Advocates here work with Tigard families and Tigard-Tualatin School District 23J teams. Each profile lists a rate when the advocate shares one.
1 based in Oregon · 3 virtual advocates who work with Oregon schools
An IEP advocate goes to school meetings with you and argues for services your child is not getting.
Tigard is the 11th-largest city in Oregon. Size has nothing to do with how well a district runs its IEP meetings, and a small district with one experienced case manager often does better than a large one.
Advocates also coach. Some Tigard parents hire one for two hours of prep and go into the meeting alone.
Tigard-Tualatin School District 23J keeps progress data on every goal in the plan. Ask for it as a table of dates and numbers rather than a paragraph.
No advocate in this directory lists Tigard as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Oregon, and each card names the city.
Based in Portland, OR
Experienced Special Education Advocate & Former District Administrator
Chelsea Venegas, M.Ed., is the Founder & Special Education Advocate at Access & Bloom. A former special education teacher, school administrator, and district leader, she supports families with IEPs,…
These advocates are not based in Oregon. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Chicago, IL · works with Oregon schools
Virtual Special Education & IEP Consultant
I provide virtual IEP and special education support to families in Illinois and beyond. With experience as a Special Education Director, case manager, and special education teacher, I bring both…
Virtual · based in Wesley Chapel, FL · works with Oregon schools
Special Education Advocate
With 24 years of experience in the K-12 sector, I serves as a Student Support Specialist specializing in academic and behavioral ESE services.
Virtual · based in Buford, GA · works with Oregon schools
Georgia Special Education & IEP Advocate
Dr. Mary Jo Ray-Jewett is the owner and lead advocate of The IEP Guru, LLC, providing special education advocacy throughout Georgia.
Tigard-Tualatin School District 23J met 45 of 65 state special education indicators in the most recent Oregon report.
Buildings do not fund services and districts do. Ask which office is deciding before you spend a meeting arguing with the wrong one.
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 Oregon is 60 school days. Put that date on your calendar the day the paperwork goes in.
Keep every email. Most of what an advocate does with a Tigard file is date-stamping what the school already told you.
Oregon gives a school district 60 school days to finish an initial special education evaluation. No Oregon 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 Oregon Department of Education, Office of Enhancing Student Opportunities, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Oregon does not license or certify special education advocates. Anyone in Tigard can print a card with the word advocate on it.
A certificate says nothing about Tigard-Tualatin School District 23J. Ask instead what the advocate has filed there and what came back.
Advocates are not attorneys. No advocate in Tigard can file a lawsuit for you or give you legal advice about the case.
Tigard-Tualatin School District 23J 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 Tigard 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 Tigard, Oregon, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
How much does an IEP advocate cost in Tigard?
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.
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 Tigard, Oregon?
Most of the city sits inside Tigard-Tualatin School District 23J. The district writes the plan and holds the special education budget, which is why a complaint about a missed service names the district and not the school.
Are there any IEP advocates near Tigard?
No advocate is listed in every town, and each card here says where that person lives. Somebody who knows the state rules and has an opening this month usually beats the nearest name on the list.
How do I prepare for an IEP meeting in Tigard?
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 Oregon links for parents in Tigard.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Oregon rules apply in Albany, Springfield, Corvallis, Lake Oswego and the other cities listed here, or see every Oregon advocate.
Print the current IEP and bring it to the first call. Every advocate on the Tigard list will ask for it.
Two questions sort most of this out. What would you do first with this file, and what does that cost.
