Running Heading: Advocating: Helping Parents so They Can Help You

Advocating: Helping Parents So They Can Help You

Angela Disley
University of St. Thomas

When a person decides to step into a profession where they will be a

role model to those younger, they take on more responsibilities than just

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their job title.

Educators wear many hats every day such as multitasking,

advocating, and teaching all day long.

One of the most important

responsibilities that educators have besides teaching the future of America,

is teaching parents. Society also has a responsibility to protect the rights of
children and to support parents in ensuring these rights. (Miller, Colebrook,
and Ellis p.12)

Advocating from the classroom can only go so far, so

teaching parents how to advocate for their children will help them as well as
help the teachers provide opportunities for growth and learning.

Parents

need to be armed with good, current information, on how the laws are
stated, and why they need to advocate for their children daily.
Parents are always the teachers first source of information when it
comes to their child. The parent knows "how" the student will react to new
situations, to new people, and how to support their child in those situations.
Advocating for your child is a daily battle and parents can only become
stronger when guided by the teacher.

The best information a parent can

have is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and school
districts policy. When a parent has the right information and the right tools
they can be an asset to their child and to the teacher.

Without these

details, the parents cannot make an informed decision; they cannot know if
their child is getting an appropriate education. (Heitin, p48) A parent has
the right to give their child an education no matter what their childs
disability.

IDEA gives parents this right! All children and youth with

disabilities, regardless of the severity of their disability, will receive a Free

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Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) at public expense. (Horne, R. L., &

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Handicaps, W. D.,
p15) This can be explained to the parents that no matter how slight the
disability their child will be educated in public school. On the flip side of that,
if the child has a serve disability they can still be educated in the public
school. Under IDEA it also states that the students will be provided with all
the related services that the student qualifies for under the special education
services. Children and youth receiving special education have the right to
receive the related services necessary to benefit from special education
instruction. (Horne, R. L., & National Information Center for Children and
Youth with Handicaps, W. D., p15) Related service could be anything such as
transportation to physical therapy or just having transportation to school.
Parents have the right to know and be a part of any decision that is made
with their child within the public school under the laws of IDEA. Providing
parents with the knowledge of their rights and what they can do helps their
child allows the teacher to be a stronger advocate from the classroom.
Working together helps the student grow at school and at home.
It is always best to understand and know exactly what the rights of
your child are and how exactly things can play out in the classroom.

FAPE

was designed more than 20 years ago, so there have been many changes to
the laws and even to education in general.

In an article, A New IDEA: A

Parent's Guide to the Changes in Special Education Law for Children with
Disabilities, written by Tammy Seltzer, she talks about all the changes to

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IDEA, words to know, and ways to protect your childs education.

IDEA

protects the education of your child but it also gives you many rights as the
parent.

For example, under the IDEA law it states, Schools have to: ask

parents' permission to evaluate their child for special education, include

parents in the process of developing their child's IEP, give parents notice of
any changes the school wants to make in their child's educational
placement, and give parents the chance to appeal any school decision
affecting their child's education.(Seltzer, T., & Bazelon Center for Mental
Health Law, W. D., p5) This protects the parents and their child but gives
both of them rights to receive or refuse anything from the district. At any
time the parent can request testing for their child from the district.
in most district, deadline for testing is 30 school days.

By law,

If the school is

requesting testing of your child they must ask permission, Until the law was
changed, schools had to get parents' permission before the initial evaluation.
Now schools must get parents' permission before performing any evaluation,
not just the initial one.(Seltzer, T., & Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law,
W. D., p7)

Not only does the IDEA state how to be involved, how to get

permission for testing, but it also lays out who should be on the
Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) team. When parents know exactly how
the law is stated they are armed with knowledge. Just like the saying,
"Knowledge is Power".
There is never a reason not to advocate for a child and to have the
knowledge of how to advocate is the parents power to be a strong advocate.

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Knowledge of the language and intention of the laws empowers families to

advocate more effectively for their children and strengthens their ability to
participate fully as partners in their children's educational teams. (Horne, R.
L., & National Information Center for Children and Youth with Handicaps, W.
D., p3) Some reasons for advocacy are: services for a child, testing for your
child, evaluation for eligibility, and many other reasons. Educating parents
to know how to fight for their child and how to advocate for their rights in the
classroom helps the teacher in the classroom. Knowledge of the laws can
help parents and professionals work together on behalf of children to make
the equal education opportunity guaranteed by law reality (Horne, R. L., &
National Information Center for Children and Youth with Handicaps, W. D., p4)
Anytime that the parents and teachers can work together for the educational
purpose of the student, the student will make gains in the classroom. It is
always in favor of the student when the parents have the knowledge of the
laws, resources available to them, and understand their rights as a family.
A teacher will always advocate for their students. A teacher is always
learning and researching changes in the laws and ways to support the
students in the classroom. The same goes for a parent when their child is in
any educational setting, whether in special education or not.

The parent

should always want the best for the child and know the laws, how the laws
are stated and when to advocate for the child to get the best education for
their child. A good advocate will not mimic your point of view or embrace it

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without thinking about your position. A good advocate will place your child
first. (Heitin, R. C., p47)

Reference Page
Heitin, R. C. (2013). Advocating for Children and Their Families within the
School System: Reflections of a Long-Time Special Education
Advocate. Odyssey: New Directions In Deaf Education, 1444-47. (1)
Horne, R. L., & National Information Center for Children and Youth with
Handicaps, W. D. (1996). The Education of Children and Youth with
Special Needs: What Do the Laws Say? Interim Update. NICHCY News
Digest (4)
Miller, G. E., Colebrook, J., & Ellis, B. R. (2014). Advocating for the Rights of
the Child through Family-School Collaboration. Journal Of Educational &
Psychological Consultation, 24(1), 10-27. (5)
Rider, M., & Ward, C. (2010). Advocating for Your Child's Education: What You
Need to Know. Odyssey: New Directions In Deaf Education, 11(1), 1519. (2)

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Seltzer, T., & Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, W. D. (1998). A New
IDEA: A Parent's Guide to the Changes in Special Education Law for
Children with Disabilities. (3)