Chapter 7: Community Organizations Supporting Special Education Advocacy with Diverse Families

Since the 1970s, special education law in this country has required professionals to collaborate with parents in the decision-making process related to the education of their child with a disability. Although the legal requirement recognizes parents as equal partners with educators and other professionals, the reality of this vision remains elusive for an overwhelming number of families and particularly for low-income, culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families (Harry, 2008; Shapiro, Monzó, Rueda, Gomez, & Blacher, 2004). As so effectively expressed by the parent advocate at the beginning of this chapter, these families require additional expertise to access and manage the educational services their children require. The current chapter provides an overview of the literature in this area, followed by a description of two community organizations and their work supporting primarily Latino families whose children receive special education services.