Elevating Parent Voice: Supporting an Elementary Student with Nonverbal Learning Disability

Some learning disabilities are widely recognized. Others, like Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD), are far less understood. Even so, they can have a significant impact on a child’s school experience. This is the story of how thoughtful collaboration and intentional planning, guided by a special education advocate, helped an elementary school student with NVLD finally receive the support she needed to thrive.

Understanding the Child Beyond the Label

When I first began working with this family, their child was a bright, curious elementary student with clear strengths in the classroom. However, those strengths were not fully reflected in her IEP. Like many students with NVLD, she struggled with areas such as math, visual-spatial processing, and applying concepts in the classroom, even when she understood the material verbally.

As a special education advocate, one of my first goals was to help the school team see the whole child. That meant supporting her mom, Amy, in clearly communicating not just concerns, but also her daughter’s strengths, interests, and learning profile. We worked together to ensure that parent input wasn’t an afterthought, it became a meaningful part of the IEP itself.

Bridging the Gap Between the IEP and the Classroom

During our first school year working together, I attended an IEP team meeting in my role as parent advocate after it became clear that services written into the IEP were not being fully implemented in the classroom. Amy had been requesting additional math support for months, but those requests were repeatedly deprioritized and, effectively, unheard.

During the meeting, we carefully reviewed the IEP line by line. That’s when the team realized something important: in-class math support was clearly spelled out in the IEP, but it wasn’t actually happening.

To the team’s credit, they responded openly and collaboratively. Once the gap was identified, services were adjusted to match what the IEP required and what the student needed. With consistent in-class math support in place, the child’s confidence and performance improved noticeably.

Adding Clinical Insight to Educational Planning

Another key step was helping the team incorporate clinical recommendations into the IEP in a practical, school-based way. This child had been evaluated by a well-regarded neuropsychologist in the community. Too often, outside evaluations sit on the sidelines instead of shaping instruction. We walked through the clinical recommendations line by line and considered what needed to be implemented at school, and how. By translating those recommendations into actionable supports and goals, we ensured they meaningfully informed her educational program.

Planning Ahead: Transitions Matter

In the following school year, our focus shifted to prevention rather than reaction. I worked with Amy to communicate proactively with the new general education teacher before the school year began. I use a transition playbook designed to:

• Introduce the child and family to new team members

• Share strengths, interests, and successful strategies

• Flag potential challenges early

• Set the tone for collaboration from day one

A cornerstone of this approach is holding October check-in meetings with the IEP team, early enough to make adjustments before small issues become big problems.

An October Check-In That Made a Difference

At the October check-in meeting, the team came prepared with a draft IEP revision, which included proposed reading goals. Instead of simply accepting or rejecting those goals, we workshopped them together in real time.

We focused on making sure the goals:

• Included clear baseline data

• Were measurable and meaningful

• Reflected ambitious, but appropriate, expectations for her reading growth

By the end of the meeting, everyone felt aligned. The revised goals were stronger, clearer, and better matched to this child’s needs.

Centering Parent Voice

Throughout this process, my guiding principle remained the same: elevate parent voice. When parents feel confident, informed, and supported, they can participate as true partners in the IEP process. This family left each meeting feeling heard, respected, and optimistic about their child’s path forward.

As her mom shared afterward:

“Just getting a minute to sit down and thank you for your expert help at [my child]’s IEP meeting yesterday. I thought it went really well, it was great to see the collaboration re: goal setting. I wanted to let you know how much I value your opinion and your shoulder support. I feel so confident being able to defer to you. I enjoyed watching the way you critically think about the goals and help shape them with the team.”

Moving Forward

This student is now receiving more consistent, well-aligned support, and just as importantly, Amy feels empowered and confident navigating the process. That combination makes all the difference.

For families of children with lesser-known learning disabilities like NVLD, advocacy isn’t about being adversarial. It’s about clarity, collaboration, and making sure the plan on paper becomes support in practice.

Need support navigating your child’s IEP? Partnering with a special education advocate means you don’t have to do this alone. Reach out here.

Legal Lessons for Families: Takeaways from This Year’s Special Ed Law Conference

One of my favorite annual conferences just wrapped up, the Pacific Northwest Institute on Special Education and the Law. This meeting brings together school special education teams, administrators, attorneys, parents, and advocates like me for updates on best practices for legally defensible plans and procedures, recent court decisions about special ed issues, and how to best serve students while complying with state and federal mandates. There are always some really juicy legal cases to hear about (the high schooler who graduated without learning to read because he used his accommodations plus AI to “read” and “write” all his schoolwork!) and opportunities to network with folks in this field. Here are my highlights, takeaways, and actions we can take today.

Highlights

• The panel discussion between two attorneys—one representing school districts and one representing parents—offered an eye-opening view into how these two differing perspectives would approach hypothetical student situations. From school refusal to dyslexia to autism, the go-to first steps from a school district's point of view were usually very different from the parent attorney.

• The talk on dyslexia eligibility, goals, and services framed our current evolution on dyslexia-based supports as similar to the conversations we were having about autism 20 years ago (I was in these conversations as a brand new school psychologist). At that time, parents were pushing schools to address their concerns, schools were often unprepared to help students, and families didn’t have access to community supports covered by medical insurance. Sound familiar? Just like with autism, schools will get better at serving dyslexic students as we keep pushing them forward.

• The session on Child Find, the part of special education law that requires schools to identify and evaluate any child suspected of having a disability, reaffirmed that the bar for triggering a school evaluation is very low. There are many possible reasons to suspect a disability: a parent raising concerns about ADHD or dyslexia, a teacher noticing persistent learning challenges, or the presentation of a clinical diagnosis. Any of these can and should prompt the school to act. We don’t need a “mountain of evidence” just to start the evaluation process.
  

My Big Takeaways About Child Find

• Child Find in action: There are many situations that should trigger a suspicion of a disability. Decisions about whether to evaluate should not depend on questions like, “What services would they get if they qualified?” or “Would your high schooler really want to miss an elective for an IEP class?” That’s putting the cart before the horse. The only question that matters at this stage: Do we suspect a disability? If yes, then evaluate.

• RTI and MTSS: Response to Intervention (RTI) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) are valuable frameworks for supporting all learners. However, the need for additional interventions or data collection cannot delay an evaluation for a student suspected of having a disability. The right approach: run interventions alongside the evaluation process (within 60 school days in Oregon, 35 in Washington). This approach has the benefit of supplying additional data for the team which can help answer the eligibility question.

• Beyond academics: Academic performance is only one piece of the puzzle. Behavior, adaptive skills, social-emotional functioning, and mental health needs can all warrant evaluation. Grades alone don’t tell the full story—a student earning all A’s can still be eligible for special education services. Excessive absences can also trigger suspicion, often pointing to underlying challenges with mental health or self-regulation.

• Mental health hospitalizations: If your child is hospitalized for mental health reasons, that event itself should prompt school action under Child Find. The school should seek to understand the diagnosis and discharge recommendations—and ideally, begin coordinating with the family before the student returns. Parents, share what you can with the school, and request a team meeting to discuss whether an evaluation is appropriate.
  

Actions You Can Take Now

• Request a team meeting: If you have concerns about your child’s progress and there’s no solid plan in place, submit a written request for a team meeting and explicitly state that you are referring your child for a special education evaluation. This starts the official timeline for a meeting and decision.

• Document your concerns: Prepare a clear list of your observations — academic, behavioral, social, emotional, fine motor, communication, and more — and note that you’re aware of the district’s obligations under Child Find.

• Remember: You’re the expert on your child. It can feel intimidating to sit across from a table of educators, especially when you’re the only parent voice in the room. Bring a notetaker or support person to help keep the conversation focused and productive.

Need guidance? I’m here to help. Reach out anytime if you want support navigating your next steps.