Hi. I’m Karen.
For over twenty years I’ve been working to affect positive change in our schools and the ways we support our kids.
Starting out my career as a teacher in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Memphis, I witnessed first-hand the challenges and inequities that can exist in our education system, particularly for neurodiverse students and low income communities. I became fascinated with the potential of supportive systems to improve learning outcomes for kids, so I transitioned into school administration—eventually as the founding Principal of an elementary school in Austin, and most recently as the VP of a national prenatal to post-secondary education consulting team.
I’m also a parent of children with learning and behavioral needs. I have personal experience with how overwhelming it can be, how hard it can feel to ask for help, and how confusing it can be to find the “right” support that will actually align with your family’s unique needs. My work with ACE Consulting is about leaning into my expertise to help families, schools, and communities to navigate the diverse challenges we face every day in supporting our kids with unique needs. My goal is to connect families and advocate for them to get the resources and help they need at school; in the community with doctors and therapists; or with accessing state and local services and funds.
Why I Do This
While I have learned so much from my various jobs in education, nothing has taught me more than being a mom to our three young children, Beth, Wynn, and Annie, all of whom have their own diverse abilities and unique needs. They’ve taught me that life at home and schooling has to look different for kids who learn and behave differently.
We struggled at home and her teachers were challenged at school in having Beth follow directions and respond to her emotions. When Beth was three, we sought expert help from behavior therapists and participated in intensive, weekly coaching sessions to figure out how to best help Beth at school and to make home feel more manageable and less chaotic. We advocated for her to have an individual behavior plan at school and requested daily communication from her teacher. When Beth was four, I remember counting on one hand, how many times Beth had slept through the night and not woken us up. We were exhausted, and there were days when I wanted to give up as a parent.
However, there were stretches that were easier, and we saw some improvements in her behavior at home and at school. We had some tools in our toolbox now for compliance, and I put a lot of time and energy into developing systems and schedules at home to create structure and to reward Beth for positive behaviors. We knew, though, that there were still pieces missing to this puzzle, and my gut told me that something more was going on with Beth.
Even before the age of two, my husband, Douglas, and I knew that there was something atypical about Beth’s behavior.
Right before her fifth birthday, we took Beth to a neuropsychologist who diagnosed her with moderate to severe ADHD – Combined Presentation. Beth’s diagnosis lit a fire inside of us to seek treatments to target Beth’s needs through a multi-method treatment approach.
We’ve added a psychiatrist, a new behavioral therapist, and an occupational therapist to Beth’s support team as well as co-created an individual learning (education) plan with her teacher, learning specialist, and guidance counselor to support her needs at school.
Several years later, Beth has made leaps and bounds in progress, though that progress hasn’t been linear. We still have setbacks and times can still be tiring. However, parenting her has become a joy and our relationship has significantly improved.
Most days, we view her ADHD symptoms as “superpowers,” rather than obstacles.
While on this journey with Beth, I got pregnant with our third child. At 28 weeks pregnant, I unexpectedly went into preterm labor and delivered Annie, weighing just 3 lbs 2 oz.
After a 60 day NICU stay, supplemental oxygen, and feeding tubes, we finally brought Annie home. Before she was two years old, Annie had had heart surgery; kidney surgery; engaged in frequent developmental, occupational, and speech therapies; and had visited our children’s hospital countless times for outpatient doctor appointments and inpatient overnight stays.
Annie is now a thriving toddler.
However, she is still engaged in therapy through Tennessee’s Early Intervention System, TEIS, to continue progress on developmental milestones and to improve emotional regulation.
While our middle child, Charles “Wynn,” has had needs that have been less demanding of our time and attention, we have had to navigate challenges for him, too, such as school transitions, speech therapy, and communication around identifying and sharing emotions.
While ACE stands for “All Children Excel,”
our acronym also represents our three children - with the first letter of our three children’s names, Annie, Charles, and Eliza“beth,” - since they are the main reason for wanting to start this support service.
However, while most can get stuck in these feelings, I have an ability to see solutions and pathways of grounded action. Where others might see barriers, I can recognize connections and patterns and then streamline what works and stay organized to build upon successes.
I’ve learned that in order for me to show up well as a parent and model the type of behaviors I want to see from our children, I also have to be emotionally regulated. I began therapy sessions and am intentional about getting enough sleep and physical activity. Just as I am constantly trying to figure out how to support our kids well and bring the best out of them, I am committed to using my talents to help provide this same support to other families and schools. I’ve been vulnerable with others about our journeys with our kids, which has opened doors for others to share. I’ve realized so many in our community are searching for answers and resources and aren’t sure where to turn.
I remember feeling alone, overwhelmed, and thinking “why is this so hard?” and “how are we going to pay for all of these services?”
As a parent, trying to figure out the processes, service providers, and insurance, while also trying to navigate our siloed health care systems felt like a full time job outside of my other full-time job.