LYNWOOD (‘LYN’) E. BEEKMAN Director Special Education Solutions, LLC 2139 Commons Parkway Okemos, MI 48864 (517) 381-8909 lyn@spedsolutions.com

Lyn Beekman was in legal practice for 30 years. For 15 years he represented parents and their children with disabilities. During this same period and later, he also represented the Michigan Education Association and its members, including teachers, school psychologists, school social workers, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, etc. From 1987 through 1997, he represented just school districts on matters relating to special education and Section 504.

Since 1978, Lyn has also served in over 600 matters as a hearing officer and state review officer in 3 states. Lyn has provided consultative assistance or hearing officer and mediator trainings for 46 states and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He has also served as a mediator, neutral evaluator, arbitrator, and complaint investigator in over 300 cases, including several matters pending before state and federal courts. These activities, together with presentations regarding the use of various alternative dispute resolution processes (some quite non-traditional) and other special education topics, constitute the focus of Special Education Solutions (SES), a special education dispute resolution and training center that he established in 1998. Since SES was founded, he has not provided legal representation to anyone.

In l971, Lyn co-authored Michigan’s mandatory special education law and later many of its rules. The recipient of numerous awards for his volunteer efforts, Lyn has served on numerous state board of education committees and task forces regarding various special education issues, the last being as chair of its Special Education Delivery System Task Force to revise its entire system. From 1978 to 1984, he served as an adjunct professor at Michigan State University on special education law and since then has been a guest lecturer at various universities and law schools. He continues to provide consultative assistance and in-services to state departments of education and presentations to many school districts, as well as various national and state organizations of persons with disabilities, parents, and professionals.