Ed Brostoff
Educational Consultant and Parent Advocate

Ed Brostoff is a veteran advocate and advisor for parents of children with special educational needs.

 As a middle school teacher for 32 years, Brostoff experienced the multi-layered process of creating Independent Educational Plans (I.E.P.). He has attended I.E.P. meetings for students in his own classrooms and helped integrate the students into his everyday lessons. After retiring from teaching, Brostoff gathered his experience into a new role as a professional consultant and parent advocate.

Brostoff’s professional training is supplemented by personal experience. He’s fought for the special educational needs of his own child. He’s learned first-hand how it feels to sit on the parent’s side of the table at the special education meetings and how to usher children through the educational process.

While teaching, Brostoff was an active representative for the United Teachers Los Angeles union. His efforts helped balance the rights of teachers with the rights of the students. In this role, he won high praise from teachers and administrators alike. His long experience with advocacy has served him well as a parent advocate.

Brostoff helps parents negotiate the often-complicated process that can bring special education assistance to students. He helps insure that parents are fully informed about their legal rights and options throughout the special education process. He insists that parents’ concerns are heard and their needs satisfied.

Brostoff can attend I.E.P. meetings with parents to help secure services that parents know their children need. On several occasions, he has helped children with severe emotional disturbances receive the highest level of care and services, including residential care, without the need for a due process hearing. In other instances, he has helped students obtain services such as speech therapy or assistive technology.

In addition to his advocacy work, Brostoff also conducts training sessions about special education for mental health professionals throughout Southern California including interns at Hillsides Family Center in Pasadena. He has addressed the Glendale Mental Health Professionals Association, and spoken to interns at the Phillips Academy in Encino.

At the 2003 Casa Colina Rehabilitation Hospital Trends in Autism Conference in Pomona, Brostoff was a featured speaker on the special education process and the parent advocate’s role. He continues to attend parent support groups to offer individual advice and up-to-date information on the latest issues.

Professional affiliations include:
Council of Parents, Attorneys and Advocates (COPPA) 
Glendale Mental Health Professionals Association
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Los Angeles
Association of Educational Therapists
Children and Adults with Attention/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
Foothill Autism Alliance
Team of Advocates for Special Kids (TASK)