Has anyone had any experience using an Educational Advocate? What do you recommend looking for when you consider an advocate?
I've had a fairly long phone call with one and met with another but am having trouble deciding between the two.
Advocate #1: Was recommended by a special educator that I know casually. She has no background in education but has been an advocate for over 15 years. She has a special needs child who is now a young adult. She seems very busy (this can be good and bad). She has been a little hard to reach and difficult to schedule time to meet and availability for IEP meeting. Didn't call once when she promised (said a meeting ran late) but emailed the next morning and has mixed up dates in an email so I question if she is very organized. When I talked to her, she seemed warm and supportive. Voiced opinion that 2e are the "hardest" cases. Seemed to understand DSs disorder better than #2.
Advocate #2: Has only 1 year experience as an advocate. Was a special ed teacher decades ago. Has been in school administration for about a dozen years, some of those have been as special education director. Says she left administration to "make a difference". Was easy to schedule. Seems more organized than #1. Seemed to have very good understanding of school processes and how they work but not such a good sense of DSs particular disorder.
Last edited by dreamsbig; 05/16/16 10:37 AM.
