Share Your Story: Help Families Get Expert Witnesses for IDEA Due Process Hearings

February 24, 2011
By Jeff Sell

Advocates are working in support of a Congressional bill that would enable parents to recover expert witness fees for IDEA due process hearings and cases. Was your family unable to attend a due process hearing because you could not afford it?  Are you a parent who went to due process, but your case suffered badly without expert witnesses?  Or did the school district take you to a due process hearing, but you could not afford the expert witnesses you needed to defend yourself?

Autism advocates are seeking personal stories from parents who could not afford expert witnesses for IDEA due process hearings. Without experts, parents and students with disabilities have little chance of success in due process hearings, and poor and middle-income families suffer the most. The parents' stories will ultimately be shared with members of Congress. Please e-mail Jessica Butler, Congressional Affairs Coordinator, Autism National Committee, at jessicaATjnba.net if you have helpful stories or if you would like more information.