Helping children with special needs has been Cara’s passion since she began volunteering in elementary school.
She received a bachelor’s of Science in Communicative Disorders: speech pathology and audiology in 1997 from the University of RI.
Cara worked at The New England Center for Children in Southborough from 1997-2000 working with children with Autism and behavior disorders while working on her graduate degree.
Cara with her daughter
In 2000 she received her master’s degree in special education from Simmons college.
After graduation, she moved to northern Virginia and worked for Alexandria City Public Schools teaching children with Autism. Cara piloted inclusion programs and co-taught with regular educators. She then moved into a role as the Autism Resource coordinator and oversaw all students with Autism. In this role, she conducted a number of teacher trainings and helped design classroom programs. She also ran support groups for families of children with special needs.
Cara at her son’s 8th Grade Graduation
After having her first child, she returned to Massachusetts and worked for an agency going into homes of young children on the spectrum and helped design home programs. In 2006, after having her second child, she received her advocacy training through the Federation for Children with Special Needs and has been advocating ever since. Working with and helping families is her passion.
You don’t know what you don’t know and she will work to help your child receive what they need based on their unique needs and to alleviate your family’s stress.