Dickerson Education Advocates provides non-attorney parent advocacy, IEP meeting preparation, documentation support, and educational guidance for families throughout California, with virtual support available statewide.
We know how overwhelming the special education process can feel when your child needs support and the system is hard to navigate.
Dickerson Education Advocates was created to help families understand their rights, organize their concerns, and walk into school meetings prepared. We focus on practical, plain-language support that helps parents ask better questions, document concerns, and push for appropriate services.
Our role is non-attorney parent advocacy and educational support. We are not a law firm, do not provide legal advice or legal representation, and do not provide psychotherapy. We help families better understand the school process and prepare for meaningful participation.
Connected to a national community focused on protecting the rights of students with disabilities and supporting their families.
Dickerson Education Advocates is a proud member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), a national nonprofit membership organization serving attorneys, advocates, parents, and professionals who work to protect the educational and civil rights of students with disabilities.
Our membership reflects our commitment to continuing education, informed advocacy, professional collaboration, and helping families participate meaningfully in special education decision-making.
COPAA membership does not constitute endorsement or certification of Dickerson Education Advocates. Dickerson Education Advocates is a non-attorney advocacy organization and does not provide legal advice or legal representation.
Our team combines parent advocacy experience with clinical insight into stress, trauma, neurodiversity, and family support.
Benjamin supports families navigating IEPs, 504 plans, school safety concerns, evaluations, parent participation, and special education disputes. His advocacy is grounded in firsthand parent experience and a commitment to helping families be heard.
Danielle Dickerson is a previously credentialed teacher who brings firsthand experience participating in numerous IEP meetings and supporting families through the special education process. As Benjamin’s sister, she has personally experienced the challenges families face when navigating school meetings, services, documentation, and advocacy.
Her practical insight helps parents prepare for meetings, understand what to expect, and feel more confident speaking up for their children.
Morgan Dickerson is a Non-Attorney Parent Advocate who helps families navigate the special education process. She provides parent coaching, IEP and 504 meeting preparation, educational guidance, document review, and advocacy support. She is not an attorney and does not provide legal advice or legal representation. She does not provide therapy, mental health treatment, psychotherapy, or clinical services through Dickerson Education Advocates.
We help parents prepare, document, communicate, and advocate more effectively.
Prepare for meetings, organize parent concerns, review goals and services, and identify follow-up action items.
Understand assessment plans, eligibility decisions, independent evaluations, and next steps after a denial.
Clarify accommodations, compare 504 and IEP options, and help determine whether more support may be needed.
Organize timelines, written concerns, no-contact issues, and school safety requests connected to disability needs.
Our collaborative approach is designed to educate, empower, and support families throughout the special education process.
While we attend meetings and advocate alongside parents, we also believe families should leave every interaction with the knowledge and confidence to advocate for their child long after our services conclude.
We learn about your child, discuss your immediate concerns, explain our process, and determine whether our services are the right fit.
Outcome: When we believe we can help, we discuss next steps and begin the intake process.
We complete onboarding and begin collecting the records needed to understand your child’s educational program.
Outcome: We begin developing a complete understanding of your child’s educational history and current program.
We meet with the family to thoroughly review the case and identify the priorities that will shape the advocacy strategy.
Throughout the meeting, we generate detailed notes that become the foundation for your customized advocacy strategy.
Your personalized roadmap for the upcoming IEP meeting, designed to help you participate confidently and actively in educational decision-making.
We organize your concerns for presentation to the IEP Team and may recommend additional evaluations when existing information does not adequately identify the student’s needs.
Empowering parents: The proposal gives families talking points, organized concerns, supporting documentation, and a clear roadmap. Parents lead the discussion whenever possible while we provide guidance, clarification, and advocacy support.
We attend alongside your family to help keep the discussion focused, clarify procedures, document concerns, and support collaborative problem-solving.
When permitted by applicable law and district policy, the meeting may be recorded to preserve an accurate record of the discussion.
We believe parents are the most important members of the IEP Team. Our role is not to replace your voice—it is to prepare you, educate you, and support you so you can confidently advocate for your child.
Our goal is for every family to leave our services more knowledgeable, prepared, and empowered than when they first contacted us.
Our services combine careful preparation, practical documentation, and professional meeting support.
We help families participate confidently and remain active decision-makers.
We review the case and develop a customized advocacy plan before the meeting.
We support constructive communication and student-focused problem-solving.
Our educational guidance is grounded in IDEA and California special education procedures.
Families throughout California can receive support by phone and video conference.
We organize concerns, recommendations, correspondence, and meeting follow-up.
Dickerson Education Advocates supports families by phone and online meetings across all 58 California counties.
These quick guides help parents understand common school concerns before requesting a free consultation.
Organize parent concerns, questions, documents, and proposed next steps before the meeting.
Understand the difference between special education services and accommodation plans.
Track incidents, document patterns, and prepare written safety concerns for the school team.
Learn what to ask when your child needs assessments, eligibility review, or additional support.
Browse practical parent guides designed to help families prepare for school meetings and document concerns.
Dickerson Education Advocates helps California families with IEP guidance, 504 plan support, meeting preparation, document review, parent coaching, evaluations, and educational planning.
IEP guidance · 504 plan support · meeting preparation · document review · parent coaching · evaluations · educational planning
Call 1-530-277-4914Know what should be included in your child’s IEP before your next meeting. This practical checklist helps parents review required components, services, goals, accommodations, placement, and procedural safeguards.
Complete the form and you will be taken immediately to the download page. An English and Spanish version are available.
Enter your contact information to access the download.
Practical videos about IEPs, 504 plans, assessments, school safety, and parent participation in special education.
Use the player controls to browse recent uploads, or open our YouTube channel to subscribe and view the full library.
Questions, documents, parent concerns, goals, services, and meeting strategy.
▶Understand accommodations, access needs, and when an evaluation may be appropriate.
▶Learn about evaluation requests, eligibility decisions, and educational records.
▶Organize incidents, document concerns, and prepare student-centered safety requests.
▶Build confidence participating meaningfully in special education decisions.
▶Plain-language guidance for communicating, preparing, and following up with schools.
These representative examples illustrate the types of IEP, assessment, school-safety, and parent-advocacy services provided by Dickerson Education Advocates.
Conducted a comprehensive review of the student’s educational records, current IEP, evaluations, and progress reports before an annual IEP meeting. Worked with the family to organize parent concerns, identify questions for the IEP Team, and develop recommendations regarding goals, accommodations, and services.
Services provided: IEP review, educational record analysis, parent coaching, meeting strategy, and virtual IEP participation.
Assisted a family in understanding assessment results, reviewing eligibility criteria, and preparing written requests for additional evaluations. Helped organize documentation supporting concerns related to academic progress, executive functioning, and educational access.
Services provided: Eligibility review, assessment guidance, IEE recommendations, educational record review, and parent consultation.
Helped a family organize documentation regarding disability-related safety concerns, bullying incidents, school communications, and educational records. Prepared recommendations for discussion during the student’s IEP meeting and assisted with follow-up communication.
Services provided: Safety documentation, parent advocacy, IEP preparation, educational record organization, and meeting support.
These examples are representative summaries of advocacy services and are not customer testimonials. Details are generalized to protect privacy. Individual outcomes depend on each student’s needs and the decisions of the IEP Team.
Use this form to request a free 15–30 minute consultation with Dickerson Education Advocates. Tell us about your child’s IEP, 504 plan, school safety concern, evaluation, or upcoming meeting. We typically respond within one business day, and virtual consultations are available throughout California.