Successfully navigating the educational services system requires understanding the rules and regulations related to educational services. In addition to the resources below that provide information about the rules and regulations, a participant in the process must also possess effective communication and negotiation skills.

 

Educational Rights

 

Every state has a Parent Information Training Center tasked with educating students, parents and caregivers on their educational rights.

 

• Find your state Parent Information and Training Center here:https://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center/

 

Illinois has two parent information and training centers.

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• The Chicago land is served by Family Resource Center on Disabilities: https://frcd.org/

• The rest of Illinois is covered by Family Matters: https://fmptic.org/

 

The Pacer Center is a good source for information on a variety of topics relevant to students and caregivers. https://www.pacer.org/learning-center/

 

Every state has a department responsible for the administration of education. They typically provide resources and support to help navigate the educational services. Frequently, there is information for standards for classroom size, grade level learning standards, examples of forms, due process information, parent resources in alternative languages, information on home school requirements and special initiatives.

 

In Illinois, the Illinois Board of Education (ISBE) serves that function: https://www.isbe.net/ Wrights Law is legal resource that provides resources and information. They also have a widely utilized book. The website is a burden to read but it has great information: https://www.wrightslaw.com/

 

Be sure to check out any diagnosis specific advocacy resources for support as well, such as Arc, Down syndrome Association, Autism Speaks, etc.

 

A great resource for educational information for students with special education eligibility and ASD is PaTTAN: https://www.pattan.net/Advocates

 

Some Centers for Independent Living offer low cost or FREE access to educational advocates.

 

• To find the local CIL in Illinois: https://incil.org/locate/

 

• To find the local CIL outside of Illinois: https://ncil.org/about/find-your-cil/

 

Negotiation skills

 

Rapport will go a long way to working well with a service team, such as IEP meetings.

 

I recommend reading the book “Getting to Yes”. It includes good strategies to negotiate challenging situations.

 

The state departments of education may offer a mediation service at no cost to families.

 

Communication skills

 

Effective written and verbal communication skills are helpful to navigate the educational services system. Validation, reframing, asking questions, using I statements, not saying “why” or “but” can be helpful in ensuring constructive interactions.

 

Noticing escalating and engaging in actions to de-escalate will be helpful.