I have worked incredibly hard to earn the privilege of being an idealist. I get to be selective about my caseloads, answer only to myself, and do what educators love to do: serve children.

The level of stress, litigation, and conflict that I see in special education is beyond disheartening. That is why I preach a message of true parent and district collaboration wherever possible. It is the most peaceful path, and it is undeniably what is best for children.

Being an idealist doesn’t make me naive and I know districts vary wildly in quality. What I did not know was that quality could plunge so far down as to reach Pasadena Unified School District—whom I recently had to interact with, and continue to interact with, as they have failed to assess my blind-autistic son for 200 days and counting.

I want to be clear: PUSD is doing this to me knowing my full credentials, my platform, my connections, and my ability to complain. I even told them I have a background in school finance and would start a website publishing their data to expose their waste and misuse of funds. They still stand there like city pigeons pecking on the pavement—refusing to flee no matter what you do. Much like the pigeons, their only dedication is to inaction and their modus operandi is to do nothing for so long that you end up looking like a crazy person screaming in public.

Sympathy for me is completely banned and I don’t want it in the comments. My son is rad, loved, and already in an exceptional school. I (Ok, fine, my parents) pay for him to go to a private non-public school for children with learning disabilities. As an educator, I tracked down every single specialist I could dig up to piece together help so my child could literally see anything in his classroom. I bought grad-school textbooks, crammed late into the night and dropped thousands of dollars on recommended assistive technology. My son is okay (but still being actively harmed by having no VI teacher) because of my 20 years of experience, a determination bordering on psychotic, and the financial means to drop thousands of dollars out-of-pocket on specialized equipment that a colleague guided me to.

There is not one single parent twiddling their thumbs instead of helping their child. Any parent would have done all those things if they could. The obstacle is knowing what in the world to do when overwhelmed by your child’s needs and the entity that is charged with helping you simply refuses to do so.

Full IEP Consultation

$425

Includes pre-review of IEP & psycho-ed report, a 45-minute live 1-on-1 session, and a written report/action plan.
(Private Pay or Regional Center SDP Code 102)

Targeted Question Consult

$325

45-minute live consultation for parents with one specific, focused area of concern (e.g., 1:1 aides, placement disputes, goal progress). Includes an MOU, not a report.

Pro Bono Lightning Spot

30-minute spot reserved strictly for families with high needs and limited access to private funds or Regional Center funding.

A Plea to Our Community: If you have Regional Center SDP funding or private means, please save the pro bono spots for our "in-between" families stuck with zero funding options.

That brings me to the question that is keeping me up at night: Is there anyone else in this community who has even a fraction of those resources?

If I didn’t have the funds, PUSD would have allowed my child to, literally, see no instruction for the entire year. They were, and still are, content to cite “staffing issues” as the reason they can’t complete assessments or offer me an IEP.

Is there another child whose parents can't buy a magnifier because it means that they couldn't pay their rent? Is that poor child sitting in the classroom with their self-worth dripping away by the second because they are being told to “focus” when what they needed was a VI teacher?

How many children are being sent home for behavior when they should be sent to the school psychologist for testing? How many people were lured to an IEP meeting so they could check a compliance box, and then ghosted by the district to provide any services?

How many parents have been lied to, told that their child didn’t even qualify for testing when all signs point to severe dyslexia? How many students have been sent home early without a formal suspension, allowing Pasadena to just slip under the radar for state monitoring?

If I am struggling—if I am up grinding my teeth at night to get an appropriate education for my child with an embarrassing amount of resources, experience, and connections—what on earth is happening to other families? What is happening to you? I want to believe I am the person PUSD has treated the very worst. I am afraid that isn’t true.

One part of my fury is professional; it is a travesty these people think they are colleagues, or even educators. I work with wonderful, functional districts who do right by their children and I value my relationships with them. For that reason, I hold a firm "no consultation" rule because I am an impartial evaluator. Every district knows I am not a hired gun, which is why they listen to my recommendations. Private consulting can greatly dilute that clinical neutrality. While I never planned to work for PUSD, it is certain now—so I do not have to worry about impartiality in regards to them anymore.

In contrast to PUSD, I have an insatiable drive to serve our wonderful, special, and hilarious SPED students. I have had enough internal, pretend conversations yelling at them and am focused on doing the good that I can. In the spirit of Labor Day, I am rolling up my sleeves, carving out two weeks of time away from assessments, and making myself as available to help PUSD families as possible as a resource to help ensure your child’s IEP is and continues to allow them to have an appropriate education.

I am opening myself up to Pasadena Unified families specifically for my brand of consultation. In addition to being a licensed educational psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst, I also functioned as the SELPA CADS operator while simultaneously serving as the SELPA program specialist for 13 school districts. I've been in private practice for 11 years, and I'm also a subject matter expert and expert witness for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. My consultations are incredibly holistic, and I look at your child as an individual and system-wide. I know what I'm doing.

If you need help, I want to help you get it.

How It Works

So, this is a consultation. You book the consultation that you want, and what we do is you come to my office—for now, they're in person because it works better—in Monrovia, and you and I sit down together and we go over this IEP. We answer your questions, we help you understand it, and we help you formulate a plan. It's general in description because it gets really individualized for each family. I'm incredibly patient, high-touch, and I really want you to leave feeling better and like a more informed participant.

Funding & Payment Notes:

Self-Determination Program (SDP): Fits directly under Regional Center SDP Code 102. We must have written confirmation from your FMS before we meet.
Policies: There are no refunds, but you can reschedule if something comes up.

The Process:

Book Your Spot: Select your session type.
Submit Your Intake Packet: Email your child's active PUSD IEP, most recent PUSD psycho-ed report, and photo ID. This is strictly for PUSD families. If we do not have your IEP in advance, the quality of your session will be reduced. If you arrive with an IEP from a district other than PUSD, you will be sent home to protect my active working relationships with surrounding districts.
The Real-Time Sit-Down: We sit down together in Monrovia, lay out the document, and dissect what it actually says.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do with this consultation?

School districts are not legally required to adopt a report or recommendations they did not pay for. However, because this is based on a review of your child's IEP from an expert, you should use this to help plan for and advocate for appropriate services in the IEP process.

What will the report look like?

Everything I do is 100% individualized. While reports share core clinical components, yours will be tailored directly to your specific goals. A report evaluating your child's disciplinary rights looks entirely different from a report analyzing four years of stagnant dyscalculia goals and specific curriculum methodologies. All reports are brief (2-7 pages), include a summary of our discussion, parent priorities, overall case conceptualization, and action items including impossible to miss links and next steps for you to take. I will never lead you on or shy away from telling you hard truths. If I think your child’s IEP is appropriate, I will tell you that. If I think they are being harmed by their placement, I will also tell you that. What I give you is not a matter of subjective opinion—it is grounded strictly in clinical data and educational benefit.

Do you give legal advice?

No, I can’t because I’m not a lawyer. I can give you guidance on how to use the processes and tools at your disposal, but I am looking for ways to improve your child’s IEP, not hold the district liable for infractions. If I do feel you should obtain counsel, I will tell you.

Can you attend meetings with me or do ongoing consultation?

No. One of my main goals is to eliminate the fear of being upsold, misled, or taken advantage of. I do not offer follow-up services, I cannot conduct IEEs for PUSD, and I do not take private cases. Aside from workshops, I literally have nothing else to sell you. You can feel completely confident that you won’t be bombarded with add-ons. For this reason, there is a hard limit: I cannot answer follow-up emails or questions after our session ends so there is no confusion about me acting as an advocate. You are welcome to book another session for an opinion or a shorter follow-up consultation later if spots are available, but I don’t act as ongoing support as that would compromise my neutrality.

Is this like an advocate?

No. When a parent goes to a traditional advocate, they effectively list what they want like a restaurant menu. That is not what I do. I want you to tell me everything you want, and then I will integrate your vision with the file data to recommend what aligns with educational benefit and FAPE under the law. I am not a feel-good psychologist who recommends interventions that lack data support that even strong IEP teams would laugh at. If you ask me to recommend Visualizing and Verbalizing reading comprehension for an autistic child, I am going to tell you absolutely not. But if your 5th grader is still reading at a 1st grade level and hasn't had meaningful intervention, I am going to push extremely hard for that. It is a clinical opinion, not a service.

I get overwhelmed and shut down when all the technical stuff is presented. What if I don’t understand it?

Don't worry, you will understand it! I have trained hundreds of parents and educators over my career, and I have never met a single person I could not teach. I find this material fascinating, and I love sharing it with parents. When you are calm, supported, and walked through the paperwork step-by-step, you will be shocked by how much you understand—and how empowered you feel to stand up as an equal partner for your child. I use an analogy that “An IEP is just a boring story” and it has really resonated with parents. This is both collaboration and education. You will leave having clarity on the current IEP and more knowledge to use in future ones.