Last month staff from The Arc of Calhoun County, along with a parent participant in our Educational Advocacy program, attended the Navigating Autism Today Conference in Novi, Michigan. This conference came just ahead of Autism Acceptance Month, which takes place annually in April.
The conference is hosted by the Autism Alliance of Michigan and seeks to “provide autistic people and their loved ones with education, resources, and support in the areas of early diagnosis, education, and adulthood.” The ultimate goal of the conference is to equip attendees to “navigate their unique journey with autism.”
The Arc offered the opportunity to attend to any families working with the Educational Advocacy program to learn new strategies and connect with other families navigating similar journeys.
“There is still so much to learn about autism and how to support autistic learners,” said Clare Tanner, Executive Director of The Arc. “A conference like this brings professionals, family members, and people with lived experience together in dialogue. As a bridge builder, The Arc must always try to understand different points of view.”
The Arc’s Educational Advocacy programs assists families in navigating the special education system. Advocates educate on the proper processes to avoid breakdowns in communication, as well as make recommendations and attend meetings when necessary. Before finding The Arc, families often feel overwhelmed by the ins and outs of getting IEP’s or 504 plans to assist in their child's success in school.
“If you are having trouble with the school, The Arc jumps in to help support the families and their kids,” said Dena Baldwin, a parent who requested Educational Advocacy support to get her student the support they needed to make progress in school.
Advocates listen to concerns from families and schools, create agendas for meetings, facilitate discussion between school staff and families, promote positive problem solving, bring best practices to the table, and aim to assist families and schools in keeping open communication that puts the student’s need at the center of every conversation.
Conferences like Navigating Autism Today offer opportunities for advocates to gain new strategies and hear from others on how best to advocate for the needs of students.
“A common theme I noticed was related to the importance of relationships and trust at every level, in building a sense of security, consistency, and collaboration needed for learning,” said Tanner. “Prioritizing trusting relationships is inherently a strengths-based approach: it implies that we are coming together with mutual respect to craft an education program to support a cherished individual, not to fix a problem or address a series of gaps in performance.”
Advocates help foster those trusting relationships by ensuring that parents understand the system and are able to communicate their questions and concerns clearly to the rest of the team.
“The best thing about having an advocate present is that we communicate prior to the IEP so that we have the same goals going in,” said Laura Gillem, another Educational Advocacy parent.
Families of children with autism, or any family navigating the special education system, can contact The Arc of Calhoun County for advocacy assistance. Click here for more information on the Educational Advocacy program or call (269) 966-2575.
