Advocacy Mistakes - Ruin Credibility, Hurt Your Child with Advocacy Mistakes

If you've been experiencing problems with your child's special education program, you may have encountered advocates. While there are many excellent advocates, there are also many who are ineffective and may cause more harm than good. Learn about common advocacy mistakes that can ruin your credibility with complaint investigators and negatively affect your child's program. These games benefit no one and often leave parents to cope with the aftermath.

Advocacy Mistake #1: Being overly dramatic. Your advocate should focus on your case with factual information rather than dramatic outbursts.

Advocacy Mistake #2: Some advocates mistakenly believe that bullying and insulting school staff will help their case. Not so. If anything, it just creates a negative climate for your child.

Advocacy Mistake #3: Exaggerating. In most cases, investigators will uncover evidence that tells them when someone is exaggerating or being untruthful. When they do, this may make them less likely to take you seriously. Focus instead on the evidence you have that shows how the school violated your child's rights.

Advocacy Mistake #3: Making accusations that are false or that you cannot prove. If you cannot prove your case, it is unlikely that investigators can rule in your favor.

Advocacy Mistake #4: Some advocates flood the school with constant communication and demands that go well beyond what is necessary to ensure your child's program is implemented. No staff could keep up in those conditions. Eventually, someone misses something, fails to respond, or makes a mistake. If anything, this strategy just stresses the already limited resources available to your child and results in poor relationships with your child's school.