Editorial Board
When a Spectrum Unlocked guide touches special education law, IEP rights, evaluations, or other areas where families can be misled by well-meaning but inaccurate advice, we route the draft to a trained parent advocate for review before publishing. The reviewer's name appears in the byline.
Our reviewers are credentialed through COPAA, SPAN, and Wrightslaw — the three most recognized training pathways for non-attorney parent advocates in US special education.
Brandi Thomas
Parent Advocate
Brandi Thomas is a COPAA-trained parent advocate with credentials through SPAN and Wrightslaw. She helps families navigate the special education system with clarity and confidence, drawing on her own experience raising a child with disabilities. From IEPs to 504 plans to rights under IDEA, she turns a confusing process into an actionable plan.
Erica Dreyer
Parent Advocate
Erica Dreyer is a parent advocate trained through COPAA, SPAN, and Wrightslaw, committed to making sure children with disabilities get the services and support they're entitled to. She partners with families to prepare for school meetings, decode evaluations, and secure appropriate accommodations, drawing on lived experience and a deep working knowledge of special education law.
How review works
- Posts flagged for review: guides covering special education law, IEP/504 rights, evaluations, IDEA, and state-specific disability benefits.
- Posts not flagged for review: lived-experience essays, sensory and daily-life content, and tool walkthroughs (these get an "Editorial Team" byline only).
- What review catches: incorrect legal claims, outdated procedural language, missing rights families have under IDEA, and advice that sounds right but doesn't reflect how the system actually works.
- What review does not catch: medical or therapeutic advice. We don't publish either. When clinical claims appear, we cite a primary source (CDC, NIH, peer-reviewed journal) rather than substituting our opinion.