Special Education Mediation

 The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act are laws that enable school educational teams to entitle children to publicly funded services if certain criteria are met. Ideally each meeting with professional educators welcomes parents and guardians to be full participants in the discussions regarding their son/daughter’s concerns.  However, the language of educational meetings is sometimes daunting. 

Words below can create confusion:

• IEP
• Adverse effect
• Impairment
• Significant Discrepancy
• SLD, OHI, ID, TBI, Etc.
• MTSS Plan
• PLOP
• Eligibility Determination
• Doc of Evaluation
• Procedural Safeguards
• LRE
• FBA Interventions
• BIP Interventions
• Accommodations
• Manifestation Determination
• MTSS

Navigating a system of support governed by specific laws and language is not easy. Gwen’s mediation offers consultation to help parents and guardians prepare for meetings. Gwen offers parents or guardians an opportunity to discuss school evaluations results with a neutral party, review educational records and generate questions for a special education IEP team or 504 team to consider.   Gwen may support parents at meetings to help interpret information presented or in some cases, serve in the role of a child advocate.