PHILOSOPHY
It is important to find an advocate that is a good fit for you and your family. We therefore share these core beliefs of our advocacy practice. They are part of who we are, and how we advocate for you and your child.
Collaboration
Effective advocacy does not have to be adversarial. We understand that your relationship with your school district may be a long one, and that the best results for your child come from a mutually respectful and supportive relationship with your school. While remaining confidently firm in protecting your child’s interests, we preserve and support your relationship with your school, and work collaboratively with the staff members that support your child daily. Families and students deserve respect, and so do teachers and staff. We remain respectful of all the individuals involved in helping your child to learn and thrive, and we model the respect, support and collaboration that you deserve to receive as families. Respect and collaboration don’t stand in the way of effective and zealous advocacy. They are key to it.
Honesty
The subtle pressure on an advocate to tell their client what they want to hear can be tremendous. We are comfortable resisting that pressure. As parents, we don’t want to hear only what we “want to hear.” We value what we “need to hear” as well. As parents, we value objectivity, honesty, and the opinions of those we work with, even if what we hear might not be what we were hoping for. Our commitment to you as advocates is to always be honest and forthright – even when the subject is a difficult one.
Empowerment
As parents ourselves, we understand that nobody wants to need an advocate. Our goal is to help you acquire the knowledge and skills to advocate effectively on your own. We seek to be transparent about what we do and why, to help you understand the special education process, and to help you build the skills to work effectively within it, so that you are empowered to be successful on your own. In short, we try to work ourselves out of a job!
Like families, school personnel come to the special education partnership with varied skills sets and experience. We try to build the capacity of a whole team to support a student whenever possible.