I've found the hardest part of the 2e advocacy to be trying to balance getting the acceleration needed and assuring the school that accommodations are still needed as well.
I sometimes feel that the school thinks I am crazy when I say DS8 needs another skip, yet he just had a meltdown when his classmates water bottle touched his desk. He often has the maturity of a 4 year old but a brain of a 16 year old ....where should he be in school? It is hard for me to deal with the discrepancy and I've been living with it for 8 years; I can't even imagine what teachers who have just met him must think.
I try to follow the rule of advocating for his strengths primarily and then secondarily accommodating for his weaknesses. Sometimes schools have a tendency to see only the weaknesses and want to deny acceleration based on that. Our son was diagnosed with autism first, and it was a lot easier to advocate for that by itself. Now, he is a DYS gifted kid and we have to change the way we present him to the school.
As HowlerKarma noted, WrightsLaw is a great resource. I have referred to that and brought it to the administrators attention when needed. I have also brought in articles and books and even recently the Temple Grandin DVD, but I don't think those have much effect. We have had personal letters from DS's therapists and advocates present during the IEP meetings which do seem to be helpful. The best advocate for your child is you. Nan
