{"id":6279,"date":"2012-01-09T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-01-09T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=6279"},"modified":"2018-01-10T12:54:03","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T16:54:03","slug":"what-can-parents-do-if-they-cant-hire-an-attorney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/what-can-parents-do-if-they-cant-hire-an-attorney\/","title":{"rendered":"What Can Parents Do if They Can\u2019t Hire an Attorney?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"What%20Can%20Parents%20Do%20if%20They%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Hire%20an%20Attorney%3F\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p>Our son is 15 and is repeating 9th grade. He has learning disabilities and has an IEP. We did not think he was making progress in his special education program, so we had him evaluated by an independent psychologist. The psychologist compared his current test scores with his scores on earlier evaluations. We were distressed to learn that his IQ scores had dropped.<\/p>\n<p>The goals in his IEPs haven\u2019t changed for years. The recent evaluation shows he hasn\u2019t learned basic academic skills. He is not being educated.<\/p>\n<p>I read an article on your website that describes our son &#8211; about the <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/test.matthew.effect.htm\">Matthew Effect<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>We are stuck! We don\u2019t have a lawyer to help our son. What can we do?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Don&#8217;t believe for a minute that the only parents who &#8220;win&#8221; are those who have lawyers to fight for them.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22118\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/mtg.discussion.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"495\" height=\"334\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In school matters, having an attorney can polarize the situation. When the situation is polarized, school staff hunker down, pull their wagons in a circle, and prepare for a battle. The child does not receive the help he or she needs. When an attorney speaks for parents, the school is often afraid to develop a new or different program for the child. They are afraid that the attorney will use this to prove that the program they were providing earlier was not appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>BUT \u2026 <strong>parents who are not represented by attorneys &#8220;win&#8221; every day.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>How?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Parents who \u201cwin\u201d <strong>learn effective advocacy strategies.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. They <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/organize.file.htm\">organize their child\u2019s file<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>2. They <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/howey\/power.mtgs.ltrs.htm\">do research about their school district and who has decision-making authority<\/a>.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Tip:<\/strong><\/span> This person is often an school administrator who does not know the child.<\/p>\n<p>3. They learn to <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/advoc\/articles\/Emotions.html\">keep their emotions under control<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>4. They <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/mediate.negot.disputes.htm\">learn to negotiate<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/feta2.sm.store.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-13180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/feta2.100.dpi500.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"277\" \/><\/a>If you are persistent and polite, and you use the advocacy skills and strategies described in <em><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/feta2.sm.store.html\">Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy<\/a>,<\/span><\/em> you will be in a strong position when you negotiate with the school.<\/p>\n<p>5. They <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/advo.parent.askqs.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">learn how to ask the right questions that can open the door to quality special ed services<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>6. They know they must <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=3647\">build and maintain healthy working relationships with school personnel<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>7. These parents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/advoc\/articles\/tests_measurements.html\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">learn how to use objective test scores to monitor their child\u2019s progress<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>8. They <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/graphing-evaluation-data-a-skill-all-parents-should-master\/\">create graphs of their child\u2019s progress or lack of progress <\/a><\/span>(so easy to do when you use the \u201cChart Wizard\u201d in a PowerPoint, spreadsheet or word processing program).<\/p>\n<p>9. These parents <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/advoc\/articles\/advo.create.trails.htm\">create paper trails<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>10. They <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=143\">write polite letters<\/a><\/span> to their child\u2019s team and other school officials to document the questions they asked, requests they made, and what they were told.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your goal is to get quality special education services for your child \u2026 without legal representation.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our son is 15 and is repeating 9th grade. He has learning disabilities and has an IEP. We did not think he was making progress in his special education program, <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/what-can-parents-do-if-they-cant-hire-an-attorney\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,136],"tags":[792,863],"class_list":["post-6279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-strategies","tag-effective-advocacy-strategies","tag-matthew-effect"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6279"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22577,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6279\/revisions\/22577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}