My twins both started school with IEPs, and I remember the feeling of walking into those early meetings, the long table, the stack of paperwork, the well-meaning faces of people who knew the system far better than I did.
I loved my children fiercely, but I didn’t always know the right words to say, the right questions to ask, or whether what was being offered was truly enough.
That experience changed the direction of my life. I went back to school, earned my special education certification, and became a certified Orton-Gillingham Structured Literacy Interventionist.
I’ve been working with struggling readers and their families since 2013, first at my local library, then entirely online since 2017.
What I gained from standing on both sides of that table, as a mom and as a specialist, is something no textbook could have taught me.
I know how schools think. I know how these meetings feel from every seat in the room. And I know exactly what a parent needs to walk in prepared and walk out with a plan.