Are you concerned for your child? Do you wonder how best to help? Does he have trouble paying attention and getting school work done? Is she showing signs of discouragement, sadness, or anger? Is the school offering the right services? Are they helping? Or is this your child? Or are you an adult with concerns about yourself?

To get what your child needs from the school, you may need advocacy. You have to ask for what your child needs using the right language, recognizing what the schools can and can't do. Even in the school systems that have the required programs, spaces are limited.  Unfortunately, some (though definitely not all) school districts will push parents and children toward accepting less than what the children actually need, due to budgetary or other limitations.

Our focus is on the child first and foremost. If the school can provide what is needed, our preference is that the child receive the needed services there. If the school cannot or will not provide the needed services, for whatever reasons, then we will advocate doing what is necessary to get the needed services.

Julian (not his real name) was 10 years old when his parents brought him to us. He could not read at all. He hated school and wanted to drop out to work with his father as a cable TV installer, because that was work he thought he could do without reading. The school wanted to continue him in the same program that had failed to teach him to read for 5 years.

We pushed for out of district placement in a school that could teach him, armed with the results of our evaluation of Julian that clearly showed what he needed.  We went to see the program on offer by the school system, and explained how and why that had not worked previously and would not work in the future.  We went to see alternative programs, and recommended one that would meet his needs. We eventually succeeded, and Julian was placed in the recommended school. Today, Julian is 15 and reading close to grade level.  Almost as important, he feels good about himself, in an environment where he is not the only one to have to struggle, and where he could and did succeed.

Although we do work with some school districts that appreciate our complete objectivity, our clinic is not financially dependent on any school district.  Parents can trust that we will always put their child first, and if that occasionally means that our recommendations are not welcomed by the schools, we are prepared to make them anyway.

The basic tool you need to get more or different services from your school is usually a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. Sometimes, the school doesn't see what you see. Our comprehensive and objective document is the first step in opening a dialog with school personnel, so that together you can develop a strategy to achieve your goals for your child.

If there is something besides a learning difficulty involved, such as attention deficits or behavioral problems, or if there are multiple issues, you need to understand your child's strengths and challenges in order to help. Parents read our report - written to avoid technical jargon - and say, "this is our child!" 

We do much more than just deliver a report. We will sit with you and develop an effective strategy to get your child what he or she needs, taking full account of his or her assets and challenges. We use our knowledge from working with most of the school systems in eastern Massachusetts to make our recommendations couched in language that we have found to be most effective in securing the best outcomes.

If needed, we will supplement the office evaluation with in-school support, including team meetings and classroom evaluations. (You may wish to read about how the advocacy process works.)  Unlike many other clinics who only do evaluations, we expect to have to go to the schools to attend meetings and evaluate programs. We have found this to be essential to successful advocacy.

However, to be successful, we have to make our advocacy supplemental to our own educational and neuropsychological evaluation. We cannot successfully advocate based on the reports of other evaluators, since we look at factors that few other evaluators consider. Furthermore, in mediations or hearings, our testimony is effective only if we can talk to what we have directly observed. We cannot testify as to what others have observed, even if their report in provided to the mediator or hearing officer.

If you also need services outside of school, or if you need a different school, the report has the information you need to secure the right placement.  Or, if your child's needs exceed what schools can do, we can help you organize a multi-disciplinary approach. 

Our goal is to obtain the best possible outcome for your child's continued learning and growth.  We are here to support you as you advocate for your child.

Susan Brefach, Ed.D.

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