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I watched my special needs sister struggle through school without the assistance she needed that may have changed her life. My sister was misdiagnosed by our school as intellectually disabled (the term used at that time was mentally retarded).

After I became a special education teacher, I learned that my sister is severely dyslexic, which is under the category of a specific learning disability. The differences between these two disabilities are drastically different. This misdiagnosis had a detrimental effect on the quality of her life. Our parents, like so many other parents believed what the school administrators and teachers told them about my sister. They trusted the school officials to do what was right and best for their daughter. They had no one to help them to understand special education process, nor the services that my sister was eligible to receive. She did not receive any services to help her. My sister went through school and when she left, she was still unable to read, and had little to no basic math skills. My parents did not know how to help her and did not know where to go to get help. The school system failed my sister and our parents. This experience has had a devastating impact that has lasted for her life.

Advocacy for Education is the result of my personal and professional experiences as a special education teacher, and special education administrator. Our passion is to assist parents and families with the special education process in a way that was not available to my parents. We are determined to equip families with the information needed to make informed decisions about the education of their children. No parent should feel hopeless because they do not understand the services that are available through special education for their child. Advocacy for Education was created to help students and families understand the special education process.