Should You Sign the IEP? When Being Agreeable Costs Your Child Services
Signing an IEP doesn't always mean you agree, and refusing to sign doesn't always stop it. Here's what your signature means and what to say instead.
For independent special education advocates
Run your special education advocacy practice in one place
Highlighter keeps every student's records, timeline, notes, and hours together. Then it reads the IEP, builds the meeting packet, and drafts the follow-up email from what's already there.
30 days free. Card required to start. Cancel before the trial ends and you won't be charged.
Trusted by advocates and the organizations that support families
Built for everyone who advocates
Families
Understand your child's IEP, prepare for meetings, and write to the school with confidence. $5 per month.
Highlighter for familiesOrganizations
Support more families with the team you have, with shared workflows and caseload reporting.
Highlighter for organizationsYou became an advocate to help families, not to manage paperwork
A single case can mean a 40-page evaluation, three versions of an IEP, a year of emails, and a meeting on Thursday. Most advocates hold it together with folders, spreadsheets, and late nights. That works for five families. It stops working at fifteen.
Highlighter is built for the part of advocacy that happens before and after the meeting: reading, organizing, preparing, following up, and tracking the hours it took.
How a case moves through Highlighter
Upload once, and every tool works from the same record
Each step feeds the next. The document you analyze becomes the data in your meeting packet, and the meeting becomes the follow-up email.
Upload. Drop in documents or forward emails to the student's Highlighter address. They land in the right case, on the timeline.
Case ManagementUnderstand. Highlighter summarizes IEPs, evaluations, and behavior plans in plain language, with goals, services, dates, and potential issues pulled out.
Document AnalysisPrepare. Build a meeting packet with issues to raise, questions to ask, and talking points that cite the page they came from.
Meeting PreparationCommunicate. Draft a professional email to the school team, grounded in the student's plan. You edit it and send it yourself.
Email DraftingShare. Invite families into the case for free. Your notes stay private.
Family Sharing
You don't need another tool. You need fewer.
Most advocates have tried software that added steps instead of removing them. Highlighter replaces the folder, the spreadsheet, and the timesheet. Your judgment stays yours: Highlighter drafts, organizes, and points things out, and you decide what goes to the family and the school.
Grounded in the file. Summaries and packets cite the document and page they came from, so you can check every claim.
Built with advocates. Highlighter Pro was shaped in calls, demos, and feedback sessions with practicing advocates across the country.
A real person on the other end. Questions go to the people who build the product.
What advocates say
"It allows me to quickly find key information and turn dense material into something actionable. This has saved me time and reduced errors."
"As an advocate for families, using Highlighter has made the process easier for me to support families in the journey of an IEP or other special education resources. I would personally encourage families and advocates to utilize this growing resource for years to come."
"Great resource to prepare my collaboration reports for my ARD meetings with clients."
One price per advocate, with unlimited families
Highlighter Pro is $59 per month per seat, or $549 per year. Every seat includes unlimited students and family sharing. Start with a 30-day free trial.
30 days free. Card required to start. Cancel before the trial ends and you won't be charged.
From the Highlighter Blog
All articlesFrequently asked questions
What is Highlighter?
Highlighter is a practice management platform for independent special education advocates. It keeps every student's records, timeline, notes, and hours in one place, and its built-in tools analyze documents, prepare IEP meeting packets, and draft school emails from the student's own file.
Who is Highlighter for?
Highlighter is built for independent special education advocates first. Families can use it on their own for $5 per month, or for free when an advocate invites them. Advocacy organizations and public agencies use it with their teams.
How much does Highlighter cost?
Highlighter Pro is $59 per month per advocate seat, or $549 per year. The family plan is $5 per month or $50 per year. Organizations get custom pricing based on team size and families served. Every plan starts with a free trial.
Does Highlighter give legal advice?
No. Highlighter helps you read, organize, and act on special education documents. It cites where its information comes from so you can check it, and it does not replace an attorney.
Is my clients' information secure?
Yes. Everything is sent over an encrypted connection, and our database is encrypted at rest. We never sell student data or share records with schools or districts, and families only see what you share.
Can families use Highlighter with me?
Yes. You can invite as many families as you like at no cost to them. They see their child's case, upload documents, and prepare for meetings. Your notes and hours stay private.
Bring your next case into Highlighter
Start with one student and the documents you already have. Run one analysis and one meeting packet, and judge it on your own case.
30 days free. Card required to start. Cancel before the trial ends and you won't be charged.