Advocate Navigator LLC

Advocate Navigator LLC serves families seeking to initiate or improve Montgomery County, MD special education services for their child's academic, social-emotional, and/or behavioral needs. We empower parents to effectively advocate for a comprehensive, data-driven, evidence-based special education that is individualized to support their child's unique strengths and needs. Melissa Stein, a former MCPS special education teacher and certified autism specialist, ensures that your child's school has comprehensive data and that their interpretation of that data accurately reflects your child's strengths and needs and drafts Individualized Education Plans (IEP), the bedrock of special education, including SMART goals and evidence-based services. We also offer a “Roadmap” consultation for families whose child recently received an autism diagnosis. Melissa helps parents assess their goals for their child and how, when, and where to advocate for their child toward reaching those goals. We also help parents understand how existing evaluations inform special education decisions, and identify areas requiring additional data. While we are not clinicians, we can explain how different disciplines can support your child, and we work with parents to develop a list of questions to ask providers to assess if they are a good fit for your child and your family.