Claire M

I am a mother of 2 who is on her third career. My first career was speech pathology. I worked for eight years in the public schools as a speech therapist where I specialized in serving children with moderate to severe disabilities. In this role I had the opportunity to explain test results, write goals, lead IEP meetings, and collaborate with school personnel. My second career was/is being a mom. I loved working in schools, and I always intended to go back to work in the school setting, but when my youngest was diagnosed with autism, my life took a detour. A wonderful, eye-opening detour. I had lots of professional experience working with children like mine, so I knew. I knew what quality services should look like, and I knew how to work the special education system to get the services my child needed. I quickly learned how blessed I was to have all that knowledge and how many families needed it. Hence, my third career as an advocate. I want to take all those skills I learned as an SLP in the public schools and use them to help you.

My mission is to educate families about the special education process, so they can better advocate for their child. I want to empower them to be strong contributors on the IEP team. We are all sitting around the IEP table as a team. Teams work together to accomplish a goal, and every member of that team has valuable skills and knowledge. Parents come to the table as the experts on their children, and the IEP team needs your expertise to create an effective IEP for your child.