Community Organizations Supporting Special Education Advocacy with Diverse Families

The journey for any parent is to obtain resources necessary for his or her children to thrive now and in the future. However the political debate is still about whether our children with disabilities have real value as contributing citizens and whether the financial investment in their care and their education is justified in an environment of strong competing interests and limited resources. As parents can tell you, this subliminal undercurrent plays out best behind closed doors of IEP meetings in the local school, or in case management meetings with service providers who are pressured by limited resources to act as if this is a game of 20 questions, where if you know what to ask for maybe your child will get it. The most effective parent negotiators and system navigators have developed strong advocacy skills and keen English-language skills and full knowledge of the American educational system and processes. So what happens to families who are new to the United States, are non-English speakers, and have no understanding of our complex society and structures? (Fiesta Educativa Parent and Advocate, Education for All, pp. 63-64)