Sometimes parents find it difficult to express their feelings when they are sitting alone with a team of experts who might tend to dictate the content, tone, and outcome of a school meeting about a child’s progress.  Therefore, it is wise for parents to get information from or take with them a trained advocate or another individual who knows their child.  This can help prompt a parent’s thinking about what is being presented.

Finding a trained advocate who is also culturally sensitive can be difficult.  This is the main reason for the creation of the NAEAACLD Parent Leadership Institute (PLI).  Members of the PLI are African American parents, grandparents, or other individuals with experience in special education.  Most have children with learning disabilities but have extended their advocacy to serve other children in their communities. 

PLI members are offered trainings from time to time to help keep them updated on the law that protects children with disabilities.  For this purpose, the NAEAACLD has formed a strategic alliance with Advocates for Educational Equity, a provider of cultural competency trainings and educational advocacy services for families in unserved and underserved communities and the professionals that work with them.

Although the PLI is growing rapidly, there are not nearly enough members now to serve the many parents in need throughout the country.  Therefore, families in need of advocacy information should be aware of the federally funded Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers.  Each state is home to at least one parent center.  The level of services and cultural competency varies from location to location.

Parents should also check with the office of special education within their state department of education and public school district to determine how to find a parent advocate close to home.  The NAEAACLD will continue to receive inquiries from parents and respond to them as quickly as possible through our information services or by referral to our partner, Advocates for Educational Equity.