I am passionate about being a mom and driven to meet the diverse needs of all 6 of my kids. I am also a teacher with a wide variety of experience and education. Let me help put all of my experiences to use helping your family.

I grew up in the Philippines in the 80’s and my family was close with an orphanage that was just opening. We spent our weekends there and I loved helping to take care of the children. This early experience gave me a heart for adoption and specifically for special needs children.

After getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education (and eventually a Masters degree in Education) I began working as a teacher in a residential treatment facility in Denver. This was an important training ground for my future family and career. The diverse group of kids and highly qualified staff taught me about trauma, attachment, mental health, autism, ADHD and countless other lessons. It is where I learned that “All Behavior has Meaning.” Children’s behavior is telling us something about what they need.

Then it was time to start a family of our own. We had two biological children. Because of my time growing up in the Philippines I always felt drawn to adoption. We ultimately adopted 4 children from the Philippines all with various special needs. And then discovered that our two biological kids also have special needs.

Diverse doesn’t even begin to explain our family! We have autism, ADHD, severe congenital heart defect, medical trauma, eating disorder, attachment issues, physical disabilities, trauma, and mental illness. This has resulted in countless hospital stays, specialists, IEP meetings, social workers, and therapists of all kinds.

When I say that I understand what you are going through, I really do!

Now our four oldest are adults and our two youngest are teenagers and I have a little more perspective on it all. Let me help you discover the needs of your children. Let me bring my years of parenting, teaching and resource gathering to support your family’s challenges.