Reply to Did you use an advocate for your IEP and, if so, how did you choose one?

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Reply to "Did you use an advocate for your IEP and, if so, how did you choose one?"

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[quote=Anonymous]It's been almost a year since my four year old DS was diagnosed with autism.  We trusted that FCPS was looking out for the best interests of our child since we are new to autism and really had no clue about what he needed.  He has so many issues we didn't know where to start.  I had tried buying the Wrights Law books and it helped me learn more about special ed law.  But I had no idea what to ask from the school, I figured they would know better since they work with kids on a daily basis and have a better idea of what my kid needs.  From the IEP that was developed my DS wasn't progressing and he wasn't happy.  Every day was a struggle to get him out the door, the mere sight of his backpack sent him running upstairs to hide in his room.  When I dropped him off he'd scream at the sight of his teacher.  I'm sure they did their best with him but he was in the wrong place.  I inquired about the PAC program, they said PAC would not be the right environment and I trusted them on that.  So we started private therapy for ABA and within three months my DS made rapid progress.  I know ABA doesn't work for everyone but the changes I saw in my DS were amazing.  So I asked the school again about PAC especially since I knew that program had an ABA focus. It felt like I was asking for the world.  Once again they said no and the non-cat program was appropriate for him.
I addressed my concerns to our ABA therapist she told me about and advocate in our area.  So I contacted her and ended up hiring her.  She took a look at the IEP and was dismayed, she said his goals were set so low and they didn't address his needs.  In talking with her I gained a better understanding of what his goals should be. She came to observe him in therapy and at school.  She collaborated with his therapists and developed an IEP that was detailed and address his needs appropriately. There was no way I would've come up with that on my own.   Surprisingly when we had a school meeting to discuss the proposed new IEP, no one contested it.  It took a few meetings to work through all the details, but in the end he was finally placed in PAC.  While I'm angry that I had to fight tooth and nail to get him in there, he is doing much better.  He is happy and looks forward to school.  He is thriving.

Our advocate says we also have grounds for filing state complaint and asking for compensatory education since we paid for therapy privately in place of PAC.  I'm not sure if we're going to go down this route, it was already a battle to get him into PAC let alone fight them again for compensation.[/quote]

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