Who is this masked man who defends the rights of FAPE, rescuing children in distress and alleviating parental stress?  Why it’s IEP MAN!!

Buckley J. Hugo a/k/a the “IEP Man” is the father of an autistic teenager, for whom Mr. Hugo has negotiated highly regarded special education services since his son was first diagnosed at age 4.    Prior to founding Midcoast Advocacy, Mr. Hugo worked for 20 years in the music industry negotiating agreements with renown songwriters and entertainment attorneys.  He applies this experience, along with years of working with school districts obtaining the services to which individuals are entitled.

Mr. Hugo is a member of the Autism Society of Maine, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), The Disability Rights Center of Maine, and served on the Maine Advisory Council on the Education of Children with Disabilities (MACECD).  He has also participated in a number of Wrightslaw Special Education and Advocacy Conferences.  Mr. Hugo lectures on matters related to special education advocacy throughout the state, having given presentations to the Gear Parent Network and the Maine Down Syndrome Network.    He subscribes to COPAA’s voluntary code of ethics.

In March, 2014, at the COPAA annual conference in Baltimore, MD, Buckley J. Hugo of Midcoast Advocacy and Maine Special Education Attorney Richard O’Meara presented The Latest Top 40 Chart Topping Decisions that Parent Attorneys and Advocates Should Be Citing. One attendee stated it was  “…the most entertaining case law review that I have ever attended (and it’s no easy task to make this stuff exciting).  The presenters delivered their top 40 cases over the last several years in the format of a top 40 music countdown, highlighting fact scenarios that were particularly ridiculous and excerpts from decisions containing language that was particularly powerful.” 

Click Here to Download the Top 40 Presentation (.pdf)

In December, 2014, Mr. Hugo authored a Letter to the editor: A high price for skimping on special education, which was published in the Portland Press Herald.  The piece commented on the 2nd anniversary of the Sandy Hook shootings in Connecticut.  The letter was the subject of an hour long interview on the television program Out In Left Field.

Click here to download interview transcript (.pdf)

In April, 2016, the Times Record newspaper ran a cover story on Midcoast Advocacy.