My background

I have been working in social services supporting people with disabilities and their families since 1986. In my life, I have had many roles and experiences which shape my value system, knowledge and skills. I have provided support for a diversity of people with varying needs both professionally and personally. I worked with people with challenging behaviors before I became a parent. I had children before I worked in Family Support.  I have parented adolescents. I have a child who had an IEP.  I have accessed medical care in a confusing and fragmented health care system. I have provided support for both of my aging parents. My dad was post stroke and had a lot of medical and physical care needs. I supported my mom during breast cancer treatment. Then, later she was diagnosed with dementia. We all lived together in order that I could provide my dad and her care until they both passed.

 

I have worked with parents of young children with special needs and parents of typically developing children who are dealing with challenging behaviors; teens with emotional and behavior disorders; adults with I/DD, SMI, substance abuse disorders, and dementia. I started as a direct service provider in a residential care setting for people with had Serious Mental Illness or a Developmental Disability in 1986.  During my career, I have worked in residential settings, day treatment programs, family homes, childcares and schools, and job sites. I have volunteered supporting self advocacy efforts.  I have developed and piloted new programs and initiatives. I have facilitated accreditation processes. I have coached, mentored and supervised BCBA students and BCBAs, RBTs, Direct Care Professionals, childcare providers and educators.

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 In 2001, I began working with young children and their families in Early Intervention.  I was one of three Early Intervention Advocates in the state of Illinois as our community was a pilot site for the implementation of Early Intervention services. In that role, I collaborated with schools, child care providers, Head Start and other various treatment and community providers with the end goal of assuring an array of services were available to meet the needs of infants and toddlers with developmental delays or at risk of developmental delays. Later in my career, I developed and implemented a cutting edge, accredited and award winning Family Support Program that served families of children with disabilities in a three county area. As the Director of Family Support Services, I learned how to navigate the complex social service networks. Additionally, the program played a roles in the community by providing and hosting training to increase the capacity of the community to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and their families; for example, hosting training for first responders to interact effectively with people with ASD. During my tenure providing Family Support Services, I established the collaboration which lead to the Autism Program being brought to Rockford. I facilitated the accreditation of the agency by the Council on Quality and Leadership and re-accreditation process multiple times.

Along the way, I have learned from many disciplines, such as psychologists, social workers, developmental therapists, physical and occupational therapist and speech/language therapists. 

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Given my background providing behavioral support services, I was frequently asked to consult to support children who were engaging in disruptive and dangerous behaviors. Given the lack of resources to meet families' needs, in 2009, I completed a Masters Degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy. In 2010, I became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Since that time I have worked with families, individuals and organizations to ensure people have the skills they need to be successful in the environments of their choice.  I completed my practicum researching effective parent training programs and my thesis was done investigating the impact of reinforcement on staff and resident behaviors in a residential group home for adolescent girls with emotional and behavioral disorders. 

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Because of my experiences, I am passionate about supporting parents and caregivers. I know that caregivers need support to meet the needs of the people in their care, to lead quality lives. Because I am a parent, and a caregiver, I understand that services have to make sense in everyday lives in order to be meaningful. I use the principles of ABA to ensure that the children, individuals with disabilities and their parents or caregivers, are maximizing their potential and getting their specific and unique needs met.

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I am also passionate about making sure staff and service systems are effective and efficient. I provide services in a manner that builds capacity. I have helped 1000s of individuals and families and caregivers during my career: ensuring medical needs are addressed; educational services are appropriate to support learning; parent and caregiver received the training and support they need; provided training and supervision for paraprofessional to implement ABA programming, addressing challenging behaviors and developing the skills needed to function in a variety of settings with the goal of supporting people to be healthy and happy, maximizing their potential. 

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All of this experience informs my practice to be: functional, practical, evidenced based, person and family centered, and trauma informed. I have special interest in RFT and RFT informed interventions, such as PEAK, AIM and ACT. 

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I truly believe that together we are better as a community and everyone needs support, now and then, to be successful.