Stacey Hoaglund
ADVOCATE, LIFE COACH, CONSULTANT, SPEAKER, AUTHOR
Tag: parent rights
Tag: parent rights
Figuring Out What’s Worth Fighting for
ad·vo·cate [v. ad-vuh-keyt] According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word advocate has been around since the 14th century. The definitions include: 1: one that pleads the cause of another; to plead in favor of 2: one that defends or maintains a cause or proposal 3: one that supports or promotes the interests of another. Advocating can
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The Often Overlooked Importance of Literacy
Unfortunately, our educational system grossly underestimates the potential of students with disabilities, especially those who don’t verbally communicate. That means that parents must take a very active approach in ensuring that their child has access to proper curriculum that is in line with the way that they process and learn. I’m sure most of you
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A Dozen Red Flags of a Hot Mess IEP Meeting :o
For many parents, the annual IEP meeting is something that incites a great sense of overwhelm, frustration and doom. This is probably one of the reasons that tons of parents don’t even show up. Most of you might find this really hard to believe (because you’re passionately involved in your child’s education), but it’s true,
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Evaluation Time…Yes or No?
For some reason, I seem to be getting more calls this year from parents who are seeking answers in relation to their right to request a psychoeducational evaluation from their school. Yes, parents do have that right. Quite often, whether a student has an IEP already or not, the school will say that they have
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Cultivating Belonging Through Inclusive Education
I am the queen of procrastination. It might look like I get things done, but it’s usually after hours, or even days, of putting them off, which is usually precipitated by either reorganizing my house or scrolling mindlessly through social media. I’m sure some of you can relate. Social media includes a ton of behavior
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5 Red Flags That Require Parent Advocacy
It is certainly hard for a parent to know what happens at their child’s school, especially if they don’t verbally communicate or if they exhibit deficits in language skills. Compound that with a special education classroom where most or all of the students are at the same level, and you could easily experience a “deadzone”
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Enhancing Your Advocacy Skills
“When the System Says “No”… what’s a parent to do?” So often we’re faced with systems that tell us “no” when we ask for something that we passionately believe that our child needs. It could be the response you get when you ask for inclusion, additional adult support, proper job coaching in order to prepare
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Monitoring Your Child’s Education Through Observation
Now that the new school year is in full swing, it’s a good time for parents to schedule an observation of their child’s educational setting. In order to be proactive in your child’s educational progress, it’s important to know what’s occurring during the time they’re at school. Here are some tips for conducting observations: Look
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What You Should Expect from Your IEP Meeting…. But May Not Often Get!
You’d think, especially considering the federal law that requires IEP meetings to run in a certain way, that when you go to your first, or last, IEP meeting, that the very basics would be in place. I’m not even referring to the guts of the Present Level or the meaningfulness of the goals….just the basics.
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