Sometimes your child is experiencing difficulty at school and you need advice on how to support them. Sometimes the school is providing your child support but they don’t seem to be making much progress. And sometimes you just don’t see eye to eye with the school on decisions they are making. When problems occur it’s important to know not only what might be best for your child but your family's educational rights and entitlements.

The educational system can be a confusing structure to navigate. As the mother of a child with special needs, I have been on both sides of the process and I understand how stressful it can feel when needing to make these decisions for your child. It’s hard to be objective when you are worried about what to do. This is why my goal in working with families is to demystify the educational system and provide guidance on what is best for your child and your family’s goals.

The research is clear that the family-school relationship is extremely important for a child to make progress and feel included in their school community. This is why I take care in my approach to build and maintain the relationship between parents and the school team. I believe my role is to ensure the parents’ concerns are heard and to provide meaningful input to the team in order for everyone to work together to collaborate. And in those situations where the family-school trust has been affected, I strive to be an objective party to advocate for positive actions that can be taken for the benefit of the child.

My consultative approach is to be your guide through the process and facilitate your relationship with your school. I aim to teach parents how the educational system works and clarify the specific educational needs your child may have. My role is to listen to your concerns through my professional lens and provide you with actionable information. What is important to my child and what works for my family’s goals and values will differ from others; because every situation is different and every family has their own unique needs. This is why I strive to provide information and guidance rather than a prescriptive course of action.

Depending on your needs my consultation/advocacy services can include:

• Parent Communication to provide guidance

• School Communication (with parent permission) to facilitate efficient action

• School District Communication (with parent permission) when school-level intervention isn’t enough

• Attendance at IEP, 504, or SST meetings

• Review of Documents (IEPs, 504s, district assessments, evaluations, etc)

• Assistance in the development of accommodations/modifications, goals, and services

• Referrals to private evaluators or other educational professionals

We will work together to determine the level of support you need and what you’d like me to provide in the process. I am always open and upfront with the time you can expect my involvement to take and provide updates should that change beyond the quoted expectation.