My Special Education Story

I have often been asked as to how I moved from a successful career in the music industry and into a career in special education. I believe the shunning from my then current in-laws, realizing I would one day become Mom and Dad to my girls, and my nature desire to serve others all came into play. More importantly, I strongly believe this was all in God’s plan for my life.

In my late twenties, I was introduced to a little girl named Katie. It was Katie that put me on the trajectory towards a career in special education. Katie had been asked to leave her Christian school as they did not believe they could meet Katie’s education careers. She was enrolled in a private school for children with dyslexia in Orange, CA. Her new school did not require homework, so Katie needed an extra-curricular activity and Katie began to take harp lessons with me. For the first time, I was formally introduced to educational disabilities. Dismayed at the fact Katie was not able to obtain a Christian education, I found a new calling and a purpose.

I went back to school when my younger daughter was only six months old. I earned a Master of Arts in Special Education along with two California teaching credentials and one authorization from Chapman University in Orange, CA. I later earned my administrative credential from National University. After spending three years as a special day class teacher in Etiwanda Unified School District, I left public education with the specific goal of developing special education programs in Lutheran schools. I earned my Lutheran Colloquy from Concordia University, Irvine and accepted my first position at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Orange, CA – a K – 8th elementary school where I took a small tutorial program and moved it into a structured resource program. After three years, I moved to Lutheran High School of Orange County – the largest Lutheran high school in the country serving some 1500 students. I again took an informal tutoring program and moved it to a structured resource program serving more than 150 students with mild to moderate disabilities. The success of these programs brought notoriety in Lutheran education which eventually spread to Christian schools throughout the country. And, I eventually earned my Doctorate in Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy from Pepperdine University. I completed my tenure in higher education after 16 years as an associate professor. My research continues to focus on communities of belonging for children with disabilities in US private schools, international schools, and homeschool programming.

Since that time, I created Re-imaging Special Education. R-ISE is a non-profit entity dedicated to bringing international and private schools, homeschool programs, and families together to re-think and re-create special education programming. Our vision is that all schools will have a culture where all children belong and to create spaces where current special education policy and practice can be discussed and re-imagined. I have served as a consultant for dozens of Christian schools across the country and in Singapore. Visit our website to learn more.