Aurora East USD 131 staff run the IEP meetings in Aurora. These advocates sit on your side of the table.
3 based in Illinois · 3 virtual advocates who work with Illinois schools
An advocate is a paid professional who reads the evaluation reports, drafts your concerns, sits beside you at the IEP table, and follows up on whatever the school agreed to do.
Most of the work happens before anyone sits down in an Aurora conference room.
Before the meeting an advocate reads the current IEP against the evaluation reports, pulls the progress data to see whether the goals are actually being met, writes your concerns into one page, and sends it to the team in advance.
Aurora East USD 131 can charge for copies of a file. Asking to inspect the record in person instead costs nothing under federal rules.
No advocate in this directory lists Aurora as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Illinois, and each card names the city.
Based in Arlington Heights, IL
Special Education Advocate
I am a former special education teacher, with experience in public and therapeutic day schools.
Based in Inverness, IL
Special Education Advocate
I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University and a Master’s of Education from DePaul University, with a dual certification in elementary and…
Based in Bloomington, IL
Founder & Advocate
Jade is a former special education teacher who has taught everything from pre-k all the way to transition classrooms with students up to age 21.
These advocates are not based in Illinois. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Atlanta, GA · works with Illinois schools
Special Education Advocate
My name is Jalani Traxler and I have loved teaching sense I myself was a student with an IEP receiving my own accommodations in elementary school.
Virtual · based in Cumming, GA · works with Illinois schools
Founder
I’m Russell Lloyd, founder of YourChild.org, author, mentor, and special education advocate. I review the record, find the gaps, build the strategy, prepare the parent, and lead IEP meetings.
Virtual · based in New York, NY · works with Illinois schools
Special Education Advocate
Clara Liriano, M.S., is a Special Education Advocate and New York State Certified Special Education Teacher with more than 20 years of experience supporting children and individuals with…
See all 23 virtual advocates who work with Illinois families
Aurora East USD 131 runs the IEP meetings for most Aurora students, and its special education staff will be on the other side of the table when you walk in.
District lines and city lines are not the same thing. A street can sit inside one city and be zoned to the district next door.
Confirm your child's district by address. Aurora addresses may fall in more than one public school district.
The deadline for finishing an initial evaluation in Illinois is 60 school days. Put that date on your calendar the day the paperwork goes in.
Ask the Aurora team for the evaluation report before the meeting, not at it, because nobody reads a long report accurately while the rest of the team waits.
Illinois gives a school district 60 school days to finish an initial special education evaluation. A written request for an evaluation has to be answered inside 14 school days. Missed deadlines are handled by the Illinois State Board of Education, Special Education Department, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Attorneys are licensed. Advocates hold no license, and the difference matters most when a case gets close to a hearing, which is the point where the Aurora district starts talking to its own lawyer.
Aurora East USD 131 does not approve or bar advocates. Federal rules let a parent bring anyone with knowledge of the child to the meeting.
An advocate cannot make the district agree. What moves a district is the record you build, not the person sitting next to you, and a good advocate spends more hours on the record than in the room.
Aurora East USD 131 answers to the parent on the paperwork, so an advocate can draft the letter and you still have to be the one who sends it.
Rates and openings decide most of this. An advocate who cannot meet before your Aurora meeting date is the wrong hire, and the second-best advocate who is free this month usually beats the best one who is not.
Ask for two references from cases like yours. Somebody who cannot produce one has not worked many.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Aurora, Illinois, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
How much does an IEP advocate cost in Aurora?
Flat fees are common for a single meeting and hourly billing is common for everything else. Many advocates give a free first call. Nobody bills you through this site, so ask each person how they invoice.
At what point do parents usually call an advocate?
Bring somebody in when the file stops making sense to you. A routine review with services in place and progress data that moves usually does not need one.
Which school district serves Aurora, Illinois?
Most Aurora families work with Aurora East USD 131. Charter and magnet enrollment can change which agency owes the service, so ask that question before the first meeting.
Do advocates handle accommodation plans?
Yes, and the rules differ slightly. Section 504 does not spell out who may attend the way IDEA does, so ask the school in writing before the meeting and keep the answer.
What records should I ask for before an IEP meeting?
Ask in writing and address it to the district rather than the front office. Schools have to let parents inspect the education records they keep, and inspection has to happen before the next IEP meeting.
Official Illinois links for parents in Aurora.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Illinois rules apply in Chicago, Naperville, Joliet, Rockford and the other cities listed here, or see every Illinois advocate.
Search is free. You contact advocates directly.
Two questions sort most of this out. What would you do first with this file, and what does that cost.
