When I discovered early intervention and the powerful impact it can have on families, I knew it was something special and I wanted to get involved. As the mother of two amazing daughters, one of whom utilized early intervention services, I know it can make a huge difference not only for the child but also for the entire family. As an educator, I found it extremely important for other professionals to be aware of the best practices and guidelines when working with families and children with special needs and the DEC policies were always one of the first places we started. I am also a strong believer in the power of advocacy and helping families find their voice; one of the reasons I love DEC so much is because they believe that the family needs to be included in the child's plan of care and education as a valued member.
I currently work at the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center (ECAC) as their Early Intervention Engagement Specialist, working to increase parent engagement and advocacy across the state. I also present webinars on transitions from early intervention to special education, parent education, and increasing parent participation on LICC boards. My experience teaching early childhood educators and undergraduate students interested in teaching has increased my passion for ensuring that all students have some exposure to child development and early childhood education. It has helped to increase my understanding of communication principles as well as the importance of advocacy at various levels as well as increasing my awareness of the different challenges facing families based upon their location, finances, transportation, culture, and more.
Over the past 25 years, I've done my best to continually learn how to best reach out to families and listen to their needs, making connections between organizations and resources and those who need them, and helping those organizations understand how to best hear/serve the populations they are trying to reach while maintaining their goals and overall intention. There are often amazing resources and services but they are useless if families are unaware, cannot find, or access them. Communication is essential.
The world needs all kinds of minds.
"One of the most important areas we can develop as professionals is competence in accessing and sharing knowledge."