Testimonials

I am the parent of a 7 year old son with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS), My son was relegated by our local school district to an early childhood class with little or no supports. In early 1996, I engaged Louis to attend my son's annual ARD meeting to advocate for an appropriate education program. Due to his efforts at this Meeting, my son began to receive vital supports that his program has been lacking. I have been particularly impressed with his extensive knowledge of my son's disability and of the Individual's with Disabilities Education Act. But just as important, his preparation and superior communication skills made him an articulate and formidable advocate for our son. I would wholeheartedly recommend his firm's services for ARD/IEP meetings or mediations.

G.R in Houston

To Whom It May Concern:

I had the occasion to use Mr. Louis Geigerman's services in August of 1996. I was attempting to receive funding from our school to continue my autistic son's home program. I contacted Mr. Geigerman prior to the ARD meeting and he was very knowledgeable regarding the special education process. He was able to instruct me on how to prepare my case, what documents to gather and how to word correspondence to the school district. During the ARD meeting, Mr. Geigerman stayed on top of the situation and made sure that everything was correctly worded and documented in the minutes. I found him to be very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. But he was also able to make the district sit up and take notice that we knew what was considered an appropriate education plan for our son. I highly recommend him as a parent advocate whether against a school district or an insurance company. I have referred several parents to him. I don't think that I would have won my case against the school district if I had not used his services.

Mary A. in Texas

I am a parent of two special needs children and have hired Louis Geigerman to represent me in ARD meetings and mediation. Mr. Geigerman is a very warm and friendly individual with a special heart for children with special needs. He will do what he can to assist people in their ARD meetings or just explaining the special education process and how to handle your specific situation. I would highly recommend Louis Geigerman to help with the special education process and getting services for any child with special needs.

Karen S. in Houston, Texas

I was referred to Louis Geigerman by one of my doctors. At the time, I was having difficulty with the local school system regarding my son with an autism spectrum disorder. The truth was special education was not my area of expertise nor was I aware of the public school's obligation to help my child. Our son was simply twisting in the wind and not progressing. Our school's ARD (IEP team) was chaired by a domineering individual that was more interested in being "in control" of the meetings than focusing on the needs of my child. His demeanor was making it impossible for my wife and I to work more effectively with the ARD team. With Louis' help, this individual was jettisoned from the team. He also helped us make the point to the school that they needed to take our concerns more seriously. From that point, we were now better able to make our voices heard to the school. What really impressed me though about Louis, was his understanding of the types of supports that our son required. He helped us to discover that our son had significant sensory deficits and together with his OT we developed a plan to deal with the problem. Louis also understood that my son learned differently and suspected that he might better respond to instruction if we incorporated music into his curriculum. This "music therapy" helped him a great deal. Finally, Louis was concerned that our son needed help at home and in the community in generalizing skills that were introduced in the schools. All of these supports have combined to help my child progress.

An advocate can help you to better navigate through the special education system. If you are not currently using an advocate, I strongly encourage you to consider it. I highly recommend his services and have shared my experience with him to my friends.

P.C. in Texas

It was a pleasure to have Louis on my side when we went into the last ARD meeting. I have a 10th grade son in Special Education and was having several problems with the school not following his IEP. He had not been provided with a BIP (behavioral intervention plan) at all and was falling through the cracks because no one cared. The IEP outlined was so generic and basic it was in great need of being tossed out and placed with a new IEP better suited for my son's problems. He has ADHD with compulsivity and some LD. Louis knew just what to do. Together we read over test scores, TAAS, TEKS, referral's from the principal that seemed so redundent. His grades had been C's,D's & F's for the last 3 years. I wondered why nothing was changing. I asked all the right questions to the school but still got nowhere. Then I was looking for help when someone recommended Louis to me. I gave it a shot and we went into this 4 1/2 hour ARD so prepared, I believe the school felt somewhat surprised. Louis and I approached the matters at hand and things started to change. We now have a completely new IEP that if followed will help my son with his needs. We also gained a BIP where we found creative means instead of the old traditional tried & tested methods. They had not worked well with our child. I feel Louis had a great deal of influence over the meeting and believe we would not have had the same results without him. Always take an advocate with you to an ARD. It just might be what your child needs to get the FAPE he or she deserves. Louis comes highly recommended by my family.

Sincerly,

Rhonda V.

Dear Lou:

I wanted to thank you for acting as our advocate at our son's annual ARD meeting this year.  The discipline reports that were mounting up based on behaviors clearly related to his Aspergers Syndrome had us very concerned that the school might be planning to expel him or remove him from the mainstream curriculum.  Furthermore, we were beginning to suspect that the occupation therapy he was supposed to be getting wasn't actually being performed.  It was an enormous help to have you walk us through the steps of the ARD process beforehand, to identify school programs that would meet our goals, so we knew what to ask for, and to step in during the ARD itself whenever we drew close to hidden pitfalls.  One thing I learned - you have to know what to ask for if you want to get it!

MJF