Each strategy offers a focused action: gathering documentation, communicating with the school, or making informed decisions. They’re roughly in order, from just getting started to just starting a revolution.
Please note: This is a parent-led, experience-based resource created by families advocating for inclusive education. It does not offer legal advice. For formal legal guidance, consult a qualified legal professional or advocate.
Locate and name school, district, or community services that may be available to meet the student’s educational or developmental needs.
Research local support services that help your child access the supports they need to participate and thrive.
Ask: How can we get help?
Collect all current plans, evaluations, and support records to establish a clear baseline for discussion and advocacy.
Collect copies of your child’s current IEP, evaluation reports and assessment data so you can share what your child needs to be successful.
Ask: What do we know already?
Look up and understand the legal, regulatory, or board-level rules that shape your child’s rights to support.
Download and review district policies, human rights code provisions and procedural guidelines to understand what supports your child is entitled to.
Ask: What are our rights?
Assess how the physical and sensory layout of the classroom affects learning and identify potential adjustments.
Observe your child’s classroom to identify sensory triggers and note the environmental adjustments or assistive technology that could help them regulate and engage.
Ask: What's the current state?
Build relationships and share information through informal conversations with school staff outside of formal meetings.
Arrange a casual meeting with your child’s teacher or support staff to share your observations and describe the conditions your child needs to thrive.
Ask: Who do we need to talk to?
Present relevant diagnostic, clinical, or educational information to help the team understand the student’s needs.
Present key findings from assessments and explain how these insights translate into concrete supports for your child’s learning and participation.
Ask: What does the data tell us?
Ask for a written summary of dates, deadlines, and processes to reduce ambiguity and missed opportunities.
Ask the school to outline their official timelines for responding to requests so you know when to follow up and ensure accountability.
Ask: What deadlines are we working with?
Propose easy-to-implement changes to environment or routine that could improve access or reduce distress.
Propose simple adjustments such as a quieter workspace or flexible seating to help your child remain regulated and focused.
Ask: What can be changed right now?
Summarise your child’s key needs, strengths, and support strategies in a single page to share with school staff.
Helping educators understand what works without needing to read long reports.
Ask: What would I want a new teacher to know on day one?
Put specific asks in writing to document needs and trigger a required response or process from the school.
Write a clear request that describes your child’s needs for specific supports and ask for written confirmation of the agreed adjustments.
Ask: What does my child need in writing?
Offer new or adapted IEP goals that reflect updated information, realistic pacing, or evolving family priorities.
Recommend measurable IEP goals based on your child’s current strengths and challenges and link them to documented assessment data.
Ask: What do we want to work toward?
Describe a concrete classroom situation to illustrate how a specific support would improve student outcomes.
Include citations of relevant policy sections or human rights code provisions when describing what your child needs to succeed.
Ask: How does this look in practice?
Use an example letter or standard format to structure your communication and avoid missed key elements.
Ask for a trial period of tools such as noise-cancelling headphones or adaptive software to support your child’s regulation and participation.
Ask: Is there a format I can follow?
Build a list of issues and actions taken so far to identify gaps and track follow-through.
Organize a meeting with teachers, specialists and parents to collaboratively review supports and describe what your child needs next.
Ask: What steps haven’t we taken yet?
Let the school know your concern hasn’t been addressed and that you are formally escalating the issue.
Record minutes that clearly capture action items, responsibilities and timelines to ensure the agreed supports are implemented.
Ask: What if they don’t respond?
Request an independent perspective or involve a more senior decision-maker to evaluate unresolved problems.
Submit a formal grievance that outlines unresolved issues and clearly states the supports your child still needs to access education.
Ask: Who else can weigh in?
Keep records of what has been said or agreed to during calls, emails, or meetings with the school.
Implement agreed adjustments for a trial period and track how these changes help your child regulate and participate.
Ask: Have we documented everything?
Ask for a summary of what the school has agreed to do and when, to ensure accountability.
Write to the superintendent outlining your child’s ongoing needs, past efforts and the specific supports required for success.
Ask: Was a decision actually made?
Request a written reply when conversations are unclear, incomplete, or need formal confirmation.
Include assessment reports, meeting notes and clear descriptions of your child’s needs to support your appeal to the school board.
Ask: Did they follow up properly?
Review what has been offered or denied in the past to build context and show patterns over time.
Reference exact policy sections and deadline requirements when stating what supports the district must provide.
Ask: What support did we request?
Describe exactly what you observed and how it affected your child’s ability to participate or succeed.
Request district resources for adaptive equipment or environmental improvements that address your child’s sensory and participation needs.
Ask: What really happened?
Summarize key events or needs in one place to give teams a fuller picture and reduce repetition.
Prepare a detailed account of your child’s unmet needs and submit according to the branch’s guidelines to seek enforcement of supports.
Ask: Have we communicated clearly?
Name the environmental, procedural, or attitudinal factors that are limiting your child’s access to education.
Draft a complaint that highlights failures in IEP implementation and describes the accommodations your child requires to prevent discrimination.
Ask: What’s the story so far?
Recommend a clear and actionable step that would reduce harm or improve inclusion right now.
Identify something the school or district could implement now—before your complaint is fully processed
Ask: What could make this better right now?
Quote from relevant laws, policies, or tribunal decisions to ground your request in established rights.
Hire an occupational therapist or environmental specialist to assess your child’s sensory and environmental needs and recommend solutions.
Ask: What’s getting in the way?
Initiate a formal complaint process when the school has failed to uphold its legal responsibilities.
Write a blog post or social update that focuses on your child’s needs and how specific supports enable their success.
Ask: What needs to change?
Log each response or lack of response from the school to demonstrate compliance or neglect.
Join networks to exchange strategies and describe effective IEP and assessment practices for neurodivergent children.
Ask: What rules apply here?
Follow up at regular intervals to prompt resolution and demonstrate ongoing engagement.
Draft a petition that outlines the supports needed by neurodiverse students and gather signatures to call for district policy revisions.
Ask: Is it time to file a complaint?
Reach out to others with shared concerns for solidarity, perspective, and emotional support.
Submit and present recommendations for environmental and technology enhancements that support your child’s regulation and participation.
Ask: Are we tracking what happens next?
Let the district know your concern hasn’t been addressed and that you are formally escalating the issue.
Record minutes that clearly capture action items, responsibilities, and timelines to ensure the agreed supports are implemented.
Ask: What if they don’t respond?
Encourage others to get involved and add their voices to strengthen the push for change.
Check regularly that the agreed accommodations and services are in place and describe any gaps that affect your child’s learning.
Ask: Do we need to follow up?
Plan a public-facing campaign to draw attention to systemic issues and demand accountability.
Assess your child’s progress against goals and request adjustments that better reflect your child’s evolving needs.
Ask: Who else cares about this?
Join with groups already working on similar issues to build power and share resources.
Confirm that the school and district have met all procedural requirements and document any discrepancies in implementing supports.
Ask: Can we bring more people in?
Tell your family’s story to decision-makers to illustrate the human impact of harmful policies.
Gather feedback from your child and educators on how environmental and technology changes impact your child’s regulation and participation.
Ask: How can we raise awareness?
