It is great having Pam on staff as a full-time advocate. She is able to bring her "mom-sense" and special education expertise to the table without making every case a replay of her personal battles with the school. Not every advocate I have seen is able to maintain this level of objectivity, which can lead to increased hostilities instead of moving towards possible resolution. My colleague and fellow COPAAN, Robert Crabtree has written a useful list of dos and don'ts for parents and their advocates. If this list was followed there would lot more effective non-attorney special education advocates, which would be a good thing for parents. Parents would be well advised to insist that their advocates follow many of these points.