Saturday, August 18, 2018

My next steps

I am very excited about a new turn in my career. In June I established a new law firm called Utah IEP Advocates that will be completely dedicated to providing representation for Utah parents who have children in special education.

In this new venture I will be working with the top Utah academics and experts who specialize in special education related issues. It has been a humbling experience to receive such a generous outpouring of support from so many.

Utah special education is long overdue for reform and I am proud to be leading that charge.

I am currently accepting new clients. I have two primary services that I offer at this time.

The first is IEP development advocacy and consultation. This is where I work with families and schools to encourage them to work better together to discover better outcomes for Utah students. The emphasis of this representation is on healing the relationship between parents and schools by engaging in a collaborative IEP process. The focus of this service is to prevent the need for litigation and attempt to solve problems before they progress.

The second service I offer is representation for parents in due process proceedings against their child's school. When things have progressed beyond the point of negotiation it is important that parents do not give up.

In the past Utah parents have not had any instate legal assistance for this type of litigation. As a result schools have gotten use to operating without any oversight. It has been a very humbling experience to help parents in these proceedings and to see the profound impact my services have upon these children's lives.

Please contact my office if you need any type of assistance on a special education related issue or know someone else who does.

You can reach us by phone or text at 385-495-5099, or email MarkAdamson@UtahIEPadvocates.org

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Parent IEP Survival Guide

In this video I walk through practical steps parents can take to start collaborating with their IEP team and not against them.

One of the most common mistakes parents make is forgetting to develop the relationship they have with their child's school.  I cannot overemphasize how important this is.  An effective IEP cannot be developed without parents and schools working together as a team.

The video is a little over an hour and a half.  I highly recommend parents to watch it in its entirety.  I discuss so many important concepts that determine whether an IEP will be a success or failure. 

If you cannot finish in one setting come back to finish at a later time.  I would be very grateful if you could share this video with as many parents as possible.