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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have been disappointed that there seems to be an influx of educational professionals (teachers, admin) who actually do not know special education law or common diagnoses.  They give incorrect information to parents and discourage parents from getting help from school.  It’s really quite shocking to me.

I don’t remember the SN Board having so many negative people actively steering parents in unhelpful directions.[/quote]

Yes! Within the last month a very unhappy teacher has been coming here to vent about parents requesting meetings and using advocates, with a very nasty and aggressive tone. People just want the bare minimum that their kid is legally entitled to, and are getting harassed on here for it. [/quote]

DP.  I have seen an increase here and on the school forums of teachers trying to explain how bad it is, with teacher shortages and with dire sped shortages.  And yet, posters here recommend hiring an advocate or attorney as the first course of action.  It doesn't make any sense.  [/quote]

I’m curious what you recommend desperate parents do instead? It’s a difference between being a productive adult or being an unemployable dropout possibly in jail or addicted for my kid.

Also, unless you have a special education kid, especially with “behaviors” I don’t think you can understand the blaming, gaslighting, and evasion that parents endure. Based on my experience with my NT kid only, I would say the school administration is trustworthy and be shocked that anyone had a different experience.

There is a reason IDEA demands parents be informed of their rights every meeting. Even though that is useless, it’s an acknowledgment that if parents don’t advocate for their kids’ rights (or hire someone else to do it) their rights won’t be protected. [/quote]

Of course I have a DC with SN and a 504.  Before the diagnosis and 504, we were lied to and threatened by the school administration, which was shocking and scary, very disillusioning - but that pales next to today's sped crisis.  I know that cooperation gets you more than combative attitude, and I know that there may not be much to get.  That's why hiring an advocate or attorney as a first or second step, rather than a tenth or twelfth step, seems like poor advice to me.  And when teachers tell us parents how unhappy they are, it's not an attack or an invitation to attack.  It's just reality.[/quote]

I agree on the combative approach part. Also I don’t think parents realize how drawn out things can get and [b]how long meeting your child’s needs can be delayed by getting an attorney or advocate.[/b] People will chime in with their stories otherwise but that’s anecdotal. I think there are times when it’s necessary. Like when the team just can’t figure out an alternative that might work and a good advocate who knows all of the available programs might have ideas. But this knee jerk reaction of just recommending g going in with guns blazing even before there’s a problem doesn’t make sense.

I do think that peoples generous sharing of how to prepare and what’s available is really wonderful.[/quote]

After 15 years working with IEP and 504 plans for my kids, the bold has not been my experience.  In the beginning I was very cooperative and took whatever scrap was thrown too us.  But, over time I got smart and understood our rights. Problems that dragged out for months and many, many meetings could actually be fixed with one well-crafted letter stating the facts, the law, the corrective action expected and the timeframe within which it was expected or we would move to due process.  That IS being "cooperative" - giving the system a chance to correct itself before litigation.  "Cooperation" is not trading away some of my kid's legal rights for compliance in other areas.

Once adopted this approach, I found that problems that used to take months to resolve with multiple phone calls, emails, appeals to superiors, etc. could be fixed in as little as a day by putting a responsible official on notice that they were "out of compliance" with the law.

Every time I hired an attorney or an advocate, I had a better outcome.

[/quote]

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