Special education and Section 504 advocates for Irving ISD families in Irving.
4 based in Texas · 3 virtual advocates who work with Texas 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 Irving 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.
Irving ISD 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 Irving as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Texas, and each card names the city.
Based in Austin, TX
Special Education Advocate
Hi, My name is David Gonzales. Living in Austin, TX, but originally from Los Angeles, CA. I carry a masters degree in special education and currently practice as a sped teacher.
Based in Midland, TX
Special Education Advocate
Kate Keenan is a special education advocate serving families in Midland, TX.
Based in San Antonio, TX
FamilyADDventures.com
Nicole Santiago is a learning specialist and an advocate (IEP coach). She is a member of COPAA.org and ensures special education students receive the most appropriate educational services possible.
Based in Katy, TX
Special Education Advocate
Besides being a parent of a neurodivergent son, I have been a special education teacher, diagnostician, and advocate for the past 30 years. I am a true hands-on, walk in your shoes type of advocate.
These advocates are not based in Texas. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Arlington Heights, IL · works with Texas schools
Special Education Advocate
I am a former special education teacher, with experience in public and therapeutic day schools.
Virtual · based in New York, NY · works with Texas 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…
Virtual · based in Newcastle, OK · works with Texas schools
Special Education Advocate - IEP Consultant
Former special education teacher and educational advocate with experience on both sides of the IEP table.
Irving ISD takes most Irving addresses, but not all of them. Check yours before you send a letter, because a request that lands in the wrong district office does not start the evaluation clock at all.
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. Irving addresses may fall in more than one public school district.
Federal law lets a state write its own evaluation deadline instead of using the national one. What Texas actually requires is 45 school days.
Ask the Irving 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.
Texas gives a school district 45 school days to finish an initial special education evaluation. A written request for an evaluation has to be answered inside 15 school days. Missed deadlines are handled by the Texas Education Agency, Office of Special Populations and Student Supports, 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 Irving district starts talking to its own lawyer.
Advocates who work Garland and here see the same state rules twice a week. Repetition inside one state is the practice worth paying for.
Advocates are not attorneys. No advocate in Irving can file a lawsuit for you or give you legal advice about the case.
Nobody can undo a meeting you already agreed to in writing. Read the page you are asked to sign before the room empties.
Video is normal now. 21 of the advocates listed for Irving work with families by phone or video instead of driving to the school.
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 Irving, Texas, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What is the hourly rate for a parent advocate?
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.
When should I hire a special education advocate in Irving?
Most parents call after a school says no to testing, after goals repeat unchanged for a year, or a week before an annual review. Earlier is cheaper. An advocate hired the night before a meeting can only read so much.
Is an IEP advocate a type of lawyer?
An advocate is not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice or file a lawsuit. What an advocate can do is build the written record a lawyer would need later.
Does Irving ISD cover every Irving address?
Irving ISD runs the IEP meetings for most Irving students. District lines and city lines are not the same, so confirm yours by address before you send a letter.
Who investigates a school for missing an IEP deadline?
The Texas Education Agency takes written complaints from parents about missed deadlines and services never delivered. An advocate can prepare one. The advocate does not decide it and cannot make the district settle.
Official Texas links for parents in Irving.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Texas rules apply in Garland, Laredo, Frisco, Lubbock and the other cities listed here, or see every Texas advocate.
Search is free. You contact advocates directly.
Say the name of your school and Irving ISD in the first message. That is enough for an advocate to know whether they can take the case.
