One of my favorite ways to get to know people is over coffee, tea, or a meal, so (if I haven't gotten to meet you in person before), I hope you'll take a moment to enjoy whatever snack or drink you may have next to you while you read my story. This post is written to share a bit of who I am and how I was led to the idea of Kids First.
From the time I was a young girl, I had a heart for people with special needs and compelling stories. I read books like Joni Eareckson Tada's autobiography, a story called "Lisa," and more. I devoured these books numerous times over - in fact, they're still on my bookshelves. Later, I entered college with the thought of studying physical therapy. Like many other young people, this thought underwent many metamorphoses as I second guessed myself - I was a late bloomer and couldn't quite nail down exactly what I was supposed to do as a career. Meanwhile, I married the love of my life. I busied myself with being a wife, bookkeeping, and intermittently continued my undergraduate degree.
By this time, I had decided to study early intervention, and in fact, had a part-time job in that field. I became enthralled with the neuroscience surrounding early intervention, in particular, the brain's plasticity and its ability to "rewire" itself when differences and injuries occurred. For one assignment, we were tasked with studying different career paths - I stumbled across speech pathology and was instantly hooked. A seed was planted in my heart, began to take root, and would become the momentum I needed to realize my passion. I enrolled at CSUN for the undergraduate Speech Pathology program and, as I approached graduation, began the process of applying to the master's degree cohort.
A seed was planted in my heart, began to take root, and would become the momentum I needed to realize my passion.
Two years prior, my husband and I had started the process of fostering (and later, adopting) our children. We brought home two girls (later followed by their sister, and then, their brother). The oldest was a spitfire and our (to be) middle child was calm and cuddly. We had gone through hours of trainings to become foster parents and had learned a bit about prenatal exposure and trauma, but as is often the case, foster parents are hit with unexpected surprises. As the kids grew, their needs became more pronounced. By God's grace, the classes and trainings I attended during college were immediately applicable and helpful for my own children. My passion continued flourishing as I realized the skills I had been developing for use with others were also gifts that were purposefully supplied to me for my own family. I graduated with my bachelor's degree in Communication Disorders and decided to take some time off to focus on my family before enrolling in a master's program.
One of the ways I focused on our family was deciding to homeschool our children. We had tried traditional brick-and-mortar schools, which weren't a perfect fit. As we would later learn, because of this poor fit, our daughter's trauma and, as yet, unofficial learning differences resulted in secondary behaviors that were not conducive to success in a classroom setting. Our daughter's confidence was shaken, the teacher was frustrated and didn't know how to best support a traumatized child, and as a result, we were frustrated as well. We decided to homeschool the following year. This was a turning point. I researched different teaching styles, discovered integrative learning, and investigated a variety of different curricula. I completed trainings to learn how to teach students with specific differences and found that not only was this successful, I enjoyed it immensely. I love, and have loved, the beauty that has come from my opportunity to homeschool my children.
The skills I had been developing for use with others were also gifts that were purposefully supplied to me for my own family.
As homeschool parents often do, I evaluated our choices each school year. What worked and didn't work the year prior? What new goals did we have for our children? How would we accomplish those? Was homeschool still the best choice for us? In addition to these questions, one other thought surfaced each year: is it time for me to attend graduate school? For years, the answer was no. At times, I was content with this. At others, my heart's desire warred with reality. I knew that enrolling in a master's program for Speech Pathology came with a high price: two and a half years of coursework, intense post-degree exams, and a year-long internship during which time I was told family life, work, and personal enjoyment would all be impacted if not sacrificed. Time and again, my husband I and discussed this and new it wasn't feasible for our family. So I waited.
Meanwhile, my passion was shifting, largely due to my exposure and experience with foster children who were underserved in the special education system. I wanted to help children who were "on the bubble" of eligibility and I wanted to teach parents how to advocate for their children. My search began - how could I serve the whole child rather than only providing Speech Therapy? What pre-existing avenues were available for students who didn't qualify for special education? I dove back into investigation and found Educational Therapy.
... to be continued in the "Nice to Meet You! (Part 2)" blog post.
