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Schools

From Emotions to Advocacy Class for Parents

Advocating for your special needs child(ren) in school

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Helping parent’s to successfully advocate child’s IEP

Starts

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Monday, September 24th

7:00pm - 9:30pm for 6 weeks

Wilton YMCA

Please note:

This is for parents who advocate for their children only, not professional advocates

Runs for 6 weeks

Session 1: Meet & Greet

Session 2: Getting Started 
In "Getting Started," you will learn:

  • Basic advocacy skills
  • Supplies you need to get started
  • How to develop a master plan for your child's education

Session 3: Advocacy 101
In "Advocacy 101," you will learn about:

  • Schools as bureaucracies and the rules of the game
  • Obstacles to success - school culture, myths, gatekeepers, and emotions
  • Common causes of conflict
  • Steps you can take to prevent or resolve problems
  • Events that trigger parent-school crises

Session 4: The Parent as Expert
In "The Parent as Expert," you will learn:

  • Why you must become an expert about your child's disability and educational needs
  • How to organize your child's file, step by step
  • How to use information from evaluations to understand your child's disability
  • How to use test scores to monitor and measure your child's progress
  • How to write SMART IEP goals and objectives

Session 5: Special Education Law
In "Special Education Law," you will learn about:

  • The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004)
  • Findings and purposes of the IDEA
  • Definitions in the IDEA
  • Extended school year (ESY), child find, least restrictive environment (LRE), private placements, statewide assessments
  • Requirements for identifying children with specific learning disabilities - Discrepancy Formulas and Response to Intervention (RTI)
  • Evaluations, eligibility, IEPs, and placement
  • Prior written notice, procedural safeguards, mediation, due process hearings, appeals, discipline, and age of majority
  • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
  • The No Child Left Behind Act and implications for children with disabilities

Session 6: Tactics and Strategies
In "Tactics and Strategies," you will learn about:

  • "The Rules of Adverse Assumptions"; first impressions; image and presentation
  • How to use logs, calendars, and journals to create paper trails
  • How to write effective letters (includes sample letters)
  • How to write a persuasive "Letter to the Stranger" (includes sample letters)
  • How to use IEP worksheets, parent agendas, visual aids & graphs of progress or lack of progress (includes sample worksheets and agendas)
  • Roles of experts; how to use an expert to help develop an appropriate educational program
  • Pros and cons of recording meetings; strategies
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