Special education and Section 504 advocates for Montgomery County Public Schools families in Gaithersburg.
1 based in Maryland · 3 virtual advocates who work with Maryland 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.
Parents in Gaithersburg usually start looking for an advocate when a meeting is already on the calendar.
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.
Records live with Montgomery County Public Schools, not with the front office of one building, and a request addressed to the district gets a faster answer than one that is not.
No advocate in this directory lists Gaithersburg as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Maryland, and each card names the city.
Based in Leonardtown, MD
Special Education Advocate
Douglas Hubscher is the Founder and President of Kids Are First, LLC, a special education advocacy firm dedicated to helping families navigate the IEP and 504 process with confidence, clarity, and…
These advocates are not based in Maryland. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Atlanta, GA · works with Maryland schools
School Psychologist & Parent Advocate
I’m a certified School Psychologist, Parent Advocate, and Coach dedicated to helping families navigate special education with confidence.
Virtual · based in Houston, TX · works with Maryland 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 Cumming, GA · works with Maryland schools
Founder
I raised three children with special needs, so I know what it’s like to sit in an IEP meeting and feel like no one is listening.
See all 30 virtual advocates who work with Maryland families
28 public schools inside Gaithersburg belong to Montgomery County Public Schools. Each one has its own case manager and its own backlog, and the answer you get about scheduling depends on which building your child attends.
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 before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
The deadline for finishing an initial evaluation in Maryland is 60 days after parental consent and 90 days after the written referral. Put that date on your calendar the day the paperwork goes in.
Bring the last two report cards and the current plan. That is usually enough paper to start.
Maryland gives a school district 60 days after parental consent and 90 days after the written referral to finish an initial special education evaluation. No Maryland rule sets a separate deadline for answering a written request, so the federal reasonable-time standard is what applies. Missed deadlines are handled by the Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Special Education, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Maryland does not license or certify special education advocates. Anyone in Gaithersburg can print a card with the word advocate on it.
Montgomery County Public Schools 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.
Nobody can undo a meeting you already agreed to in writing. Read the page you are asked to sign before the room empties.
Rates and openings decide most of this. An advocate who cannot meet before your Gaithersburg meeting date is the wrong hire, and the second-best advocate who is free this month usually beats the best one who is not.
Read a profile for what the advocate actually did, not for what the profile claims. Case detail is the tell.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Gaithersburg, Maryland, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
How much does an IEP advocate cost in Gaithersburg?
Most advocates on this directory charge $75 to $150 per hour. A standard cycle with two hours of prep and two hours in the meeting runs about $400. Travel and extra meetings cost more.
Which school district serves Gaithersburg, Maryland?
Most Gaithersburg families work with Montgomery County Public Schools. 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. Section 504 work looks the same as IEP work, which is records, a written request and somebody in the room who knows what the school already agreed to.
Is there low cost IEP help anywhere?
No public program assigns you a private advocate. The links under official resources on this page go to the state agency and to the complaint process, and both cost nothing to use.
Should my child have an IEP or a Section 504 plan?
An IEP provides specialized instruction and related services under IDEA. A 504 plan provides accommodations under a civil rights law and does not require specialized instruction. Eligibility rules differ, so a child can qualify for one and not the other.
Official Maryland links for parents in Gaithersburg.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Maryland rules apply in Ellicott City, Rockville, Bethesda, Silver Spring and the other cities listed here, or see every Maryland advocate.
Print the current IEP and bring it to the first call. Every advocate on the Gaithersburg list will ask for it.
Say the name of your school and Montgomery County Public Schools in the first message. That is enough for an advocate to know whether they can take the case.
