Intended to be used by parents of children with disabilities being served in America's special education system, this book ensures that parents are knowledgeable and engaged enough to effectively advocate for their child.

It covers the most essential aspects of special education planning and implementation, including reviewing a history of special education and parental advocacy, how students are referred and evaluated, IEP and IFSP development practices, the types of services special education offers, and planning for post-high school life.

Written in an accessible tone to help parents grasp some of these complex topics, this book also includes frequently asked questions, common disputes with solutions, how to keep important documents organized, state extensions to the IDEA (the special education law), and helpful resources such as a glossary and acronyms.

Matthew Collier taught public school special education for 10 years, working with countless families to provide legal, appropriate, and meaningful special education to their children with disabilities - while noting the entire time how much parents seem to be unaware of their rights and power in the decision-making process, as well as how much knowledgeable and engaged parents make a difference in their child's outcomes. He moved into higher education and currently serves as an Associate Professor of Education (specializing in special education), as well as the current Vice President of the South Carolina Council of Exceptional Children and the Past-President of its South Carolina Teacher Education Division. He advocates for families of and students with disabilities to lawmakers.

Mitchell L. Yell, PhD, is the Fred and Francis Lester Palmetto Chair in Teacher Education and a professor in special education at the University of South Carolina. His professional interests include special education law, IEP development, progress monitoring, and parent involvement in special education. Dr. Yell has published 136 journal articles, 6 textbooks, 36 book chapters, and has conducted numerous workshops on various aspects of special education law, classroom management, and progress monitoring. His textbook, Special Education and the Law, is in its 5th edition. He co-authored the text Developing Educationally Meaningful and Legally Sound IEPs. Dr. Bateman and Dr. Yell are the editors of the Special Education Law, Policy, and Practice series published by Rowman & Littlefield. In 2020, he was awarded the Researcher of the Year from the Council for Exceptional Children. Dr. Yell also serves as a State-level due process review officer (SRO) in South Carolina and is on the Board of Directors of the Council for Exceptional Children. Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Yell was a special education teacher in Minnesota for 12 years.