Here are some quotes from the recent The Art of Advocacy show.
In a state complaint appeal, a decision can be turned over when there is new data that was not considered before.
Cheryl Poe
When the school says because he's getting A's and B's, he's not eligible for an IEP. I'm like, no, that's wrong.
Cheryl Poe
The school said on tape, "We were actually doing the parent a favor by not letting him come to school all day because then that way we didn't have to suspend him.
Cheryl
Poe
I think it's going to take more than a memo, to make a significant change. It's going to take the superintendents of all the districts paying attention to those kinds of actions and being very transparent about it and responding it to responding, responding to it in a way that is sensitive to the community.
Cheryl
Poe
If a preschool student has an IEP that requires him a certain amount of minutes of instruction in school, even though preschool is not a requirement in your state, the school is still responsible for providing FAPE for that student.
Cheryl Poe
Parents can also write a letter to OSEP, the office of Special Ed Programs in Washington DC and asked for clarification. Usually it's several months before you'll get a letter of guidance back from OSEP. Even though it's not a legal ruling, the letters of guidance are can be very helpful when advocating.
Charmaine Thaner
You can approach complaints from different angles. If you suspect there have been times when Medicaid funds are misused in the district you can request a copy of your child's Medicaid billing and if necessary have Medicaid do an investigation. That's another way that you can call attention to some systemic problems in a district.
Charmaine Thaner
When parents advocate for their own child, they're helping other children that come behind their child too, to have a better opportunity.
Cheryl Poe
If you don't fight for enforcement, things will never change.
Cheryl Poe
Parents are offered procedural safeguards at every IEP meeting. Please, every once in a while, take one of those again because that is where your rights are. And when you don't understand your procedural safeguard rights, it becomes really challenging to take action and create change.
Charmaine Thaner
I'm thankful for all the parents that are willing to stand up and fight the fight. It can be hard, but just know you're not alone and your efforts at times, even though it may feel tedious and painful and like you may never get through it, just know on the other side of it, it feels good because you are putting your energy and your effort into making sure that your child is treated with respect and dignity and that they are
given the opportunity to learn equally to that of a student that doesn't have a disability.
Cheryl Poe
Parents around the country are blazing trails. But know we need new parents coming right afterwards because that trail gets overgrown really quickly.
Charmaine Thaner
