Special education and Section 504 advocates for Indianapolis Public Schools families in Indianapolis.
3 virtual advocates who work with Indiana schools
Hiring one is optional. Nothing in federal law requires a parent to bring an advocate to an IEP meeting.
The search usually starts the week a parent reads an evaluation report and cannot tell from it whether Indianapolis schools are offering enough.
Paperwork is where cases are won or lost, and an advocate who has read every progress report in the file will find the sentence an Indianapolis team wrote two years ago that contradicts what it is saying now.
Request the full file in writing before you hire anyone. Schools have to give parents the education records they keep.
These advocates are not based in Indiana. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Oscoda, MI · works with Indiana schools
Special Education Advocate | Certified Neurodiversity Coach | Certified Neuropsychology Coach
Michelle Velazquez is a Special Education Advocate, Educational Consultant, Master IEP Coach®, and Certified Neurodiversity and Neuropsychology Coach.
Virtual · based in Houston, TX · works with Indiana schools
Special Education Advocate
~Beginning of school year document review sale - $50(Up to 4hrs) Non-Attorney Certified Special Education Advocate with 13 years of healthcare experience & 2 years of advocacy experience.
Virtual · based in Bloomington, IL · works with Indiana schools
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.
Indianapolis Public Schools met 36 of 65 state special education indicators in the most recent Indiana report.
Parents in Fort Wayne face the same paperwork. Rules do not change from one town to the next inside a state.
Confirm your child's district by address. Indianapolis addresses may fall in more than one public school district.
A written request for an evaluation starts a second clock in Indiana, and the district has to answer inside 10 instructional days.
If the Indianapolis team says no, ask for the refusal in writing.
Indiana gives a school district 50 instructional days to finish an initial special education evaluation. A written request for an evaluation has to be answered inside 10 instructional days. Missed deadlines are handled by the Indiana Department of Education, Office of Special Education, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Training varies, and so does what it proves. A parent who asks how many Indianapolis IEP meetings an advocate sat in last year learns more than a certificate would show.
Membership in a professional body is not a licence. It usually means dues were paid and a code of conduct was signed.
Advocates do not decide complaints. The Indiana Department of Education does, and only after someone files one in writing.
Advocates who have never seen the file cannot tell you what is missing from it. Send the records first and book the call second.
Rates and openings decide most of this. An advocate who cannot meet before your Indianapolis meeting date is the wrong hire, and the second-best advocate who is free this month usually beats the best one who is not.
Experience with Indianapolis Public Schools matters more than the number of years printed on a profile page.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Indianapolis, Indiana, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Indianapolis, Indiana?
Rates run $75 to $250 per hour. What moves the number is experience, the type of case, and whether anyone has to drive to the meeting. Profiles here show the rate when the advocate publishes one.
Who runs special education for Indianapolis schools?
Indianapolis Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most Indianapolis students. District lines and city lines are not the same, so confirm yours by address before you send a letter.
Do I have to use an advocate from my own town?
Every card on this page names the city the advocate works from. Advocates listed under the virtual heading live somewhere else and work with families here by video or phone.
What is the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?
An IEP is the stronger document because it carries goals, service minutes and progress reporting. Section 504 plans are faster to write and easier for a district to agree to.
What documents does an advocate need from me?
Start with a one-page timeline of what happened and when. Every advocate you talk to will build the same thing, so writing it yourself saves an hour of billed time.
Official Indiana links for parents in Indianapolis.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Indiana rules apply in Fort Wayne, Evansville, Fishers, South Bend and the other cities listed here, or see every Indiana advocate.
Start with two calls, not six. Ask each advocate what they would do first with an Indianapolis file, and hire the one whose answer is specific enough that you could write it down as a task.
Keep a one-page timeline of what happened and when. Every advocate you talk to will start by building the same thing.
