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.

Based on the above information I would go with #2. An advocate MUST know education, special Ed law, school processes, how IEP's work, etc to be effective.

My consultant is a retired spec Ed administrator/ superintendent. He is masterful at getting districts to provide services but is not the least bit helpful drafting IEPs. I considered another who was tenacious about drafting goals and objectives but decided "a deal maker" would be better. I also spoke with an advocate who specialized in gifted kids but she was totally out of her depth with the disability side even though she claimed 2E experience.

My consultant has told me (and others we have met with) that DD's case is the most complex he has ever seen. He is familiar with each of her diagnoses but has never seen them all combined before. Not much experience with the gifted side of things either but able to convince the district that meeting her gifted needs was essential to meeting her disability needs. We have worked together 4 1/2 years and he has also worked with a friend even longer whose son was labeled 2E along the way. He clearly has more 2E experience than anyone else in the area but says rather humbly "I may understand it better than others but that doesn't mean I know how to address it." I'm not sure how that type of answer would make you feel if considering hiring him, but both 2E kids are getting their needs met quite well. I prefer that kind of approach to someone who would bluster about experience without really having the knowledge to back it up (as happened with gifted specialist who claimed 2e experience but was really overwhelmed by DD...)

Also consider costs - hourly rate, do they charge for phone calls and emails or just in person meetings, travel costs to attend meetings, ability to work things out informally with district administrators, etc. Also think about demeanor - do you want a bulldog who will be aggressive on your behalf or do you want a maternal type who will hold your hand through the process. What experience do they have with your school district? Good working relationships can smooth the road, a knowledge of the district's approach to stipulating agreements vs requiring you to go to due process, what can be addressed through meditation, etc are all important and can save or cost you thousands of dollars.

HTH

As a generalization, I would agree on #2. One caveat is that her recent experience as a special ed director can be a double-edged sword, depending on her relationship with other special ed directors in the area. If she has a good reputation with them as knowledgeable and collaborative, then this should be a plus. If she didn't have a good rep as a director, this could be a minus. If she's not from the area, then it should be mostly upside (unless she's from another state, in which case her familiarity with special ed regs may be region-specific, and thus not always applicable to your district).

Keep in mind that the likelihood of any ed advocate having a thorough grasp of your DC's collection of 2e concerns is rather modest. If she is smart, understands the law, is a good negotiator, etc., then you can fill in some of the gaps on knowledge of 2e-ness.