Barbara H. Dyer, JD

Barbara has been involved in local, state and national disability and educational advocacy projects for nearly 25 years and has a special education law private practice. Dyer received her J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, Knoxville, TN in 2002. She currently serves as adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law co-teaching a practicum course called Education Law Practicum which focuses students at risk who have been charged with status offenses/truancy. Currently, Dyer serves on the TN-International Dyslexia Association Board.  She also served as staff attorney for the University of Tennessee, College of Law, CAN-LEARN Project (Children’s Advocacy Network-Lawyers Education Advocacy Resource Network) from 2006-2009. The granted initiative addressed the sparse availability of legal representation for school-aged children and sought to include regular and special education, low-income, rural and students of color in Tennessee.
 
In spring 2006, Dyer assisted Matt Cohen, Atty., a nationally prominent figure in the area of special education law, as an intern with Monahan and Cohen, Attorneys at Law in Chicago, Ill.  Additionally, she has served as a special education legal consultant for the Special Education Advocacy Project of Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) funded by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth (TCCY).

A notable juncture in Dyer’s career came during the 1997 re-authorization of IDEA when she participated in and testified during hearings held by the 105th Congress Working Group in Washington, D.C.  Soon after, she, her husband, Wayne, and her daughter, Carrie, were honored for their involvement with the TASH National Collaboration Award in Boston, Mass. Additionally, the Dyers received the President's Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress in Dallas, Texas.