As the parent of a son with a learning disability, Kathy Hochman, Executive Director of Special Education Services, knows first hand the frustration of a parent trying to get answers and help for her child. "Trying to work through the Special Education system without understanding the process, procedures and regulations, is the same as trying to play Monopoly not knowing the rules. Can you really expect to win when you don’t know what you’re doing? How can relying on school personnel to tell you what is in your child’s best interest, result in effective programming if their agenda is different than yours?”
Driven by the frustration of not understanding the system, Kathy started acting as advocate by volunteering as a parent member for her school district. Kathy gained additional advocacy experience while working for a local non profit agency. In 2003 Kathy founded Special Education Services. Kathy’s advocacy approach focuses on empowering parents. By giving parents the knowledge they need she leads them to becoming more effective advocates. Her work focuses parents on 4 specific areas:
- Understanding the Special Education process and procedure.
- How to access and understand the regulations governing Special Education.
- Asserting their selves at the CSE meeting.
- Creating a plan of action that directs the team to find meaningful solutions to their child’s specific needs.
In addition to over 10 years of advocacy experience,Kathy's training includes workshops and seminars through BOCES, NYSED, OMRDD, OMH, and VESID, and Albany Law School. Kathy has served on many Ulster County Committees involved in children's issues. She served as vice president for her school district's board of education, and as vice president of the Ulster County School Board Association. Kathy currently serves on the Ulster County Mental Health Sub Committee and as a trustee for a private school for students with autism.
When asked what she considers the biggest success of her advocacy, she relates the story of her son Michael. In fourth grade Michael couldn’t read or even recognize all the letters of the alphabet. She finally got mad enough at the special education system that she educated herself. Through her advocacy and Michael’s hard work and perseverance, he graduated high school in 2005. As class president he gave one of the commencement addresses, and as a school board member Kathy was able to hand him his NYS Regent’s diploma. Michael is completing his undergraduate studies in criminal justice and is featured the photo on our website's home page.