Parent Tips: How to Advocate for your Child in a School Setting

It’s another new school year! How is your child adjusting to her new classroom? Whether your child has a diagnosed learning difference or not, ALL children have special educational needs at one time or another. And, as a parent, it is really tricky to determine when to step in and advocate and when to step back. Hopefully, the following information will help guide you in determining if there is a problem, and provide the best procedure for you to collaborate on solutions with the school.

Advocate… or not? First, assess the situation

Ask your child. If your child is verbal (and a fairly reliable resource), ask her what her thoughts are about this new school year. How does she like her teacher? What are the teacher’s best (and worst) qualities? (Because we ALL have best/worst qualities!) Who are her friends? What subjects are tricky/easy? Try to make your questions as open-ended as possible so as not to lead your child to answers that might not be the most accurate. Some children are able to advocate for themselves in a healthy way in their classroom setting. Talking to your child offers you many insights.

Ask the teacher. Your child’s teacher is a trained professional. She knows the flow and culture of her classroom. She also has the unique perspective of working with an entire classroom of your child’s peers, likely observing same age groups over many years. Your child’s teacher will have the wisdom and experience to know early on if there are some red flags. Reaching out to the teacher in the first several weeks of school can help open up those lines of communication and collaboration early, and set your child up for a successful school year.

Make your own assessments. Of course we parents need to strongly consider our own observations and gut instincts. Do not hesitate to do this! All children will have good days and bad days. Younger children, in particular, will want to cling to parents at drop off those first few weeks of school. But use your observational skills (especially in the evenings as opposed to the morning rush to get out the door), and use that information as a key component as to if/when to advocate.

TAKE AWAY– To determine if there is a problem at school:

Talk to your child
Communicate with the teacher
Use your own gut instincts

If you determine there is a concern

The first and easiest resource is to advocate collaboratively with the teacher. Now I, myself, have sent a few strongly worded emails to various schools – my mistake! You will definitely “catch more flies with honey.” If you come across as rude and demanding, a teacher might be a little less inclined to go above and beyond to collaborate with you in order to produce creative solutions to your concerns.

Reach out to your child’s teacher. It might help to call the school’s office or send the teacher a quick email inquiring as to what her preferred communication style is. Email? Phone call? Communication notebook? Face-to-face meeting? The teacher likely has dozens of children that she is caring for each day – asking for her communication style can help you get feedback more quickly as well as help the teacher communicate with you more often and efficiently.

Label problems and identify possible solutions. Advocate by clearly articulating your concerns to the teacher in a non-judgmental manner. Keep the conversation collaborative and positive rather than accusatory. And, when offering up potential solutions, remember that often “less is more,” as both schools and teachers have a finite amount of resources and time available.

Take ownership of possible solutions. Yes, you are probably making a request of the school/teacher, but advocate by sharing what YOU can do to help solve the problem as well. Remember, this is a collaborative effort. Be ready to offer up specific ideas that you, the parent, can also do to help solve the problem.

TAKE AWAY – Help your teacher help your child by:

Communicate with the teacher in her preferred manner of communication (text, email, phone, face-to-face, etc.
Clearly articulate your concerns in a non-judgmental manner
Be ready to offer up solutions that you, the parent, will also try to help solve the problem

When working with the teacher is not enough

Not all students who struggle in school require specialized accommodations to meet their academic needs. Oftentimes, the teacher can make simple modifications in the classroom or curriculum to create the appropriate learning environment for your child. However, sometimes the child and/or teacher may need more support than the typical classroom setting can provide. The parent may have to advocate more in order to promote quicker and better outcomes.

Whether your child has a previously identified medical disability or not, it is the educational need only that is considered when determining if additional services are appropriate in school. If you think your child would benefit from additional educational services, the school can administer testing to determine if an educational diagnosis is appropriate and if an IEP (Individualized Education Program) or a 504 plan is necessary.

Here is a much condensed and simplified version of how this process works:

First contact: Parents advocate by setting-up a “fact-finding” meeting with the teacher and/or school administration to begin to address what is working and what is not working to meet your child’s academic needs.

Pre-referral: If, on first contact, a parent/teacher still feels that specific intervention is required, they can advocate by making a formal request, verbally or in writing. Before a full referral and evaluation will take place, a screening process will occur. This screening includes the teacher observing the child closely and documenting whether informal modifications are working. If the more informal modifications are deemed to be insufficient, formal evaluations will take place.

Referral: Once a formal evaluation is deemed necessary, the child will officially be referred to the school district for various standardized evaluations (based on the concerns of the parents/teachers). Parents will be notified and asked to sign and consent to this testing. However, if parents refuse to give consent, then the school district may use due process hearing procedures to override the parents’ denial of consent.

Evaluation/Eligibility: In order to thoroughly evaluate the educational needs of a child, standardized assessments, as well as classroom observations are completed by various members of the multidisciplinary team. These team members could include teachers, psychologists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, etc. Those included in your child’s multidisciplinary team will vary depending on the initial concerns of the parents and teachers. These professionals look at formal observations and scores to determine if a child meets the requirements for “child with a disability” as defined by IDEA. In order to meet this definition, the school must diagnose the child with one of 13 specific educational diagnoses listed below:

Intellectual Disability
Emotional Disturbance
Speech or Language Impairment
Visual Impairment
Deafness
Hearing Impairment
Deaf-blindness
Orthopedic Impairment
Multiple Disabilities
Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Other Health Impairment (OHI)
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Specific Learning Disabilities (this is often how children with visual/motor/handwriting difficulties qualify)

Development of IEP: As an occupational therapist working in a private clinic, I have attended many of these meetings with parents of my kiddos, and they are always a bit overwhelming. We sit in a big room with teachers, assistant principals, school psychologists, and any other individuals the school or parents deem appropriate. Sometimes these meetings are very cordial with everyone being on the same page, and other times there is much heated debate. Whichever the case may be, after the dust has settled and the discussion is over, a written document is produced to outline the team’s plan of action containing the special services and environmental modifications recommended to best meet the needs of this individual child. In addition, various goals for the child are set by the team to help ensure that the child’s progress is being properly monitored. IEP meetings can be overwhelming. I strongly recommend that parents bring along a friend or family member as support for these meetings and to be a “second set of ears.”

Implementation of IEP: It does no good to simply create an IEP, it must be put into action. Constant monitoring and communication are required to make sure that the plan spelled out in the IEP is carried out in the educational setting in order to help the child be academically successful.

Re-evaluation of IEP: Yes, the IEP is simply a piece of paper, and yes, it must be used, but what if things aren’t working? An IEP is regularly reviewed annually, with the complete evaluation process being repeated at a minimum of every 3 years (depending on state/district). However, if things are NOT working as planned, a new IEP meeting can be requested.

TAKE AWAY – IEP’S

Parents or teachers can make the referral
It is a multi-step & multi-disciplinary process involving much time and many meetings along the way
I encourage parents to bring along a family member or friend for support at these meetings
An IEP is created to meet the needs of the individual child
Communicate with teacher/school that the IEP is being followed
Don’t hesitate to ask for a meeting to make corrections if the current IEP is not working

But wait, there’s more (IDEA, IEP, 504… demystified!)

What happens if your child has a defined medical need that is affecting her access to public education, but she does not quite meet the qualifications for an IEP? Are there other options? Let’s look at the law:

Federal Rehabilitation Act (1973): This was a piece of civil rights legislation to help stop discrimination against people with disabilities. Section 504 of this legislation regulations require a school district to provide a “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) to each qualified student with a disability who is in the school district’s jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability.

IDEA (Individual with Disabilities Education Act): This is an educational law first enacted in 1975 that ensures children with disabilities are educated in the “least restrictive environment.” In this least restrictive environment, children with disabilities are not to be segregated from their non-disabled peers simply because of their disability and are to only be removed from their peers for the portions of the educational day which cannot be adequately met in a mainstream classroom. The law defines “children with disabilities” as being between the ages of three and twenty-two, and having one or more of the 13 educational diagnoses I mentioned.

IEP (Individualized Education Program): To qualify for an IEP, the child must qualify for special education services according to one of the 13 diagnoses listed above. Once the child has been referred, evaluated, and deemed to qualify, the multidisciplinary team will convene and create the IEP. The IEP details the special education and related services the child will receive. An IEP is a legal, written, binding document and is based upon the evaluations of the school professionals, as well as other special consultants (private therapists) when necessary. This IEP is an individualized document. It says so in the title. All IEPs should be specially and individually formatted for each child.

504: In the school setting, if a child does not qualify under IDEA, he may be deemed eligible for services under Section 504. This usually means that a child does not qualify for special education services, but that he requires some type of modification in order to achieve his full academic potential. The school will evaluate eligibility based on:

Whether the child has a physical/medical impairment
Whether this impairment hinders the child’s access to the physical/educational environment
Whether this impairment hinders the child’s learning
The types of accommodations the child requires to receive a public education.

TAKE AWAY – DEFINITIONS:

Federal Rehabilitation Act – 1973: civil rights legislation created to ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to educational services
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – 1975 (IDEA): created to meet the educational needs of students with disabilities
IEP (Individualized Education Program): A legal document under IDEA that spells out the educational plan for a child and is generally used when a child requires special education services. The student must have one of 13 specific diagnoses.
504: A section under the Federal Rehabilitation Act that outlines what modifications a student will need to succeed in the general classroom setting, and is usually used when a child does not require special education services.

IEP vs. 504

In practice, an IEP and a 504 are quite similar. Both are legally binding documents that outline modifications the school will make to help the child achieve academic success. Modifications need to be “reasonable” (meaning that they pose no undue hardship on the public school) and “education based” (meaning that modifications need to have a direct link to a child’s academic goals).

So which one does your child need? An IEP will be put into place when a child would benefit from modifications to the educational curriculum, with special education services often required. A 504 utilizes a broader definition of “disability” and will generally be used when the child will benefit from external modifications to help her access the standard/general curriculum. In addition, all children under an IEP are also automatically covered under 504 as the IEP is the more robust of the two documents.

Examples of possible IEP or 504 modifications

There are no categorical restrictions as to what services might be appropriate on an IEP or a 504 plan. In other words, the statement “Oh, you can’t get that service on a 504” would be incorrect and inappropriate because all supports and services are determined based on the individual needs of the student, whether she is eligible for special education, or for accommodations under section 504 (New Hampshire Dept of Education).

Therefore, examples of possible IEP or 504 modifications could include:

Additional time for homework/test taking
Shortened assignments
Sensory breaks
Picture schedules
Preferential seating
Use of typing device instead of writing by hand
Use of specialized communication device
Behavior modification plans
Special education classroom setting
The number of minutes the child spends in special education vs. typical classroom
School-based OT, PT, speech, or counseling
Assistance with agenda books
Communication tools between school and parents
Provision for regulating sensory input such as earplugs, fidget toys, headphones, study carrels, etc.
Oral test taking or have test questions read aloud to child
1:1 assistance at difficult times of day including the lunch room and transitions
Have the teacher provide paper/digital copies of lecture notes
Pair the child with a “positive peer”

This is just a sample of possible modifications and is by no means a complete list of modifications. It is important to work with the child and the school to find out which modifications work best in each situation. Keep in mind that IEP’s and 504’s are individualized documents and should reflect the needs of each individual child.

Whew! There you have it. The (not so shortened) explanation of how to advocate for your child in the school setting, as well as your child’s potential legal avenues to take. Still overwhelmed? Many parents utilize a child advocate to help them navigate these legal issues in the school setting. Here in Arkansas, we are very fortunate to have extremely knowledgeable child advocates available to us as a free service through Arkansas Support Network. Never hesitate to advocate for your child and research your options. Best of luck in this new school year!