Your Partners: Independent Evaluators and Educational Consultants
Consult
with a private-sector psychologist, educational diagnostician, or consultant
to develop goals for your child. Your consultant will give you valuable
information and help. Your consultant may:
-
Teach you about your child’s disability and educational needs
Provide information about effective teaching and research-based educational practices
-
Help you learn about tests, how tests measure educational progress, and how to interpret test results
-
Help you design goals, objectives and time frames
-
Evaluate your child’s progress toward IEP goals and objectives
Make recommendations about your child’s educational program
Types of Consultants / Evaluators
Depending on your child’s disability and age, you may work with different specialists:
Psychologists
Speech-language pathologists
Educational diagnosticians
Occupational therapists
Physical therapists
Psychiatrists
Pediatric neurologists
Therapists and counselors
Finding a Consultant
Look for a consultant who is knowledgeable about your child’s disability, child development, and special education. Ideally, your consultant will be available to work with you and your family for the long haul. In addition to making recommendations about your child’s educational program, your consultant should attend school meetings to support these recommendations.
Contact advocacy groups and organizations that represent individuals with your child’s disability and ask them to recommend consultants.
Contact medical centers children’s hospitals, mental health centers, and clinics.
Ask other parents for recommendations.
Contact private special education schools and ask for their recommended consultants.
Before long, you will have a short list
of recommendations from different groups and individuals. You will probably
find your consultant in this list.
Copyright © 1999-2011, Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright. All rights reserved. Contact Us