ABOUT ME

Hi, I’m Angela. I’m so excited to be re-launching my private practice—now with a different spin —after eleven long years. Why the hiatus? Well, life unfolded in a way I could never have expected. If you are a parent of a child with autism, a developmental disorder, or other special needs, I have a feeling you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I had our two children, Allison and RJ, in quick succession in 2011 and 2013. Soon after, my husband and I purchased our home in Katonah (Northern Westchester, NY). I expected to get back to my private practice—working with children and adolescents with severe emotional disturbances— a few months later, but having two children under the age of two was more than a full-time job. I was fortunate to be in a position to take a little extra time off, but during that time, we started to notice some concerning behaviors in RJ. He did not make eye contact and play giggly games of peek-a-boo like other babies his age. He didn’t respond to his name and seemed disengaged. At first, we thought it was possibly a problem with his hearing, but deep down, I was struck with fear—that mother’s sixth sense—that something more was wrong.

After tests showed no problems with his hearing, we swallowed hard and had him evaluated by the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain (CADB). That's when we received the diagnosis of autism. It was, to say the least, devastating. It was also terrifying, but we immediately enrolled him in CADB's early intervention program and clung to the hope that he would settle on the mild end of the autism spectrum.

As Alli made her way through preschool and kindergarten, meeting expected developmental milestones, RJ kept missing developmental markers. His meltdowns were far more extreme than the typical child’s. Month after month, year after year, it became more and more apparent that despite all the best treatments, his needs were going to be profound. And returning to my private practice would have to be put on hold indefinitely.

Meeting my children’s needs became my full-time job. A diagnosis is just the start of a years-long process to procure, assess, update, and refine the necessary services, supports, and accommodations to which a child with special needs is entitled. This deadline-driven process involves an alphabet soup of agencies, including the Committee for Preschool Special Education (CPSE), the Committee for Special Education (CSE), the Office of Persons with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), the Department of Social Services (DSS) for Medicaid, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team, and many more. Navigating this process can be overwhelming in the best of circumstances. I was in the fortunate position to be able to devote myself full-time to this endeavor, but many cannot, and regardless, no one should have to do it on their own. I am humbled to now be in a position to offer you help with this process.

In addition to my professional experience as a social worker and my personal experience as a mom who has navigated the system, my involvement with the Katonah-Lewisboro SEPTO (Special Education Parent Teacher Organization)— first as the President and now as Member-at-Large— has led to valuable relationships and provided me with additional knowledge and experience that has helped my family and will better enable me to help yours. Through my work with SEPTO, I have focused on building a strong and supportive community of parents of children with special needs and between parents and the Board of Education and district personnel.

Today, Alli is in middle school and RJ is almost ten years old! My husband and I could not be more proud of both of them. After three years in a self-contained classroom at our local public school, we had RJ—who is nonverbal—transferred to the Collaborative Language, Academic and Social Skills (CLASS) Program at Walden School, a BOCES program. Each child's needs are truly so individual. While I fully believe in inclusion, for RJ, this program is unquestionably the best fit. He lights up in the morning when the school bus arrives and runs to the bus with a giant smile on his face. He was recently honored as a Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Student of Distinction. Alli, meanwhile, is crushing it in swim competitions and loving John Jay Middle School. Although life for me consists of a lot of shuttling kids to and from swim practice, speech therapy, playdates, and orthodontist appointments, I finally feel like things have largely settled into place, and I’m so incredibly excited to resume my own professional endeavors, though this looks different from what I had expected before my journey with RJ.

Whereas in the past I worked as a therapist for children with severe emotional disturbances, I now feel a different calling. My mission is to help you emotionally process your child’s diagnosis and assist you in finding exactly what you need for your child and your family to thrive.