Helpful Hints to Remember

  Please don’t wait until the last minute to call us. We cannot be very helpful if you call us the day before or the day of your meeting, hearing, etc. There may not always be a technical assistance specialist around to help you. Remember, we are all parents, too, and sometimes our children may get sick, we may get sick, or we may have another obligation. If you call ahead of time, then we will have time to get back to you with the information you need by the time you need it.

  Please leave your name, number, district, and county, as well as a good time to call you, when you leave a message. If possible, leave both your work and home numbers, and when you can be reached at each. Let us know a quick summary of the issue(s) involved - not the story, but the topic (i.e., IEP, placement, discipline/suspension, etc.). Let us know if you just need a copy of written materials. (After you review the materials, you can always call us back with questions). If you want written materials, leave your address, too.

  Please don’t call numerous technical assistance specialists with the same question. All of our TA staff have the same information that they use to answer your questions. If you don’t like what one TA specialist tells you, you won’t like what the next one tells you, either! When one parent repeatedly contacts different TA specialists with the same question, it limits or delays our capacity to help other families who have received no information or technical assistance.

  Please don’t expect us to make miracles happen. We have information and technical assistance about how to use that information, but using it effectively is up to you! We know how frustrating it is when districts don’t follow the law, or treat parents or children disrespectfully, or misrepresent the truth, or refuse to recommend and implement what everyone agrees really should happen. But we can’t wave a magic wand to make good things happen, as much as we would like to. Improving the situation will take your hard work and your efforts to build alliances with others in your district to ensure that your school and district behave responsibly and in compliance with the laws and regulations. And sometimes it will take mediation, due process, or your request for complaint investigation.

  Please don’t take it out on our staff. We know that it may be frustrating to try to work out problems with your school or district. It may also be frustrating when there isn’t a SPAN staff person immediately available to help resolve your problem. But our staff are working hard, doing the best they can to provide you the information and technical assistance you need. It’s often depressing for us as we listen to family after family with the same problems, over and over again, feeling powerless to make the kinds of system changes that need to happen to make our service systems better for all children and families. When you take your frustration out on us, that really makes us feel bad, sometimes too upset to take the next phone call from the next parent. Please be patient with us, and we’ll be patient with you.

  Please sponsor and/or attend trainings in your area. The more information you learn at a training, the better prepared you are to deal with problems as they arise. And the more informed other parents are in your community, the more likely it is that the school system will be held accountable. Contact SPAN to sponsor a training or get information on training schedules.

  Please volunteer to be a Resource Parent. SPAN Resource Parents help thousands of other parents with their questions, issues and concerns. Just a few hours of your time each week can mean a great deal to families in your community, and you’ll get a great deal of emotional satisfaction and skill enhancement as well. Contact Debra Fernandez at 973-642-8100, or send her an e-mail at srp@spannj.org  for more information.

  Please let us know how well we are serving your needs. In some issues of our newsletter, The Bridge, we include an evaluation survey. We also send surveys out with technical assistance information. Please complete these surveys and return them to us with your suggestions on additional materials or services that would benefit you and your family, as well as any other suggestions to improve our overall service capacity and quality. It is also wonderful to receive your postcard or letter letting us know how things have turned out. We so often only hear from parents when things are going badly; it really lifts our spirits to get the letter or postcard that says, “You really helped! Things are going much better! The information hit the spot! My child is doing well!” Your thank you’s and information about how we’ve helped can give us the inspiration we need to keep answering that phone.

Thanks in advance for keeping all of these helpful hints in mind!

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