation and are waiting for the final report. We definitely want to keep him in MCPS—moving him away from his friends would be really hard—but we need to figure out how he can be better supported where he is.

Right now, I feel like we don’t even know what’s possible to ask for—whether we can strengthen his 504 with more targeted accommodations or whether we should push for an IEP. I’m hoping to find someone who can walk us through the process, help interpret the testing in the school context, and guide us on what’s reasonable to request.

Most of the advocate names I’ve seen on here seem focused on placement, which isn’t what we’re looking for. If anyone has worked with an advocate who really understands MCPS and can help navigate the 504/IEP process, I’d be so grateful for your recommendations.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I've worked with lots of advocates as a special education teacher in MCPS. There are so many good advocates that work with families on this type of support. Weinfeld Educational Group is always highly recommended. Shari Perry used to be in MCPS and is fantastic. Kidder Educational Consulting is also owned by a former MCPS special ed teacher who is familiar with the system. Jennifer Engel Fisher used to work with WEG and has branched off on her own. Laura Solomon looks at the IEP through the lens of a speech pathologist, but advocates for all domains on the IEP. The special needs forum may have more detailed experiences to share about these advocates and others.

[Anonymous]

We did the neuropsych at Stixrud and Dr Henderson told us what accommodations our kid needed and should receive. She had a special page included in her report, written in MCPS-speak, detailing her recommendations for accommodations and services. It was great. I thought all psychologists did this until DCUM set me straight.

DS has ADHD, ASD, low processing speed and dysgraphia/dyscalculia, and had an IEP for much of his time in MCPS. He was medicated for the ADHD all throughout middle and high school. He had a resource class instead of an elective from 6-10th grade. That's where the resource teacher taught him to organize his work, and when he was able to finish tests and do a little homework. He had preferential seating in class (facing the teacher, away from doors and windows); use of a calculator and keyboard for his dyscalculia and dysgraphia; 50% extra time then 100% extra time, for everything. The College Board and the ACT also approved his 100% extended time accommodation - the school did all the paperwork.

Also, our kid received supplemental instruction throughout K-12: first with me in elementary and early middle school, and then we hired tutors for writing in middle school, then for writing/math support and test prep in high school. We picked really good one-on-one tutors from Prep Matters that cost the earth... but it was part of our "public school + tutoring and extras" budget that we had set, which was still much cheaper than any private school could have been (and tutoring would still have been necessary in private anyway!).

DS even has double time in college. Now he's a junior, he's trying to finish everything with minimal use of his accommodation, because he knows workplaces won't be so tolerant. But in high school, he really badly needed the extra time: the school day was too fatiguing, and he just couldn't function at a normal speed.

[Anonymous]

Be sure that if you sign up for something that the billing rates (amount per email? amount per hour? etc.) are super clear. Parents, when desperate, are easily extorted.

[Anonymous]

Anyone but Stacy Kahn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be sure that if you sign up for something that the billing rates (amount per email? amount per hour? etc.) are super clear. Parents, when desperate, are easily extorted.

I'm the OP and this is something I'm concerned about. We've already had one negative experience with one of the local behavioral health centers that specializes in ADHD. Money down the toilet. I'd like to avoid that happening again, if possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the neuropsych at Stixrud and Dr Henderson told us what accommodations our kid needed and should receive. She had a special page included in her report, written in MCPS-speak, detailing her recommendations for accommodations and services. It was great. I thought all psychologists did this until DCUM set me straight.

DS has ADHD, ASD, low processing speed and dysgraphia/dyscalculia, and had an IEP for much of his time in MCPS. He was medicated for the ADHD all throughout middle and high school. He had a resource class instead of an elective from 6-10th grade. That's where the resource teacher taught him to organize his work, and when he was able to finish tests and do a little homework. He had preferential seating in class (facing the teacher, away from doors and windows); use of a calculator and keyboard for his dyscalculia and dysgraphia; 50% extra time then 100% extra time, for everything. The College Board and the ACT also approved his 100% extended time accommodation - the school did all the paperwork.

Also, our kid received supplemental instruction throughout K-12: first with me in elementary and early middle school, and then we hired tutors for writing in middle school, then for writing/math support and test prep in high school. We picked really good one-on-one tutors from Prep Matters that cost the earth... but it was part of our "public school + tutoring and extras" budget that we had set, which was still much cheaper than any private school could have been (and tutoring would still have been necessary in private anyway!).

DS even has double time in college. Now he's a junior, he's trying to finish everything with minimal use of his accommodation, because he knows workplaces won't be so tolerant. But in high school, he really badly needed the extra time: the school day was too fatiguing, and he just couldn't function at a normal speed.

I'm the OP. I'm glad to hear your son is doing so well! Sounds like he was set up for success, so it's encouraging that it can be done. The resource class sounds like it would be ideal for my son, but I'm assuming that's only possible with an IEP. I know Stixrud does a great job, but they had a long waitlist and we got a call from another place where we were on the waitlist that they had a cancellation and we jumped on it to get the ball rolling. I believe that the psychologist said that his report will have recommendations for accommodations and services. Even if we do receive that, I would like to consult with an advocate in the event that the report doesn't show anything aside from the ADHD and anxiety. I have heard that it's incredibly difficult to get an IEP with just those diagnoses, and he would need a much more robust 504 than he currently has. I just don't know what specifically to ask for.

[Anonymous]

You need to post this in the special needs forum. You don't want to admit that this you puts you in that category, but it does. Go search there first. A good advocate will charge a retainer to do an in-class observation, records review and parent session and then go by the hour. You want someone who is busy and in the schools all the time, who know the current temp of the various buldings and admins. Monica Martinez might work but her specialty is autism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the neuropsych at Stixrud and Dr Henderson told us what accommodations our kid needed and should receive. She had a special page included in her report, written in MCPS-speak, detailing her recommendations for accommodations and services. It was great. I thought all psychologists did this until DCUM set me straight.

DS has ADHD, ASD, low processing speed and dysgraphia/dyscalculia, and had an IEP for much of his time in MCPS. He was medicated for the ADHD all throughout middle and high school. He had a resource class instead of an elective from 6-10th grade. That's where the resource teacher taught him to organize his work, and when he was able to finish tests and do a little homework. He had preferential seating in class (facing the teacher, away from doors and windows); use of a calculator and keyboard for his dyscalculia and dysgraphia; 50% extra time then 100% extra time, for everything. The College Board and the ACT also approved his 100% extended time accommodation - the school did all the paperwork.

Also, our kid received supplemental instruction throughout K-12: first with me in elementary and early middle school, and then we hired tutors for writing in middle school, then for writing/math support and test prep in high school. We picked really good one-on-one tutors from Prep Matters that cost the earth... but it was part of our "public school + tutoring and extras" budget that we had set, which was still much cheaper than any private school could have been (and tutoring would still have been necessary in private anyway!).

DS even has double time in college. Now he's a junior, he's trying to finish everything with minimal use of his accommodation, because he knows workplaces won't be so tolerant. But in high school, he really badly needed the extra time: the school day was too fatiguing, and he just couldn't function at a normal speed.

I grew up with the Stixrud family and Bill is one of the best at what he does. Always has been

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to post this in the special needs forum. You don't want to admit that this you puts you in that category, but it does. Go search there first. A good advocate will charge a retainer to do an in-class observation, records review and parent session and then go by the hour. You want someone who is busy and in the schools all the time, who know the current temp of the various buldings and admins. Monica Martinez might work but her specialty is autism.

I have no problem admitting that my son has special needs. It is also in the special needs forum, but I haven't gotten any responses. Thanks for the rec--I'll put her on my list of people to contact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to post this in the special needs forum. You don't want to admit that this you puts you in that category, but it does. Go search there first. A good advocate will charge a retainer to do an in-class observation, records review and parent session and then go by the hour. You want someone who is busy and in the schools all the time, who know the current temp of the various buldings and admins. Monica Martinez might work but her specialty is autism.

I have no problem admitting that my son has special needs. It is also in the special needs forum, but I haven't gotten any responses. Thanks for the rec--I'll put her on my list of people to contact.

I saw your post in the other forum and posted the following response: Many of the advocates posted on this forum help with more than just placement. Reach out to the Special Kids Company, WEG, Monica Martinez, Michelle Davis, or others who are often recommended.

I also like that a current special ed teacher made a few recs on here. Good to know who staff like to work with. I've heard some advocates have a bad reputation and it sounds like you want someone who will work with your kid's school and not against them.

[Anonymous]

Jen Ritchotte is very good at navigating 504/IEP processes. We found her to be warm, direct and effective.

[Anonymous]

Highly recommend Liz Capone. She was a middle school team leader in MCPS and was very good with strengthening the IEP to help transition our son to high school.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend Jen Ritchotte

[Anonymous]

at what point does one shift from making a kid run a race they will never be competitive in to finding a niche that they might find happiness in.

Pull him out and home school to check that box all while trying to find a marketable skill they can preform to build self sufficiency. The system isn't going to normalize your child, at best all they can do is pencil whip their compliance until they get to a point they don't have to and what growth will have really happened? All that dragging the sides together for a disingenuous result is wasting cycles all parities could spend toward real growth respectively. All the money and time you are going to spend on them trying to fit an atypical kid into a typical path might be more productive attempting to engineer an atypical path. You might need to reset your life too but these are the burdens of parenthood.